All posts by Indy

movies

>35 movies

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The best movie of all time.

At present time I’ve rated 1417 movies at filmtipset.se [username: indygrinder]. So far only 35 films have been worthy of the highest possible grade. In the 21st Century I’ve only watched five truly superb flicks.
Is it me or is it the movies?
Truthfully, I believe people are too keen on giving high grades…

Here are my top 35 movies of all time in chronological order. Few surprises, I guess, and I probably forgot a bunch. And of course there are still endless of movies that I haven’t seen yet… Still, when I’m in need of a damned good film I’ll just watch one of these and I’m good.

Triumph des Willens [Triumph of the Will] (1935)

Leni Reifenstahl‘s absolute masterpiece. No matter how much you despise the message you cannot deny the superb filmic quality and craftmanship. It is a reminder of a time almost too surreal to be true.
The whole movie is watchable at YouTube here, but I strongly recommend a high quality DVD release.

Olympia 1. Teil – Fest der Völker [Festival of the Nations] (1938)

Another Riefenstahler. The beauty!

I told myself not to include documentaries on this list, but these films must be mentioned.

Olympia 2. Teil – Fest der Schönheit [Festival of Beauty] (1938)

Not much to add.
Reifenstahl was crowned The Mother of Modern Film.
Righteously so.

Citizen Kane (1941)

I often tend to dismiss classics as overrated, but Citizen Kane really did it for me when I first watched it at film school on the big screen. Having read so much about Orson Welles and the movie it was pure bliss watching all the details, getting hooked by the storytelling and being blessed by the magic of Mr. Welles.
Read a lenghty review here.

Shichinin no samurai [Seven Samurai] (1954)

I liked this one a lot for many years, but when I got a hold of the Criterion edition with the magnificent audio commentary by Michael Jeck I became an Akira Kurosawa worshipper. If you haven’t seen the movie with Michael Jeck as your guide, you simply have not seen the movie.
Strangeness: There are only six samurai on the cover…

Il buono, il brutto, il cativo [The Good, the Bad and the Ugly] (1966)

The definition of absolute coolness and true cinemagick.
Check the finale here.
Listen to Enrico Morricone’s genius theme here.
I love spaghetti.

Vargtimmen [Hour of the Wolf] (1968)

I’m no superultrafreakfan of Ingmar Bergman, but Vargtimmen is one helluvan evil flick. I watched this one too on the big screen when studying film at the university and I truly love the cinematography.

(I must point out that even though Det Sjunde Inseglet [The Seventh Seal] is not on this list, it is definitely an awesome movie. But it’s not worthy of the Indy 500 top rating…)

The Godfather (1972)

No words necessary. Everything is perfect.
If I had a gun to my head and was forced to choose just one movie that I had to watch forever in Hell I could easily go for The Godfather.

“Forgive me, Godfather…”

The Godfather: Part II (1974)

Just as good as the first one. In fact, I think this sequel is better. Thus: Everything is perfect. But for the full experience I think you need to see all the Godfather movies in a row. And then once more with the audio commentary tracks. It’s pure magic.

Godfather: Part III (1990) is so underrated. It’s such a good film, but it doesn’t qualify on this list (the list of my four star rated films is endless…).

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

“Good morning, Miss Ratched.”

Taxi Driver (1976)

I’m obsessed with this masterpiece.
Read my thoughts about the film here.

Alien (1979)

It’s all about the atmosphere.
And by far the most grim looking monster in any movie to date.

Apocalypse Now (1979)

If all the movies on this list are rated 5/5, then Apocalypse Now in my mind is a definite 6. It’s better than everything else.
As for the Redux version, I’m not sure. I’ve only watched it once, and I immediately dismissed it for ruining the ultimate doom movie.
I think I’ll watch it again and give it a second opinion.

Life of Brian (1979)

One of the funniest movies ever. So many memorable scenes and quotes it’s almost surreal. I hate the ending, though. That fucking song… I hate it.

