Best read as a continuation of Part 4; https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2025/04/lets-all-go-to-movies-pt4.html
Anora (2024): This tells the story of Anora "Ani" Mikheeva, played by Mikaela "Mikey" Madison, a Russian speaking Stripper and Prostitute. So it is an example of an actress as a sex worker. A line which is becoming increasingly blurred by the rise of DeepFake Pornography.
As a prostitute Ani is employed by Ivan "Vanya" Zakharov, played by Mark Eydelshteyn and the pair have sex on numerous occasions at Vanya's mansion. These sex scenes are shown in the movie contributing to the issue of how to mitigate the negative effects on actors who have to appear in nude and sex scenes. Recently one of the main ways nude and sex scenes have been mitigated is through the use of so-called; "Intimacy Coordinators." People who act almost as Stunt Coordinators or Dance Choreographers. Planning and risk assessing sex and nude scenes in advance. Notably Anora did not use Intimacy Coordinators promoting discussion about whether their absence contributed to a more negative experience for Mikey Madison and Mark Eydelshteyn.
Not being an actor or someone who works in the Movie Industry the use of Intimacy Coordinators is another area I really don't feel qualified to comment on. However my understanding is that their main role is to ensure that everyone involved feels empowered and supported in ensuring that they're not being forced to do things they are uncomfortable with. Not only do different people have different limits to what they are comfortable with even the same people have different limits at different times. So, as is so often the case with matters of sex and nudity, this is not an issue where we're ever going to be able to arrive at one correct answer. All you can really do is keep the discussion going, offering different perspectives.
Both Mikey Madison, 25 years old, and Mark Eydelshteyn, 22 years old, are quite young actors at the start of their careers. So there is then the discussion about how the nude and sex scenes in Anora will affect their careers moving forward. It's unlikely that it will have the same effect as; "Nymphomaniac" (2013) had on Stacy Martin's career. That movie featured a lot of actual sex scenes which were intended to provoke feelings of disgust and revulsion. While I've not seen them I suspect the simulated sex scenes in Anora are much less graphic depictions of much more normal, less offensive, sex. However there is a possibility that both Mikey Madison and Mark Eydelshteyn will now be seen as actors prepared to do nudity and sex scenes, without the added expense of Intimacy Coordinators, so will now only be offered roles which feature nude and sex scenes.
Although often described as a newcomer or rising star Mikey Madison is actually already well established in her career. She had a main role as Maxine "Max" Fox in the TV Show; "Better Things" which ran from 2016 to 2022. Alongside that and other TV roles she had also appeared in eight movies prior to Anora, including well known movies such as; "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" (2019) and; "Scream" (2022). Presumably making her another Jew who found Melissa Barrera difficult to work with. The younger of the two Mark Eydelshteyn is much less well established in his career. Having previously only appeared in the small, little known, Russian movie; "The Land of Sasha" (2022).
So looking at the issue from a gender-neutral perspective we should be much more worried about how the nude and sex scenes in Anora will affect Mark Eydelshteyn's career than Mikey Madison's. However I think we all know that the World and the Movie Industry is not gender neutral. Woman are far more often the victims of gender-based violence at the hands of men than the other way round. Meaning that we have to assume that Mikey Madison will be more at risk of negative consequences from the nude and sex scenes in Anora. She'll be the one more likely to be dismissed as nothing more than a pair of breasts she's prepared to show on screen. Mikey Madison will be the one who is flooded with DeepFake Porn and Porn Movies featuring actresses who look just enough like her. When, inevitably, the movie's copyright is stolen and the sex scenes are uploaded to Porn Websites they won't be getting tagged with Mark Eydelshteyn's name.
Anora is directed by Sean Baker who, it must be said, does make rather a lot of movies about sex workers. In 2015 he made; "Tangerine" which is about Transgender prostitutes working the streets of Los Angeles. Although Mikey is just a nickname when you first hear about newcomer Mikey Madison appearing as a sex worker in a Sean Baker movie it does make you wonder whether it's yet another Transgender actress playing yet another Transgender sex worker. Due to that topic being so darn fashionable in America at the moment. Being reminded that we have to be more concerned about how the nude and sex scenes will affect Mikey Madison because we do not live in a gender-neutral world, male and female are different genders and are treated differently, contributes another dimension to that topic. Dare I say not quite such as fashionable one.
