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jamie_windsor
Reviews
Sherlock: The Lying Detective (2017)
By far the best episode of Sherlock
This is not so much a return to form as a complete surpassing of it. Unlike other Sherlock episodes in the later series, this one is pitched absolutely perfectly. A perfect balance of non-linear storytelling with multilayered foreshadowing and interweaving story arcs. This episode is ambitious yet manages to remain not only clear and cohesive, but also utterly compelling.
This is an exemplary piece of television. A benchmark for other shows to aspire to.
Cashback (2006)
Pseudo-academic misogyny
When I first saw the short, I wondered if it was a subtle political statement about dominant/passive relationship of post-modern patriarchal culture in pseudo-academic circles. My optimism soon dispersed.
Some argue that the protagonist is flawed as most people are, but he is presented as the hero and not as a flawed character. I would guess he is a projection of the filmmaker's own view of women.
He fixates on a shallow view of "beauty" represented in what appears to be fashion-model happy hour at the local supermarket — classic lad's mag fodder. As if this wasn't enough, we are taken into his fantasy world where he undresses (I say "undresses" — what actually happens is he pulls up their tops and down their underwear to reveal breasts and genitals) these women in secret and without consent. He furthers this by becoming obsessed with the checkout girl whom he then proceed to secretly draw in various states of undress and then exhibits the picture (again, without her consent) in a public exhibition. In any normal scenario, we would label this character a sex-offender but apparently this is all hopelessly deep and romantic.
We have a short section with a nude man in a life class, but this is ridiculed as the man keeps passing wind (yes — this is the level of sophistication this film offers). Our protagonist instead draws the stereotypically "lad's-mag" attractive girl across the room.
Beyond all the sexism, the film is badly made. The characters are one- dimensional and the script is disjointed. There's some nice cinematography but that's about all I can say in its favour.
This film is an appalling piece of cinema that reinforces the outdated and sexist notion that women are primarily about body and that beauty is defined by nubile, young women in states of undress.