Stalker (1979)

The best sci-fi movie ever, and it doesn’t even contain any sci-fi!
Master Tarkovsky kills the competition.

Read a fine review here.

Modet att döda (1980)

This is a TV production, but what the hell…
Lars Norén. Enough said.

Sällskapsresan (1980)

Lasse Åberg is a dork, but this film is a true Swedish classic. No doubt.
After the success of this one he made another four films of which only the sequel, Snowroller, is worthy. The rest suck big time.

Scarface (1980)

Tony Montana!

Natten är dagens mor (1984)

Another Lars Norén TV drama that will kill your soul and rape your mind.
Elite!

Dekalog, piec (1989)

Another television drama, this is part five of ten in Kieslowski’s powerful series dealing with the ten commandments (this one being “Thou shalt not kill”).
I wrote about it in July 2007 here.

Sökarna (1993)

Wow! This is such an underrated movie.
It’s the work of mad men, and thus it’s so bad it’s beyond bad and turns out truly superb. Genius!
I love this movie so much and I watch it at least two times every year.
The sequel pretty much sucks… For real.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

I guess we all got a bit fed up with this movie for a while since everybody was talking about it everywhere. However, it’s a genuine classic and deserves no less than the highest possible rating. I recommend seeing it with the audio commentary track if you haven’t done so already.

Xich lo [Cyclo] (1995)

A Vietnamese masterpiece which is both beautiful and shocking.
Genius and brutality by the director of The Scent of Green Papaya, Anh Hung Tran.

Se7en (1995)

Even though Se7en is at its very best the first time you watch it, it’s a movie made with such elegance and instinctive feel I can watch it over and over again. Splendid cinematography by the Iranian master Darius Khondji as always.
Read an article about him here.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

I worship Hunter S. Thompson.
I worship Terry Gilliam.
I worship Benicio Del Toro.
I worship Johnny Depp.
I worship the Sixth Reich.

Festen (1998)

The first Dogma movie was a really good one. Not so much because the use of the Dogma regulations, but because of the nervous tension that builds and builds throughout the film.
An amazing drama.

Happiness (1998)

Finally a film featuring my favourite actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman! In my opinion he’s always on point. And so is this film. 5/5 all the way.
If I had to recommend only one independent film, this would be it.

Fight Club (1999)

To me, this movie pretty much says “I must change before I am forever stuck being the person that I am not”, as somebody so eloquently put it.
It’s a wake up call making some very bold statements against this sick consumerism-driven society that we live in.
I’ve written some texts about situationism here.

Magnolia (1999)

A must see. So many great performances.

Torsk på Tallin (1999)

Yet another TV production.
Of all the stuff that Killinggänget created, this one is my favourite.
It’s balancing perfectly on this thin line between comedy and tragedy.

Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)

I’m no fan of uplifting movies, but Amélie is simply too good to resist.
This is a Film with a capital F.

Cidade de Deus [City of God] (2002)

Another Film with a capital F. Totally brilliant!
As for the TV series and the City of Men stuff, I wasn’t that impressed.

Farväl Falkenberg (2006)

99 times out of 100, Swedish films suck so bad it’s unbelievable.
This is one of very few exceptions. This is poetry in motion. It brought me to tears, which hardly ever happens with movies.
The soundtrack is one of the best ever. All hail Erik Enocksson for that one.

Into the Wild (2007)

How strange! Another movie that brought me to tears. Another movie with a perfect soundtrack.
I wrote a little something about that here.

There Will Be Blood (2007)

First time I saw it I rated it 4/5. I’ve seen it a couple of times now and there’s no doubt in my mind that it deserves the full score.

“There are times when I look at people and I see nothing worth liking.”