Mikey Madison won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in Anora. I don't want to detract from her win. Particularly as I suspect that might come back to bite me. However it's almost a cliché to say that simply being nominated at The Oscars is the real victory. Every year in, every category every nominee is really good enough to win. It takes something a little bit extra to go from nominee to winner. In many ways this is deeply unfair. Normally that extra little thing is more to do with the trends and topics of that particular year rather than anything the nominees themselves have any control over.
I think what helped push Mikey Madison over the line this year was how Nymphomaniac has affected Stacy Martin's career. Like all nominees Mikey Madison will now go before a committee which will consider, and likely grant, her membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). When that list of new members is published I wonder if Stacy Martin's name will also appear on it? I can certainly think of a few members of the Academy in good standing who would support her membership.
After employing Ani for sex on a few occasions Vanya then employs her to pretend to be his girlfriend for a week. During that week Vanya asks Ani marry him as a way to prevent him having to return to Russia, although he assures her he has genuinely fallen in love with her. They fly to Las Vegas and get married.
It turns out that Vanya is the Nepo Baby son of Nikolai Zakharov, played by Aleksei Serebryakov, a Russian Oligarch and borderline gangster. Objecting to Vanya and Ani's marriage Nikolai Zakharov instructs Armenian gangster Toro, played by Karren Karagulian, to kidnap Ani and force her to annul the marriage. After the Russians go to great lengths to prevent the relationship the marriage is annulled and Vanya returns to Russia.
This allows for discussion of The Great American Bell Ringing of 2021. In which the CIA went to great lengths, including banning me from Instagram, to prevent Miley Cyrus and I from talking to each other directly. Even in the QWERTY alphabet; "Mikey" is just one letter away from; "Miley."
The fact that in the movie the American CIA is portrayed as; "The Russians" puts a new perspective on that often repeated claim of; "Russia's invasion of Ukraine." In the movie most of; "The Russians" are actually Armenians. Rather like that other member of my little group of 'Facebook Friends' I was cut off from by The Great American Bell Ringing, Kim Kardashian.
Along with neighbouring Azerbaijan Armenia was part of the Soviet Union. When they both became independent of the Soviet Union Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war with each other over the Nagorno-Karabakh Region (NKR). It was the 2022 intensification of The Ukraine War (2014-Present) which prevented Russia from upholding the Lachin Corridor Peace Agreement allowing Azerbaijan to seize full control of the NKR in 2022. Any mention of Armenia also touches on The Armenian Genocide (1915-1917). An actual Genocide.
The movie is, primarily, set in the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn, New York City. An area which has such a large and longstanding ethnically Russian population that it is often dubbed; "Little Odessa." An informal acknowledgement that the Ukrainian city of Odessa is part of Russia. Like many of the residents of Little Odessa many of the cast of Anora are Russian speaking ethnically Russian and Armenian Americans.
Ever since The Super Bowl 2024 I've been, slowly, catching up on Season 3 onwards of the TV show; "The Americans" (2013-2018). Due to the ITV network's wild optimism in its now defunct Streaming Service this was, effectively, banned in the UK.
The Americans is a show about deep cover Soviet spies living as Americans in the 1980's in and around Washington D.C. They are supported by Russians at the Russian Embassy who all have their own lives and families back in Soviet Russia. Like Anora it includes a sizeable ethnically Russian, Russian speaking American cast. I do not speak Russian. However even I can tell that there is a difference between Keri Russell's Russian and Annet Mahendru's Russian.
The Americans was on air when the Obama-Biden Regime attempted to steal the 2016 US Election with its "Russian Interference" myth. Something I'm just getting onto now. While the show ended in 2018 you get the impression that none of the ethnically Russian, Russian speaking cast have worked since the 2022 *ahem* 'Russian Invasion of Ukraine.' Making them and other Russian-Americans, such as those living in Little Odessa, examples of the type of marginalised community that Sean Baker likes to work with.
As such the movie seems to be posing the question of whether it's time that Russians, particularly Russian-Americans, be welcomed back into the mainstream. The success of the movie at The Oscars 2025 seeming to provide a clear answer.
