Derangement Syndrome

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During the administration of G.W. Bush the columnist and for practicing mental health provider Charles Krauthammer deployed in one of his columns that he had discovered a new disorder ‘Bush Derangement Syndrome.’ This semi-satirical comment was quickly picked up by allies of the administration and hurled at every criticism of G.W. Bush. All the critiques held no merit because all the critics were ‘deranged.’ Like becomes so much easier when you can dismiss all who criticize you with a blanket and undefined mental illness.

When the administration ended such a valuable rhetorical tool could not be abandoned and so now those who stand in opposition to Trump have Trump Derangement System, and those who have issues with Musk have Musk Derangement Syndrome. It is truly the hammer that the right employs against every single person that doesn’t agree with them and thus becomes nails to struck.

The irony of this is that in that original column Krauthammer invented this imaginary in response to a leading Democrat, Howard Dean, leaving open the possibility of Bush having been forewarned of the 9-11 attacks. Krauthammer invented ‘derangement syndrome’ because of a prominent political operative engaging in a hair-brained conspiracy theory and now that slur is used for people who refuse to accept hair-brained conspiracy theories.

If standing opposed to someone who tried to overthrow a free and fair election makes me ‘deranged’, so be it.

If standing opposed to someone who knew that the coming pandemic represented a serious and lethal threat to the nation but then lied to the people as to the danger makes me deranged, so be it.

If standing opposed to someone who used vital military aid for a free country under threat of invasion for his own political gain makes me deranged, so be it.

If standing for the science of vaccines and the immeasurable good that they have produced against a man who would appoint idiots to manage our public health makes me deranged, so be it.

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Magneto, Musk, & Masked Villainy

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Villains and heroes often present themselves as saviors of the people making it sometimes difficult to know which is which.

In the first X-Men movies, Magneto, a survivor of the holocaust perceiving a new reign of mass murder of his people, this time those with mutant abilities rather than Jewish heredity, embarks on a scheme to save his people. At a gathering of world leaders, he will deploy a device powered by his own nutant talents to transform those world leaders into mutants. The device exacts a terrible price and using it would cost Magento his life. Instead, he kidnaps a young girl and will transfer his abilities, temporarily, to her and use her to power the device, sacrificing her life for his goal. And as the character Wolverine spits out at him, “You’re so fulla shit. If you were really so righteous, it’d be you in that thing.”

There’s one way to differentiate the villains from the heroes, the willingness to pay a price versus compelling others to sacrifice.

In the final weeks of the presidential campaign Trump ally Elon Musk said in a telephone town hall that in order to get the nation’s economic house in order “We have to reduce spending to live within our means. And that necessarily involves some temporary hardship…”

It is notable that none of the proposals from the incoming administration or put forth by Musk have the slightest pain that would be inflicted upon himself or his class of billionaires. Quite the opposite. Their tax cuts would be extended and expanded and their businesses freed from damaging the environments or responsibilities to their work force. All of the pain, the actual sacrifices, would be born by others at the command of those not only paying no price but profiting from the process.

I leave it to you to determine who is being villainous here.

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Movie Review (sort of): Werewolves

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Because I had today off from the work, I decided to go see a movie last night and went to Werewolves. What followed is something that I had not done in many many years, I walked out of a movie before it was over. So, be aware that this review is based pretty much on the first act alone of the movie I truly did not enjoy.

braircliff entertainment

Why did I walk out? I could have gotten past the flat ill-defined characters. I could have gotten past the exposition heavy set-up and even the truly idiotic action of supposedly intelligent people. Even a character has wildly unlikely as our protagonist who was, 1) an infantry combat veteran of American’s wars in the middle east, 2) a dedicated first responder, AND 3) a world-class research level medical doctor. Such a collection of skill is well suited to pulp adventure but badly placed in a horror movie, but I could have let it slide.

No, it was the actual film making and cinematography that drove me out of the theater. Director Steven C. Miller is so enamored with lens flares as to make J.J. Abrams appeared restrained and suited for period drawing room dramas. I was literally muttering under my breath ‘enough with the lens flares’ before any story had started. Miller is also overly fond of extreme close-ups. I am talking about framing actors faces so their chin touches the bottom of the frame and forehead exceeds the top. This is used in a Heads-Up-Display much like Iron Man in the MCU but far far too often. During chaotic action sequences where the characters are suffering the consequences of their poorly thought out set up the audiences are shoved so close to the actors faces with so few cut away shots it is nearly impossible to know exactly what is going on.

All of that pales before Miller’s devotion to strobe effects.

When things turn to shit in the research center because none of the brilliant characters were able to remember that people can reach between bars of a cage the chaotic fight and flight scenes in addition to being filmed with far too many full-face close-ups is lit with so many intense strobes that I literally had to hold my hand between my face and the screen. Of course, with my hand positioned like that I could no longer follow the action and I still acquired a nice migraine. I tried for a little bit longer to watch but between the stupidity onscreen and the pain escalating behind my eyes I determine coming home was a far more intelligent option.

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Victory!