Ok. That’s it. These are the 35 movies out of 1417 that I’ve given the highest score so far. Too many Hollywood flicks? Missed out on something? Let me know. I need some inspiration as well.
The list of 4/5-films is deep and long, but on the list of 5/5-films there is only room for the true elite.

literature, philosophy, quotes, swedish

>"We’re sympathetic towards the occult…"

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We’re sympathetic towards the occult and the secret arts. We are not occultists, however. We weren’t born with the kind of will it takes, let alone the patience to educate and develop such a will into the perfect instrument of a wizard or hypnotist. But we sympathize with occultism, especially since it tends to express itself in ways that many who read and even think they understand it don’t understand a thing. Its arcane attitude is arrogantly superior. It is, in addition, a rich source of mysterious and terrifying sensations: astral larvae, the strange beings with strange bodies evoked in its temples by ritual magic, and the immaterial presences that hover all around our unperceiving senses, in the physical silence of inner sound – all of this comforts us in darkness and distress with the caress of its sticky, horrid hand.
But we don’t sympathize with occultists when they act as apostles and champions of humanity; this strips them of their mystery. The only valid reason for an occultist to operate in the astral realm is for the sake of a higher aesthetic, not for the insidious purpose of doing good to others.
Almost unawares we harbour an ancestral sympathy for black magic, for the forbidden forms of transcendental science, and for the Lords of Power who sold themselves to Condemnation and degenerate Reincarnation. The eyes of our weak, vacillating souls lose themselves – like a bitch in heat – in the theory of inverse degrees, in corrupted rites, and in the sinister curve of the descendent, infernal hierarchy.
Like it or not, Satan exerts an attraction on us like a male on a female. The serpent of Material Intelligence has wound around our heart, as around the symbolic caduceus of the God who communicates: Mercury, lord of Understanding.

Those of us who aren’t homosexuals wish we had the courage to be. Our distaste for action can’t help but feminize us. We missed our true calling as housewives and idle chatelaines because of a sexual mix-up in our current incarnation. Although we don’t believe this one bit, to act as though we do smacks of irony’s very blood.

None of this is out of meanness, just weakness. In private we adore the Bad, not because it’s bad, but because it’s stronger and more intense than the Good, and all that is strong and intense is attractive to nerves that should have belonged to a woman. Pecca fortiter can’t apply to us, for we have no force,not even the force of intelligence, which is the only one we could ever claim. To think of sinning forcefully – that’s the most we can do with this severe dictum. But even this is not always possible, for our inner life has its own reality which we sometimes find painful just because it is a reality. The existence of laws governing the association of ideas (along with all other mental operations) is insulting to our inherent lack of discipline.

Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet, published for the first time 50 years after his death. Pessoa died in 1935.

NATRIUMBIKARBONAT

Plötsligt en ångest…
Åh, vilken ångest, vilken kväljning från mage till själ!
Vilka vänner jag har haft!
Vilken tomhet i alla städer jag har passerat igenom!
Vilken metafysisk dynga alla mina föresatser!

En ångest,
en tröstlöshet i själens hud,
armarna hänger vanmäktiga vid krafternas solnedgång…
Jag förnekar.
Jag förnekar allt.
Jag förnekar mer än allt.
Jag förnekar i ord och handling alla gudar
och förnekelsen av dem.
Men vad är det som fattas mig,
som jag känner fattas i mage och blodomlopp?
Vad är det för tom förvirring som tröttar ut min hjärna?

Skall jag dricka något eller ta livet av mig?
Nej, jag skall leva vidare. Seså! Jag skall leva vidare.
Le-va vi-da-re…
Le–va–vi–da–re…

Gode Gud! Vilken buddism kommer mitt blod att stelna!
Att avstå från vidöppna dörrar,
inför ett landskap alla landskap
utan hopp i frihet
utan samband,
en tillfällighet i tingens ytas inkonsekvens,
monoton men sömndrucken,
och vilka vindar när dörrar och fönster slås upp på vid gavel!
Vilken angenäm sommar, de andras!