A Complete Unknown (2024): This tells the story of legendary American singer song-writer Bob Dylan. From his arrival in New York City, as an unsigned artist, in 1961 through to his controversial performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. However many diehard Bob Dylan fans will not enjoy this movie. In concentrates more on telling the Subjective, Expressionist, artistic spirit of the story rather than the Objective Facts.
Music is something which exists. It needs to be made with tools. As with movie making if you are in the business of making music then there is something to be said for talking about the tools you use. The new tools which have just been invented and new ways of using existing tools.
However there is a certain type of music fan, they are typically men, who don't make music themselves. Yet they all have these really complicated, expensive Hi-Fi systems. Not only that they can tell you about every semi-conductor in every circuit of their expensive amplifiers, record players and speakers. Their fandom is fuelled by, typically, Rock Bands such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin who constantly re-release remastered versions of the same album over and over again. Apparently you can really hear the difference in the EMS VCS3 Synthesiser on the 2023 remastered version of; "The Dark Side of the Moon." Provided you've got the Technics SU-G700M2 Amplifier as part of your Hi-Fi system!
Obviously there is no right or wrong way to enjoy music and art. However I see it more as an emotive, visceral experience. I can't help but think that type of music fan is missing the Expressionist, artistic pleasure of music by getting bogged down in the Objective Reality of technical details.
You could liken this type of music fan to the Algorithmic Problem Solving of Traditional Computing. They need to have the original 1979 vinyl release of The Dark Side of the Moon. They need to have the 1988 Ultradisc re-release. They need to have the 1999 re-release on both CD and vinyl. They need to have the 2009 5.1 Surround Sound re-release on both vinyl and CD and so on. They need to play these versions of the same album, in order, on their Hi-Fi systems with each semi-conductor of every circuit set to precisely the right output. Almost exactly like a traditional computer following an algorithm.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) based computing however relies on Meta-Heuristic thinking. It might not have every version of The Dark Side of the Moon Pink Floyd has ever re-released and it might not have a Technics SU-G700M2 Amplifier. AI knows all the songs though.
It is AI based computing's ability to follow the Expressionist, artistic, fluid, spirit of things rather than rigidly following a set of mathematical rules which makes it such a threat to the jobs of people working in the Entertainment Industry. Traditional Computing may have been able to provide a tool, like a new type of pen, which would allow a Human to animate graphics more quickly. However AI is able to replace the Human and use the pen to animate the graphics itself.
This conflict between artistic Expression and rigid adherence to, almost, Algorithmic rules is central to James Mangold's movie. When he travels to New York City Bob Dylan very much sees himself as an acoustic Folk musician. He is signed to a record company after he meets acoustic Folk legends Woody Guthrie, played by Scoot McNairy, and Pete Seeger, played by Edward Norton. The climax of the movie centres around Bob Dylan deciding to use electric instruments, including amplifiers, at the Newport Folk Festival. Something which is deeply opposed by the booking committee for the festival and festival goers as they see it as breaking the rules, the Algorithm, of Folk Music.
When Bob Dylan is first signed his record company only allows him to include a few of his own songs on his debut album, insisting that it is mainly covers of well-established Folk standards. Much of the movie centres on Bob Dylan's desire for artistic freedom over commercial success. Ultimately driving him to break all the rules and use electric instruments, despite the Newport Folk Festival being worried about ticket sales. So it really digs deep into that ever present conflict between art and commercialism.
I should point out that the first time Woody Guthrie's music was ever recorded it was not by a record company but by the US Government for the Library of Congress. It was felt that the Folk Standards that Americans were singing to entertain themselves during The Great Depression (1929-1945) were such an essential part of America's history that they needed to be formally archived, like Presidential letters. So Woody Guthrie's work does, literally, chart America's history. Meaning that if you start talking about the Woody Guthrie character in the movie you can almost immediately start talking about any aspect of American history in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
I should also point out that when Woody Guthrie met Bob Dylan in New York City in 1961 much of his life and work had become consumed by alcoholism and a bitter feud with a New York Real Estate developer by the name of Fred Trump. Father of President Donald J. Trump. So although I don't think it's an intention of the movie you could easily start talking about that. Trump haters being bitter, washed up, alcoholic, lower forms of intelligence who just don't get it.
The movie also features Bob Dylan's relationship with Joan Baez, played by Monica Barbaro. I like to consider Joan Baez's 1995 live cover of the Bob Dylan song; "Ring Them Bells" to be the official anthem of The Great American Bell Ringing. Although, really, anything from the 1995 live album of that name can be used to mock the CIA.
