(no subject)

The ending of Blow Out (1981) tells us something fundamental about movie misogyny, just as the elaborately staged sex-murder in Strange Days (1995) tells us something about it. I have a horrible feeling that what it tells us is that Hollywood and the cinema audience alike are full of men with their hands down their trousers. (The female director of Strange Days excused herself with unconvincing bluster. Thanks for nothing, lady.)

Sexual politics aside: I borrowed the movie from the library, having long wanted to see it because of the business with sound technology a la The Conversation, Sneakers etc. It's an ancient ex-rental tape; in a wry twist, the damn sound went halfway through, making it necessary to turn it up enormously to hear the dialogue, and literally amplifying the horrible soundtrack. The tape also features delightfully awful SNEAK PREVIEWS of films like Kill Squad and Venom.

ETA: Warning - SPOILERS in comments!