Ge mig något att dricka, för jag är inte törstig!

Fernando Pessoa (under heteronymen Álvaro de Campos), 1930

literature, quotes, swedish

>Apsefiston

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4. ATT VARA TACKSAM.

Arbetsmarknaden stöter bort en som om man vore ett artfrämmande dödssmittat organ, och man har varken hyfs eller vett nog att känna den verkligt djupa tacksamheten… De storståtligaste, mest högkvalificerade, olidligt pösande platsannonser, hel- och halvsidiga, hela bilagor fulla i de tristaste och mest aktade blaskor (Frankfurter Arschgemeine är grotesk i det avseendet) betyder mycket litet för den och dess tänkbara gelikar. Så underbart att vara fri och någorlunda fattig, inte mer kompetent eller rangordnad eller beroende av någons uppskattning än en aldrig av människoglosöga skådad djuphavsvarelse!

9. I FÖRBIGÅENDE SAGT, TILL NÅGON SOM ÄR UNG OCH UNDERLIG.

Tillgodogör dej alla befriande avarter av bildning, och förbli fientligt främmande för middagsskålarnas och cocktailpladdrarnas parasitvärld. Inse att ingen vill ha med dej att göra om de inte tjänar något på det, hur subtilt och till synes människovänligt detta vinstsyfte än må vara, och alldeles oavsett om det är medvetet eller inte. Att du förväntas roa eller inspirera dem, eller att du rentav, som “ensam och utanför”, skulle må så väl av lite “mänsklig kontakt”, vilket får de bättre ställda att känna sej goda och generösa… Och med hela dej vill ingen befatta sej, endast med en tillrättalagd, skönfärgad, mildrad och rundad populärversion, som i allt ådagalägger sin betryggande samstämda harmlöshet. Därför blir sällskapsväsendet till en ömklig vämjelighet?

23. MISANTROPISK HUMANISM?

Människoföraktets frigörande folkliga möjlighet: om det drivs så långt att inget utrymme lämnas åt ledarkult, laglydighet, undersåtlighet.

50. KARAKTÄRSDANING I VANMAKTENS LIMBO.

[…]
Demonregissören Gud bygger kraftverk drivna av kreatursångest, och vi kan endast välja mellan att skildra eländet och vända bort blicken.

263. BRISTTILLSTÅND OCH FÖRSÖKEN ATT SKYLA ÖVER DEM.

Någon säger: “Jag förstår mej verkligen inte på den människan” – ett yttrande som blottar en ögats grumlighet och tankens svaghet hos den talande, inte alls ett tecken på att denne skulle vara “bättre beskaffad” i jämförelse med den “svårförståelige”, ofta betraktad som moraliskt “ond”.

music, reviews, swedish

>SRM Reviews (#63 July 2009)

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>Published in Sweden Rock Magazine #63 July 2009.

Anaal Nathrakh
In the Constellation of the Black Widow – 3/10
Candlelight (Sound Pollution)

Stackars lilla Anaal Nathrakh. De tror att de kan gömma sig bakom vansinnesskrik och blastbeats och emellanåt blanda in lite Emperor-storsvulstighet och komma undan med det. Icke!
Det här är black metal för folk som inte gillar black metal. Slipknot-black för vilsna får som vill ha sin black metal på bekvämt avstånd.
Bakom det plastiga kaoset döljer sig usel musik utan minsta övertygelse om något större än människan, och redan där är det kört för dessa bleka britter. Den stela produktionen gör inte det hela bättre.
Det här är duons femte fullängdare och man undrar stillsamt när sista andetaget är kommet så att alla som befläckats av detta dravel kan ägna sin tid åt viktigare sysslor.