Of course Bob Dylan is played by Timothée Chalamet who also produced the movie. Timothée Chalamet appeared at The Oscars 2025 ceremony with his rumoured girlfriend Kylie Jenner. At the time of The Great American Bell Ringing Kylie Jenner wasn't actually part of my little group of 'Facebook Friends.' Although I think it might have been possible to extend her an invitation. Possibly to join in with a Structured Reality style discussion about the Super Bowl and Awards Season. Meaning you'd have been reading this back in early March, rather than late April.
Miley Cyrus actually managed to cast a shadow over The Oscars 2025. She provided the song; "Beautiful That Way" to the soundtrack for; "The Last Showgirl" (2024). This features Pamela Anderson as Shelley Gardner, an aging Las Vegas Showgirl who can't come to terms with the fact that her career is now over.
There's actually quite a long history between Miley Cyrus and Pamela Anderson. Miley Cyrus' 'Nikolai Zakharov' approved relationship with Maxx Morando was unveiled to the public when Miley Cyrus visited Pamela Anderson to support her in the launch of her run of the musical "Chicago" in May 2022. Just after The Great American Bell Ringing and just in time for what should have been The Eurovision Song Contest 2022. Something which is definitely embarrassing in 2025, given that it was deeply embarrassing back in 2022.
In 1998 the British Popstar Billie Piper launched her career with; "Because We Want Too" aged just 15. By 2005 Billie Piper had moved into acting, appearing as the companion, Rose Tyler, in the newly relaunched; "Doctor Who" (2005-Just the Gays Now) In 2007 she took up the role of Belle/Hannah Baxter in; "Secret Diary of a Call Girl." (2007-2011). In which she played a prostitute up to and beyond the point she wrote and released the best-selling book the TV show was based on.
Obviously Secret Diary of a Call Girl is almost exclusively sexual themes and includes many sexual scenes. So it did include the male, almost bravado of us finally getting to see the child-star, the Sci-Fi/Fantasy actress nude. However it was written by a woman, Lucy Prebble, who went onto work with Billie Piper on the much more serious; "I Hate Suzie." Many episodes were also directed by a woman, Susan Tully.
So rather than being out-and-out DeepFake Porn type sleazy it sort of plays about with idea of that sort of sleaziness. So while you do get to see Billie Piper nude and pretending to have sex it mainly makes extensive used of body-doubles. It also makes very blatant use of body-doubles. In one scene Belle/Hannah is shown the model to be used in the artwork to promote her book, one of the body-doubles. She turns to the camera and exclaims; "She looks nothing like me!" Although it’s not mentioned on the Wikipedia page I think that in the later seasons they gave the body-doubles acting credits on the closing titles, alongside the main cast.
In, I think, Season 3 Belle/Hannah's book is so successful that American producers want to make it into either a TV show or movie. So they fly her out to New York City and take her to Broadway to meet the actress they want to play her. A character which is a thinly disguised version of Pamela Anderson. All big fake, breasts and dyed blonde hair. Belle/Hannah turns them down because she thinks they haven't understood her work and their version will be too sleazy.
So the big thing the CIA was hoping to shock and mystify the World with in 2022 was considered fodder for mainstream, network TV back in 2010.
The Last Showgirl was really the big snub of The Oscars 2025. Despite going into Awards Season with quite a bit of momentum it ended up receiving no Oscar nominations. Its association with Miley Cyrus being the reason for the snub.
Miley Cyrus was a presenter at The Oscars 2025. Primarily brought out to provoke a reaction, mainly from me. The idea being to present it live before the assembled members of the Academy; The reason why The Last Showgirl was snubbed!
Specifically Miley Cyrus was brought out to present the award for Best Sound, an award she's never going to win herself. It was won by “Dune: Part Two” (2024).
It was during the global premiere tour to promote Dune: Part Two that Zendaya wore the Thierry Mugler “Machinenmench” dress, inspired by; “Metropolis” (1927). So that brought in Metropolis, Freder Fredersen’s similarities to Vaslav Nijinsky, of The Ballets Russes. How Freder’s opening scenes in the Pleasure Garden resembles the opening to; “Swan Lake.” Pytor Tchaikovsky’s apparent obsession with closeted homosexual King Ludwig II of Bavaria who was also Richard Wagner’s main patron. Both Tchaikovsky and Wagner’s use of light and dark as a metaphor for the conflict between our private, inner-self and the public image of ourselves we present to mainstream society. How that was also used by Lar von Trier in; “Melancholia” (2011). The controversy that led to.
