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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Monster Movie Club: Steal This Film

NSFW language.


What the fuck was this? If someone gave me the option of watching this film again or Mystery Butt... okay, I'd still watch this again but I would not look forward to it.  This film IS the Mystery Butt of documentaries.

The film isn't without merit, it has a couple of good points. Here's one for example: First things first the Hollywood bullshit machine is in full force and like last time, Arnold Schwarzenegger is glad to be the spokesman of people talking out of their ass. In this commercial, he rides with a bad mutha fucka that came from Hong Kong and insinuates that the same people who make illegal copies are the same people who make illegal electronics & fake medication.
"I told you I'd be back"(Yes, he mentions that quote here and in the other film).
Fair enough, some people might actually do both those activities, but I don't really think that organized crime is really concerned with breaking the law in ways that do not make them any money. Luckily we have this guy to put things in perspective. He informs us that the movie industry has a habit of demonizing people & that in fact "they" equal people who they disagree with to serial killers. Ugh, the man, right? Always demonizing people with their hyperbole and gruesomeness. Anyways guy, what do you think of Hollywood's effort to stop file sharing? What do you think they intend to do?
"just chop of the heads of a few villagers, mount those heads on pikes as a warning to others"
 The film also focuses on the USA's pressure on Sweden to close sites like the Pirate Bay.
I-I crossed the line-line
And I’ll-I’ll let God decide-cide
I-I wouldn’t last these shows
So I-I am headed home

 They go to explain that the US has no jurisdiction on Sweden and therefore can get away with it since  their actions aren't illegal because they only link to copyrighted works and they do not actually host them.

So then this guy is like: So I'm a rookie and I take billions from you? Why don't you pay me one tenth that pay?
Just killed another career; it's a mild day.
 The film goes to explain that complete file sharing in inevitable(I actually agree with this for the most part), so they suggest to just go ahead and let these people cash in on it. They make the argument that people will always be able to create and therefore film and music industries should not be concerned. This an example of the creative minds that will survive the copyright apocalypse, according to the film.
I know you have all his mp3s already, but I felt like showing you the screen cap with his name anyways.
One last thing that bothered me a lot, was the way they used a scene from a  film called Pirated Copy. The scenes are intertwined with narrations of the law overstepping their boundaries. I was actually very interested in said film at first, then I realized that it is fictional and not a documentary. 
Not fucking happened in real life.
This is like using scenes from the Wire and passing them off as footage from a drug bust in real life. Sure it might be realistic, but it would not be true. The whole thing seemed pretty deceiving to me.

I was hoping for a better defense in part of file sharing, but this film is very weak and disappointing. For the record, I am not completely against file sharing in theory, I just wanted a better film to argue these points. there are also many unanswered questions. 1 Rad out of 5.

Anyways, look for Tell No One this weekend and vote for next week's choice.

4 comments:

  1. Also, I misread the title and watched Steal This Movie instead. It was also underwhelming. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5858962939917432628#

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  2. I, too, watched Steal This Movie. The acting was the best they could do, and the Joan Osbourne/Jackson Browne version of "My Back Pages" is gorgeous, but Ugh to the rest of it.

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