———-

Brutal Truth
For the Ugly and Unwanted This is Grindcore – 3/10
Season of Mist (Sound Pollution)

Kvalitet före kvantitet! Det kan aldrig sägas tillräckligt många gånger när det gäller grindcore. En grindcoreskiva/konsert bör vara max 25 minuter lång, allt annat är vansinne. Här får vi huvudsakligen Brutal Truths konsert från Obscene Extreme-festivalen 2007, samt ytterligare fyra gigs från Sounds of the Animal Kingdom-turnén 1997/1998. Total speltid: kring 210 minuter. Vem pallar?
När dessutom ljudet är under alla kritik på samtliga spelningar (endast huvudkonserten är filmad med flera kameror, resterande gigs är filmade av fans i publiken) känns detta som en blåsning. Man får inte ens några låtlistor. Gubbigt!
Den enda behållningen är att studera den kraftlöse trummisen Rich Hoaks besynnerliga spelstil och minspel, samt att Barbro Havohej från Birdflesh tackas på omslaget.
Detta var tidigare ett av mina favoritband där de två första plattorna, Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Conditions (1992) och Need To Control (1994) definitivt håller än. Köp dem en gång till – även om du redan har dem – istället för det här skräpet.

———-

Goatwhore
Carving out the Eyes of God – 3/10
Metal Blade (Border)

Hur trovärdigt är det när ett gäng amerikaner med förflutet i band som Crowbar och Soilent Green slänger ihop ett black metal-band betitlat Goatwhore och kallar skivan för Carving out the Eyes of God? Avslutande låten heter To Mourn and Forever Wander Through Forgotten Doorways. Hade bandet varit bra hade det spelat mindre roll, men nu är det inte ens i närheten och då stör jag mig ännu mer på effektsökeriet.
Goatwhore sägs vara en unik blandning av black, death och sludge. Jag hör tyvärr inte det unika. Jag hör definitivt ingen sludge. Det här är så slickat som det kan bli.
När det dessutom spelas d-takt på amerikanskt vis (noll sväng, stelt som farmor, vek hi-hat) så är måttet rågat för min del. Ni andra kan ju sätta kepsen på sned och digga om ni känner för det.

———-

Myrkr
Black Illumination – 7/10
Debemur Morti (Sound Pollution)

Den väsande vokalisten låter sannerligen mer död än levande. Det är inte fråga om sång eller skrik utan snarare livlösa läten i upplösningstillstånd. Och lite så är det med musiken också. Den vittrar bort, svävar omkring likt unken luft och ställer till med dov oro i leden. Det enda som håller samman musiken är de envetna trummorna, trummor som inte gör mycket mer än håller entakten.
Detta är en fascinerande skapelse som lär växa efterhand, men just nu famlar jag i mörkret och försöker hitta den döda tråden som håller samman verket. När jag gjort det, när jag helt enkelt lärt mig låtarna, kan nog en viss dyrkan infinna sig. Men det kommer att ta tid att lära sig förstå.
Irländsk black metal som låter annorlunda, enkelspårig och murken. Jag tror att jag gillar.

art

>Art Crime: Erse

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1988
2007

Erse, one of Sweden’s best. Still active after all those years.
Too bad with the small pictures below, but that’s all you get from these shitty fotologs – they’re just as crappy as MySpace.
Interview with the man here.







philosophy, politics, religion

>Belief and Bloodshed: The Religion of Genocide

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First and last illustrations in this article are stolen from Babalon Graphics.
Go there for more relevant art.

My belief in humanity and God was shattered many years ago. The belief in humanity and God to do good, that is. But ignorance, injustice, hypocrisy and plain evil are always present, and thus form the basis of the ultimate truth of mankind.
There’s no doubt in my mind that humanity would be better off dead, and it seems to me quite strange how one could see it any other way. What signs are there that tell of a brighter future? Signs of dystopia are present wherever there are humans.
It should be obvious. The history of mankind is sealed with blood. Man was put on earth to fight, wage war and destroy. That’s what history tells us, and why would this ever change? Mankind is not good enough. Never will be. Our future breed is the last, to quote a brilliant Neurosis song (read the lyrics here), and rightfully so.