Next to all that you had Miley Cyrus standing there. Looking lost.
At around 16:25 on 16/4/25 (UK date) I'll try and finish this part tomorrow.
Edited at around 16:30 on 17/4/25 (UK date) to tidy the above and copy & paste;
A Real Pain (2024): This is about to estranged Cousins who are reunited by the death of their Grandmother. Benjamin "Benji" Kaplan, played by Kieran Culkin, is a drifter and slacker with no grown-up job and no family. David Kaplan, played by Jesse Eisenberg, is a much more serious character with a wife and children of his own. David Kaplan finds Benji Kaplan to be annoying, a real pain.
Crucially the Kaplans are Jewish. In death their Grandmother has paid for them to tour her native Poland and explore their family history. So this is the seemingly obligatory Oscar nominated movie about The Nazi Holocaust. Although it's an Oscar nominated movie about The Nazi Holocaust that people might actually want to watch. It's done as a comedy.
A lot of people have been taught to forget that Poland was the first National Socialist (Nazi) Dictatorship in Europe. Before Italy (1922). Before Germany (1932).
In 1918 Democrat US President and fan of the movie; "The Birth of a Nation" (1915) Woodrow Wilson installed Roman Dmowski and Ignacy Paderewski of the National Democracy movement (ND/Enjedca) as the government of The Second Polish Republic (1918-1939). Enjedca viewed all of Poland's problems as being the result of a Jewish Conspiracy. It believed that if Jews were allowed to restore their ancestral nation of Israel then it would become a base from which the Jews would conquer the World. Enjedca also rejected the Marxist path to Socialist utopia instead believing that it could only be achieved through aggressive nationalism.
The First World War (1914-1918) had seen both The German Empire and The Russian Empire destroyed. They had fought each other into mutual economic annihilation prompting their starving populations to rise up in revolution. Driven by Communism in Russia and just general, non-partisan, anger in Germany.
The Second Polish Republic established by Woodrow Wilson included territory which is now considered Germany. Immediately after being established The Second Polish Republic declared war on and invaded its neighbours; Ukraine, Belarus and Latvia, with the intention of annexing their territory as part of Poland. Ultimately Enjedca wanted to invade Russia and annex Russian territory as part of Poland. That brought them into conflict with what by that point was The Soviet Union. The Polish-Soviet War (1918-1921).
In 1921 Polish forces led by Józef Piłsudski launched an offensive to attempt to capture and annex Kiev, now Ukraine, as part of Poland. The Kiev Offensive (1920). They were crushed by a Soviet counteroffensive, ultimately turning the tide of the war leading to a Polish defeat. Demonstrating that Poland was not the all powerful nation of Enjedca's dreams this seriously damaged Józef Piłsudski's political career.
In May 1926 a group of Polish military officers, led by Józef Piłsudski, overthrew the Enjedca government. Establishing a military junta known as; "Sanation." Defeated in the 1929 Election the Sanation junta annulled the results and continued to rule The Second Polish Republic as a military dictatorship until 1939. "A Real Pain" was pretty much how everyone, except Woodrow Wilson, referred to The Second Polish Republic.
When Adolf Hitler rose to power and established Nazi Germany in 1932 Poland's Enjedca saw him as something of a hero. A powerful ally who would help restore them to power. So when Nazi Germany invaded Poland it was barely resisted, the 'invasion' taking a little over a month. Poland was only angered when the Soviet Union launched a counteroffensive to stop the Nazis in Poland, before they could invade Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Soviet Russia itself.
In A Real Pain the Kaplan Cousins first arrive in Warsaw. Prior to Woodrow Wilson establishing The Second Polish Republic the majority, some 90%, of Poland's Jews lived in Warsaw. However both Enjedca and Sanation systematically set about forcing them out. Using boycotts, Nazi Germany style laws and Kristallnacht style political violence. Enjedca in particular felt that Jews could never be true Poles and wanted to forcibly deport them from all of "Polish" territory. Meaning Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Russia.
