WCBE 90.5 FM: "Apocalypto," "Blood Diamond"

WCBE 90.5 FM
It's Movie Time: "Apocalypto," "Blood Diamond"
Co-hosts, writers & producers: John DeSando & Clay Lowe with guest film critic Kristin Dreyer Kramer
Air Time: Friday, 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, December 8, 2006
Streaming live on the web at http://www.wcbe.org .

John

"Apocalypto" is another violence showcase for drunken driver Gibson . . .

Clay

"Blood Diamond" is a well intended thriller as seen through the wrong pair of eyes . . .

HIT MUSIC, THEN UP THEN UNDER FOR:

Clay

"It's Movie Time" in Columbus with John DeSando, Clay Lowe and today’s special guest, on-line film critic Kristin Dreyer Kramer . . .

MUSIC BRIEFLY UP THEN SLOWLY DOWN AND OUT

John

I'm John DeSando . . .

Clay

I'm Clay Lowe . . .

Kristin

And I'm Kristin Dreyer Kramer . . . ("Apocalypto" 130 words)

John and Clay,

In Mel Gibson's latest film-set toward the end of the Mayan civilization-a young Mayan named Jaguar Paw, played by engaging newcomer Rudy Youngblood, is captured and marked to be sacrificed to the gods. Jaguar Paw manages to escape, and, with a group of warriors close behind, he races back to his village, where he's hidden his son and his pregnant wife.

Apocalypto is a stunning film with a fascinating story, but it gets lost in scene after scene of unnecessary carnage. If he'd left a few things to the imagination, Gibson would have had a brilliant film on his hands-but he gets so caught up in decapitations and human sacrifices that, as a result, Apocalypto is little more than an exquisitely done horror movie.

John ("Apocalypto" 127 words)

“Stunning,” “fascinating”—Kristin, you’re starved for good movies. From Jesus to a Jaguar, this director is obsessed with blood, on which he slips every time.

Clay

Hey John, the same could be said of that blind poet Homer.

John

Homer may nod, but he never slips.

Gibson loves gore. No, that's not a new political eccentricity for the
mercurial director, but an inference I am drawing from his recent films and his notorious traffic violation.

His fictional Mayan hero, a Braveheart of the jungle, experiences torture at an unprecedented scale, but not improbable for those who have seen Passion of the Christ or traveled in the Yucatan to see the murals depicting throat slicing and decapitation.

Yes, the jungle tracking sequences are worth suffering through the rest of the bloody raids, chases, and sacrifices.

Yes he has missed the opportunity to depict the decline of a great
civilization.

Clay ("Apocalypto" 128 words)

Well, folks, there's no doubt the take-no-prisoners depiction of violence in "Apocalypto" is disturbing. And there's no doubt that director Mel Gibson specializes in the depiction of violence the way that horror movie makers do. Think Wes Craven.

But whether or not Gibson uses violence for a higher purpose or whether he's just trying to time satisfy his own blood lusts - who can truly say?

John

I can say!

Clay

Of course you can, the point is the use of violence in "Apocalypto" is the key to its meaning.

Violence was the hallmark of the Mayan's fear culture, and violence was the way they maintained control.

Like it or not, "Apocalypto" is a brilliantly made movie that even has a few things to say about those who would use violence and fear to control us today.

John ("Blood Diamond" 127 words)

Yes, W and Rummy will love Apocalypto.

Clay

Rummie's gone, John.

John

Civil war and diamond lust rule West Africa’s Sierra Leone, 1999. Edward Zwick’s Blood Diamond, starring an excellent Leo DiCaprio, touches TOO many incendiary bases: towns pillaged for young boys to be recruited for rebel armies, big diamond firms manipulating the market to keep the price of diamonds high, foreign concerns such as the US walking narrowly between outrage at human rights violations and interest in the country’s vast resources such as rubber and gems.

Zwick captures ironic beauty through visually stunning landscapes juxtaposed with shots of poverty and mayhem.

Clay

I can't believe you cut him more slack than you do Mel Gibson. As a
director he's clearly inferior.

John

And that’s the problem: Gibson should be superior to Zwick but isn’t.

Blood Diamond turns on love after all, both for a land and a people. If Zwick had stayed longer with the big issues such as politics and corporate corruption, his film would have achieved an Out-of-Africa mystique.

Clay

Folks, enough of fear cultures, shame cultures, and bloody hot diamonds, because it's grading time.

John

Holy BLOODY BUSINESS, Hooray!

John

"Apocalypto" earns “C” for CODDLING audiences with CARNAGE COCAINE . . .

Kristin

Apocalypto earns a C for carelessly chopping off heads instead of capturing viewers' hearts.

Clay

"Apocalypto" gets an “A” despite its gutsy gore because Gibson’s film, this time, IS bloody brilliant . . .

John

"Blood Diamond earns a “B" because this director is interested in MORE than BLOOD . . .

Clay

"Blood Diamond" gets a "C" because it CONTINUOUSLY patronizes the natives . . .

John

Clay and Kristin, I bought a diamond recently for my Russian interpreter, but she BLOODY well refused it.

I guess if modern heroes like me get their heads chopped off spending five grand for rejection, maybe diamonds as well as civilizations ARE not forever.

I'm outta here.

Clay

Better your head than other key portions of your anatomy, John, I'm outta here too, and ya'll come back again Kristin, do ya heah?

See you at the movies, folks.

HIT CLOSING THEME THEN UNDER FOR

Clay:

The Award-Winning "It's Movie Time" with John DeSando and Clay Lowe is written produced by John DeSando and Clay Lowe in conjunction with 90.5
FM,WCBE in Columbus, Ohio.

MUSIC UP, THEN DOWN AND OUT

Copyright by John DeSando & Clay Lowe, 2006