The shrouded reason, the bleeding answer
The human plague in womb
Bring clouds of war
Let us rest
Our future breed is the last

Violence and religion have been closely related since the dawn of civilization. While institutionalized religions have used violence against both their disciples and their real (or imagined) opponents, there is also this thing with religion as a provider of spiritual and material comfort to its victims of political/social violence. It works both ways; religious faith can both motivate aggression as well as constrain it. Religion helps to normalize genocide by providing myths of ultimate redemption, or by saying that it’s ok to annihilate your neighbour… In short, religion is used to legitimize and motivate mass murder.

Christian churches were clearly involved on many levels in preparing the theological, moral, political and mythical basis for genocide in this century. The Institute and Eradication of Jewish Influence on German Religious Life, established in 1939, greatly contributed to spread the idea of Aryan-Christianity by ”proving” that Jesus was racially an Aryan who fought to destroy the Jews. Such German Christians defined themselves both as a chosen people and as a victimized people, and they were socially and academically respected. Even though there were supporters as well as opposers to Nazism among the church leaders, what most of them had in common was the dislike of Jewish presence in Germany. Instead of discussing the moral of what was going on, they provided the perpetrators of the atrocities with religious comfort. They provided a cozy home where the killers could find peace and support, resulting in moral numbness.


We all know about the traditional Jewish concept of Jews as the Chosen People, the Jewish exclusivity and the Holocaust with a capital H. It’s pretty ironic then that the Nazis adopted this concept, them being the racial superiors, the Chosen Ones, and that the Jewish victims, and those who helped rescue them, went for the Christian concept of universalism: all people are equal – especially the weak (!).
Nowadays universalism is rarely to be seen as the racist Zionist movement continues its relentless massacre. The Zionist movement insists on the uniqueness of the Holocaust and is consequently refusing to consider any other case of mass murder as comparable. For example, Zionists do not look upon Armenians as fellow victims of genocide. For many Jews the Holocaust was directly related to Christian antisemitism. Armenians are Christians. Hence, no support from the Zionists. Also, the state of Israel needs to maintain good relations with Turkey, which has never even acknowledged the Armenian genocide, not even expressing regret for it. Politics and religion, not a very good mix.

Speaking of the Holocaust, Palestine radical author Hayim Israel Tsimrman puts the blame for the Holocaust on the younger generation of pious Jews in the 1930s who rejected tradition and betrayed their task of carrying Judaism forward. Their abandonment of religion along with their failure to return to the Land of Israel made it even worse. In his book Tamim Pa’alo, written shortly after the war, he argues that this is the answer to the question ”Why did God do this to this nation?”.
Radical, indeed.

The genocide in Rwanda can be traced back to the impact of the Catholic church on the population. The Belgian and French colonialism – for its own purposes – separated the inhabitants into the ethnic groups of Tutsi and Hutu. The church took part in this process and shifted its support from one group to another according to whoever was in power. This eventually led to the phenomenon of priests taking an active part in decieving the Tutsi population, calling them to seek shelter in the churches, which then became sites of mass murder. Here was the true face of the church, who claimed to bring Western civilization and Western morality to non-European and non-Christian peoples. The Vatican still denies any role in this genocide, and many of those clergy men who were involved are still active in Rwanda.


Back in the day of the mighty Inquisition, one was able to escape getting killed simply by converting to Christianity, thus losing one’s true identity, risking social exclusion and most importantly facing divine punishment. The horror!
Modern genocide tend to outrule this option, since religion tends to be related to race. The most extreme example might be how Serbian religious nationalists claim that Slavic Muslims suffer from a defective gene and therefore must be cleansed by murder or expulsion, since they cannot be transformed even by conversion.

Genocide – savagery, limitless brutality and cruelty.
Spirituality – love, compassion and humanness.
They walk together, hand in hand.

Article inspired by the book In God’s Name (2001).