When Nazi Germany took control of Poland they initially saw a different solution to Germany and Poland's shared; "Jewish Problem." Nazi Germany instead started to gather all of Poland's Jews together in a walled off area of Warsaw; The Warsaw Ghetto. Although overwhelmingly Jewish Nazi Germany also forced many Catholic Christians into The Warsaw Ghetto. There were actually three Catholic Churches operating within The Warsaw Ghetto.
In 1942 Nazi Germany started to implement its "Final Solution" to the; "Jewish Problem." Transporting Jews to Death Camps and killing them in massive numbers. An example of an actual Genocide. As part of this Final Solution Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto were transported to Death Camps, mainly Treblinka. In order to keep them calm and compliant they were told that they were being; "Deported." Something Polish Jews were well used to under both the Enjedca and Sanation regimes of The Second Polish Republic.
By late 1942 residents of The Warsaw Ghetto began to realise that people were being sent to their deaths, not merely deported. So they began to form armed resistance groups. Mainly the Jewish Combat Organisation (ŻOB) and Jewish Military Union (ŻZB). In April 1943 Nazi troops raided The Warsaw Ghetto to take more residents away to the Death Camps. The resistance groups fought back. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising held an infinitely better armed and larger Nazi force off for 29 days. Until the Nazis eventually razed The Warsaw Ghetto to the ground. Turning it into a formal Concentration Camp.
The Jews who fought the Nazis in The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising did not do so thinking they could win. They did so simply to give themselves the power to choose how and where they would be killed by the Nazis. The only power they had left to exert.
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising continues to have a huge influence over Jewish identity, particularly in Israel. It is the question of whether to allow yourself to be meekly sent to your death or to fight back. This is something which has become particularly relevant in the wake of The October 7th Genocide (2023-Present).
One of the most famous photographs of The Second World War (1939-1945) was taken during the Nazi's crushing of The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Taken by an unknown photographer and featuring unknown subjects it is titled; "Forcibly Pulled From Bunkers." It shows a terrified Jewish boy meekly standing with his hands up as the boy and his family are marched, at gunpoint, from The Warsaw Ghetto to the Death Camps. In the aftermath of The October 7th Genocide the current Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed the nation and told them that; "Israel can no longer be the little boy in the ghetto standing with their hands up."
If a terror group based in Mexico had carried out an attack on the scale of The October 7th Genocide on the US then it would have killed 40,000 people and seen 25,000 people taken hostage. Given how the US reacted to the far smaller September 11th Terrorist Attacks I think we all understand that Mexico simply would not be there anymore. In its place there would just be some nice new beachfront properties in El Paso, Texas. Yet in Israel Jews are still genuinely debating whether they should try to fight back or meekly try to come to some sort of compromise with their attackers.
Crucially during A Real Pain the Kaplan Cousins' tour-guide takes them to The Warsaw Uprising Memorial. A different event from The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In response to The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising The Polish government-in-exile discovered that some of its allies, weirdly, didn't think that Jews being exterminated was a good thing. So when the Soviet Union had all but defeated Nazi Germany in Poland they tried to cash in on the respect the Jews had won during The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by staging a small uprising of their own. Despite being backed by the Allied Powers The Warsaw Uprising was a spectacular failure with the, dare we suggest poorly motivated, Polish fighters quickly surrendering to the Nazis.
Created in 1989 The Warsaw Uprising Memorial is a very deliberate attempt to erase memories of The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and with it The Nazi Holocaust, something Poland never saw as a bad thing. Its primary aim is to promote the myth that the Soviet Union was the real villain in The Second World War by pushing a claim that the Soviet Union delayed its liberation of Poland to allow Nazi Germany to crush The Warsaw Uprising. In Poland's mythical history of The Second World War the 27 million Russians who died fighting Nazi Germany were just a cunning ruse. The Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and probably the Jews too, were all secretly allied with each other against Poland.
The act of the Kaplan Cousins being shown taking a tour of sites from The Nazi Holocaust in A Real Pain is itself highly controversial. In 2018 Poland passed the Amendment to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance. Essentially giving legal force to Holocaust Denial. It forbids any reference to Poland's collaboration with Nazi Germany in The Nazi Holocaust, such as The Jedwabne Pogrom (1941). It even makes it illegal to point out that the Auschwitz Death Camp, The Treblinka Death Camp, The Majdanek Death Camp are, by geography, Polish.