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Okay, it’s not a major victory like Midway, getting an agent, or a contract from a big 5 publisher but it is still a check in the ‘win’ column.

For a couple of weeks I have been thinking about a foreign tv series that my sweetie-wife and I watched on SHUDDER. We like it and there was a second season but before we could get around to starting that it expired from the service.

Years, many years, pass and here I am thinking it would be nice to locate and watch the second season except I can’t remember the title of the series. I couldn’t even be certain of the nation that produced it.

I remembered it was a Nordic nation, or maybe Germany. The title was a single word but not only was it a word in language I do not speak but it may have been a word from deep mythology as the series dealt with ancient mythological horrors in the deep deep forest. So, there was no way in hell that word was going to come forward for me.

A few cursory google searches for horror series in the possible nations of origin yielded nothing that sparked any memories.

Then, inspiration. While I did not remember the lead actress by name, I think this was the only project of note of her’s that I had seen, I suddenly recalled one of the supporting actors was the lead in the Finnish series Boarder Town. A quick look through his credits yielded the answer I had quested for; Jordskott.

Yup, that’s the series and there is no way in hell that title would have ever come to mind more than seven years after watching season one. (It was a SHUDDER exclusive in 2017.)

Sadly, it is not streaming anywhere.

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General Catch Up

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We have hit the busiest portion of our annual work at the day-job and last month I worked more overtime days and non-overtime days. However, this week I am scaling back for health reasons.

For the last three days running I have had on each day some level of migraine headache with Saturday evening and Sunday morning being the most intense pain days. Sadly, that forced me to cancel my role-playing game on Saturday night and my zoo trip on Sunday morning.

That said, I have been able to get to work and contribute to the massive backlog created by people who waited to the very last minute to submit their enrollments.

I have also been able to continue work on my folk/cosmic horror novel and have now passed 75,000 words with perhaps 10 or 12 thousand left to completing the 1st draft. Then the revisions begin, and this will take a lot more than any other novel I have written. While life is easier with an outline, I am glad I have written this one by the seat of my pants if for no other reason than to experience that process.

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Movie Review The Return

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Sunday Dec 8th turned out to be a three-movie day as I watched Heretic at a late screening, Heavier Trip, the sequel the charming Heavy Trip by way of Video on Demand and at a matinee screening The Return.

Bleecker Street Productions

A retelling of the final chapters or books of the Greek Classic The Odyssey the film details the return after twenty years of the hero/king Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) to his home the island of Ithaca. In the absences the kingdom has gone to ruin. The best men had sailed with the king to the war on Troy and none have returned. The king’s father is dying and unscrupulous suitors pressure Queen Penelope (Juliette Binoche) to select one of them to be the new king. Disguised as a beggar and veteran of the war Odysseus is reluctant to reveal himself, carrying the heavy emotional scars of both the war and the men he led to their doom.

The Return is a modern telling of the story with modern sensibilities to the emotional trauma inflected by the horror of war while retaining the period setting of the classic tale. Fiennes is excellent, as usual, in the role, his aged and deeply lined face wearing the heavy weight of guilt and memory quite well. Binoche also turns in a riveting performance while the rest of the cast can only be described as adequate. It is not perhaps the fault of the performers as the script is tightly focused on Odysseus and Penelope. It is their story and his more than hers, with the remaining characters only serving to reflect themes and motivations back to the principles.

The direction by Uberto Pasolini and the cinematography is serviceable and does nothing to draw attention to themselves but also do nothing that elevates the final product above that perfectly useable art.

The Return is currently in theaters but with a very limited promotional campaign, a proper trailer was only available about a month prior to release, it is destined for a fast trip to online streaming and Video on Demand.

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Movie Review: Heretic

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Heretic: a person who differs in opinion from established religious dogma. (Merriam-Webster)

Released by A24 Heretic is a horror film that falls more broadly in the genre of psychological horror than traditional horror thought elements at the films conclusion can be interpreted to move the movie into a supernatural realm.

A24 studios

As depicted in the films trailer, two Mormon missionaries, Sister Paxton (Chloe East) and Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) have come to the home of Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant) because he has expressed an interest in learning more about the Mormon church. Deceiving the pair into believing his wife is at home he traps them in the house and begins a cruel psychological cat-and-mouse game with the young women.

First off let me state just how much I am loving Hugh Grant in is villain era of acting. From a corrupt English politician in A Very English Scandal, thru his campy and quite enjoyable rogue in Dungeons & Dragon: Honor Among Thieves to this controlled and chilling performance I have enjoyed Grant so much more than in his good looking rom-com days.

Written and Directed by Scott Beck & Bryan Woods, Heretic is a thoughtful film that doesn’t treat any of its characters as cheap and as strawmen. It poses interesting and challenging questions about the nature of faith, belief, and organized religion without presenting any particular answer as ‘truth’ but only as truth seen through flawed human perception.

The three central performers are all operating at what looks like the top of their games, giving detail and subtle performances that illuminate character without broad exposition. Reed’s worldview is internally consistent but like any not without fault or logical fallacy. The Sisters are presented neither as caricatures of their faith nor as unblemished adherents.

Cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon makes use of unsettling and unconventional close-ups that allow the audience of share in Paxton and Barnes growing terror as their situation becomes frightening clear.

Heretic at time reminded me of Barbarian but without that movies disbelief shattering descent into superhuman silliness. Save for a single event near the films climax Heretic keeps itself firmly grounded in conventional reality and even the event in question is open to various interpretations.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and I am thrilled that I managed to make time to see it in the theater before it run closed.

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Return to Twin Peaks, not Twin Peaks: The Return

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During spooky season I posted that my sweetie-wife and I were doing a rewatch of the 90’s television series Twin Peaks.

I had some exposure to the uniqueness of David Lynch prior to the series. As part of a double feature at a rep theater I had seen Eraserhead, and it never made sense to me. Then I saw his adaptation of Dune, a flawed but visually stunning film that to me is the least David Lynch he ever made. However, I fell in love with Blue Velvet a surreal neo-noir that was both crime melodrama and an exploration of the twisted darkness that hides in all of us.

When Twin Peaks hit the air my very first thought was ‘Oh, this is Blue Velvet for television.’ I had no conception of just how strange, cosmic, and beyond rational the series would delve.

ABC Television

Our rewatch has reached the second of half of season two and it has been quite a ride. At times the series is a less than middling nighttime soap opera, with poorly executed noir styled plots that quickly fizzle out, at other times it’s a bizarre comedy with such questionable material as a middle-aged woman delusionally going to high school and using her inhuman muscular strength to sexually hares teenage boys. And yet it always retains those elements that are pure horror, of worlds beyond our own intruding with sadistic demons and entrapping human souls not only in depravity but with elements of furniture.

As we swing into the final episodes air back in the 90’s and the terrifying nature of the Black Lodge, the possessing demons, and a cliff hanger that went unresolved for 25 years I can’t help, despite all its flaws, to salute the inventions of the series.

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A Murder in Mid-Town

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Yesterday morning in New York City, the Chief Executive Officer of UnitedHealthcare was slain in what seems to be an obviously preplanned assassination. Leaving his hotel, Brian Thompson was shot multiple times from behind by an assailant who took precautions to mask his identity and fled on foot and on electric bicycle and remains uncaptured.

Following the killing a lot of dark, nasty, and cruel comments began appearing on social media, much of which utilized the for-profit Health Care industries verbiage utilized when denying coverage for medication, procedures, or care.

I know nothing of Brian Thompson as a person or as a CEO. He may have been a man who wanted to bring more care to patients under UHC’s coverage. He may have been the sort of CEO who demanded that every department met ‘quotas’ for rejected claims to protect profits. He may have been a kind and empathetic employer, or he may have been the sort that demands you return to work and leave friends and loved ones stranded. Whatever the case for Thompson as a person murder is murder and the assassin needs to be brought to justice.

The hot and fierce feelings of those people making their online comments is utterly understandable. My job previous to my current one was working for a medical access company. Doctors would send over to us proposed treatments for patients and our company dealt with the byzantine bureaucracy of the for-profit insurers to obtain the approval. UHC was one of the worst to deal with. For some treatments it seemed that every single request was denied forcing us to launch an appeal on the patient & providers behalf. In my opinion that denied knowing that some people wouldn’t know to appeal to avoid that expense for the company. When politicians, nearly always Republicans, scream that you don’t want bureaucrats between you and your doctor it infuriates me. They are there already and making it more expensive and complicated than it needs to be.

Perhaps the murder in mid-town was because someone’s healthcare was delayed or denied and for someone this broke them in a violent manner. It has been reported that shell cases at the scene had the words ‘deny, defend, & depose’ written on them and that support this possible motivation but until the killer is captured, we will not know the truth.

I have not made the biting, cynical, cruel comments that others have but man oh man I understand the hurt and the rage that motivates them.

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Intermittent Posting for the Rest of the Year

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The crunch time at my day-job has begun and with it the loads of overtime hours that are extended to the workforce. Luckily this is not retail or some construction type work, I work in an office, listening to podcasts while processing endless reams of paperwork helping people get the non-profit health insurance plans that they seek. So, while it is not physically taxing, but it saps energy and takes time.

This means the early morning time I usually employ for writing this blog will vanish most days and with it the posts. Mondays are different I tend not to work overtime on those days, so I am going to attempt to maintain at least a weekly schedule.

Good news is that lunches remain productive for my novel writing and with 60,000 words down and 30,000 or so to go I still look to complete the 1st draft of my next horror novel before the end of the year.

The election results here in the USA are concerning. If the president elect does as he has threatened, then in all likelihood terrible times are ahead. Perhaps he will be satisfied with merely looting the treasury and a civil war among his staff will limit damage, but it is not an outcome I would wager on. There is naught to do but fight in every legal way possible and preserve strength for the upcoming battles. World War II was not settled when the Allied force fled from Dunkirk, it looked dark, but in the end the fascist were defeated. Last week was a battle, not the war.

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