Another concerted effort to rewrite the history of The Second World War so that the Soviet Union was the real villain, The Nazi Holocaust never happened, 580,000 Poles never volunteered to fight for Nazi Germany and assist in The Nazi Holocaust. And if they did it wouldn't matter. Exterminating Jews is something to be celebrated!
Raising a real possibility that the movie may be banned in Poland on the second day of their visit the Kaplan Cousins visit the Majdanek Death Camp, portraying it as being in Poland. The Kaplan Cousins then bond over a deep heart-to-heart in which David learns to see the world from Benji's perspective. No longer seeing him as a real pain. Although as Jews they still have to bear the burden of The Nazi Holocaust, which despite continued Polish denials is a real pain to bear. Hopefully more people will learn about it now that there's finally an Oscar nominated movie about it which isn't an absolute pain to watch.
Before they leave Poland the Kaplan Cousins visit their Grandmother's childhood home. In keeping with Jewish tradition they try to leave visitation stones yet are stopped by the neighbours. Showing how deep Anti-Semitism continues to run in Poland.
Kieran Culkin won the Best Supporting Actor for his role in A Real Pain. I actually have a copy of; "Igby Goes Down" (2002) on DVD which I was tempted to dust off to plagiarise the speech about Marijuana to explain how a certain type of person relates to music, just to see if anyone would notice. However Kieran Culkin is probably most well known for his role in the hit TV show; "Succession" (2018-2023).
I can't say that I've ever watched Succession. In covering Awards Season I've completely given up on my day job. Something which has provided me with the time to fit in a full three one hour TV shows per week. A big thing which is stopping Succession from making the cut is the people who watch Succession. How they make a point of telling you that they watch Succession. Their way of letting you know that they're so much more intelligent than you are.
In the US Succession was broadcast on the HBO Max channel in Sunday night Primetime. HBO Max clearly wasn't prepared from Succession to come to an end. Forcing it to scramble for a similar TV show to fill the timeslot. It settled on the third season of the UK/US TV show; "Industry" (2020-Present).
I watched the first season of Industry and found it promising if not yet good. It's made by people who haven't made a TV show before and even big US TV shows made by people with a lot of experience struggle to properly find their feet within the first six episodes. Then the Pandemic hit and completely knocked Industry off its feet. Although I did watch it I can't remember anything about Season 2 other than a general impression of a TV show which really isn't coping. The supposedly shocking simulated sex scene 20 minutes into every epsiode with means the US audience is going into a commerical break(!)
However HBO Max had a gap in its schedule. So the Hollywood hype machine kicked in and we're supposed to believe that Season 3 of Industry is the greatest TV show ever made. Mikey Madison lookalike Marissa Abela is the greatest actress ever seen.
Everybody wants to be associated with The Oscars. So studios and even individual actors and directors all employ Public Relation (PR) firms to lobby throughout Awards Season. First to get their work nominated and then to get their work to win. A cynic would suggest that every Oscar is the Oscar for Best PR campaign.
The general public has been given a little glimpse into this world with the feud between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. In 2024 Justin Baldoni directed Blake Lively in; "It Ends With Us." The movie and particularly Blake Lively was not well received.
Just before the start of this year's Awards Season, taking advantage of a shortage of things to talk about, Blake Lively blamed Justin Baldoni for the public backlash against the movie and her, personally. Claiming he'd hired a PR team to run a smear campaign against her. Ironically Blake Lively did this by hiring a PR team to run a smear campaign against Justin Baldoni. The type of battle of PR teams which is normally kept behinds the scenes during Awards Season.
Around 17:25 on 17/4/25 (UK date) I will have to finish the last little bit of this part tomorrow.
Edited at around 14:00 on 18/4/25 (UK date) to tidy all of the above and copy & paste;
Conclave (2024): An adaptation of the 2016 Robert Harris novel of the same name the movie tells the story of 118 Cardinals in The Roman Catholic Christian Church as they are sequestered in a Conclave to choose the next Catholic Pope, following the death of the previous Pope. It deals with all the factionalism, campaigning, politicking, deal-making, lobbying and skulduggery involved in a candidate trying to garner the votes needed to win the top honour.
It does touch on some very big issues. Such as bribery and financial corruption, infidelity bordering on sexual abuse and that oh so fashionable issue in America at the moment; Transgenderism. The Conclave is disrupted by a suicide bomb attack on the Vatican which is part of a coordinated series of Islamist terror attacks across Europe. Prompting a big debate whether or not to meet violence with violence.
So the movie also touches on Islam's apparent war against Christianity, its attempts to drive it from its birthplace in the Middle-East. The novel was written during the height of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL/Daesh) Genocide of Christians and others in, predominately Iraq and Syria. I was particularly involved with the Catholic Syriac Military Council element of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD) which now seems to have been abandoned by the West amid the ever deteriorating situation in Syria. Although in a change from the novel in the movie the Archbishop of Baghdad is now the Archbishop of Kabul, Afghanistan. Bringing into discussion the US-led response to the September 11th attacks which ended in a lengthy failure.
I feel I should point out though that ISIL's seeming obsession with the Roman Catholic Church as the; "Crusaders" only really serves to underline that they were never an Islamic organisation. While early Islamic history does make some reference to conflict with the Romans it's referring to The Roman Empire. At that time the Roman Empire wasn't Christian, it was polytheistic worshipping multiple gods like Venus, Mars and Mercury. The Christian Crusades didn't happen until nearly a thousand years later. Islam does have extreme factions to it, Salafists, Deobandis and groups like Al Qaeda. Just as Christianity has had extremist factions such as the Puritans and the Pilgrims. While there is always a debate over whether theirs is the correct interpretation of the religion it is, at least, based in the religion. ISIL seemed to know less about Islam than I do.
Really though the movie was included in Awards Season to provide a euphemism for all the campaigning, politicking, deal-making, lobbying and skulduggery which takes place throughout Awards Season. So when the movie was being discussed 'Trembley' would be a reference to someone in the industry, 'Sister Agnes' would be a reference to someone else in the industry and so on. With the person in the industry being referred to changing depending on the conversation. Released in the US just before the 2024 US Election the movie played the same role during that election campaign. Particularly on Social Media.
While all the Awards Season discussion of the movie refers to people within the Entertainment Industry the movie itself name-checks the actual Roman Catholic Church. The current Catholic Pope is a real person. Likewise Dean of the College of the Cardinals is a real job within the Catholic Church, it is currently being done by a real person. Something which is true of all the roles featured in the movie. So the attention the movie received during Awards Season really forced the Catholic Church to pay attention to it and Awards Season. To try and work out what is being said about them.
That draws the Catholic Church into the world of the Entertainment Industry, where it may not have been comfortable. One of the big themes of this Awards Season has been the fine line between Actor and Sex Worker which has become ever more blurred through the rise of DeepFake Pornography. It's involved a deep exploration of the cinematographic, technical, differences between actual sex being shown in a movie like; "Baise-moi" (2000) and actual sex being shown in Porn Movies. Topics that good Christians probably shouldn't have a working knowledge of.
Although the Catholic Saint Mary Magdalene was a Prostitute. Prior to The Second Agricultural Revolution everyone was concerned by The Malthus Problem. That the Human population would grow to the point that natural resources, like food, was no longer able to sustain it. Due any population's primary goal being pleasure and its main source of pleasure being growth. Given how populations go about growing I think we all understand what the Church of England (CoE) Protestant Christian Priest Thomas Malthus was politely referring to there.
So Awards Season using Conclave as its sort of codebook for discussions about the Entertainment Industry did seem like a bit of a cheap shot against the Catholic Church. You suspect that Liberal minded Hollywood wouldn't have been comfortable displaying such casual disregard for any other religion. Certainly not that famous Hollywood cult The Church of Scientology and its Nation of Islam (NoI) faction.
The equivalent role to the Pope within Islam would be the Caliph. That's currently a role which is not filled by anyone. However if it were there seems little chance that meetings within Islam to choose the new Caliph would be treated as casually in Awards Season as Conclave.
Although with the movie touching heavily on ISIL attempts to restore the Caliph and the Caliphate that makes for rather a meta talking point of its own. Particularly given the role the movie played in the 2024 US Election where the Nation of Islam was a considerable factor.
To be continued in Part 6.
14:50 on 18/4/25 (UK date)
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