Reviews

reading some of the reviews, makes me wonder if we've been watching the same film...The film would feel much more at home at the pre-enlightenment period, or perhaps was it more of a long sigh for the happy days long gone - where the church could rule with absolute power, predicated on the perennial pillars of fear, guilt and abject surrender. How the non-believers would be variously burnt at the stake, drawn and quarter, stretched on the rack or subjected to the divine buoyancy trial to establish their faith. Alas,Those days where terror rules unchecked and unfettered are long since gone. Modern society requires more sublime and dare I say it artisitics methods of instilling fear and guilt in the believer and wobbler alike - believe or else....Notwithstanding the utterly propagandist message, as a piece of cinema it was tedious, laborious, unidimensional - not a patch on the Exorcist....

I approach the film with much anticipation, given the hype - not least in IMDb postings and the tag-PR spin to most of us- A strange, twisted psycho-sexual thriller depicting one woman's depraved descent into madness and mayhem!!!! The opening scenes however, proved the harbinger of what was to come – in a nutshell, a college project, which didn't quite make the grade. The script and visual narrative were awash with poorly assembled clichés masquerading as 'weird'! The transparent script was trumped by Kingsley horrendous acting ability - I have routinely seen more depth and substance in undergraduate theatre. As is often the case, and vain attempt was made to spice up the incoherent, pretentious and contrived script, extremely poor acting and direction with sexual imagery - in the hope that scenes of bondage, s & M, group sex, etc. might save the day. Alas, not even the renowned Ms Dunaways could deliver the kiss of life to this astonishing assembly of nonsense.

The earth's rotation is slowing down and life as we know it is about to come to an end or at least change dramatically, and it ain't due to the gravitational effects of the black-hole at the centre of our galaxy as originally suspected ...hey what could be causing it...? why! its rapture of course!! Its end of days folks and GAD is hellbent (excuse the pun) on punishing us all....for reasons unknown.....

Is 2012 and the ancient calenders tell us is a most ominous juxtaposition of things ...and yep folks....this time its really it....! the prophecy is iron clad....

This is Hollywood at its very worst, both as piece of cinema and unadulterated religious fundamentalist garbage, its simply shameless...will definitely appeal to the bible belt folks tough..

To the rest of humanity with a modicum of critical intellectual acumen, it is an utter waste of time!

Now this is a fine piece of cinema, its making, timed to perfection given prevailing international climate characterised by anti-Persian propaganda.

I began watching the film unaware of its context, director, novelist etc...The first few minutes was illuminating indeed – The Spartans, were depicted as noble yet ruthless worriers, their women the personification of beauty and sophistication. One look at the 6-packed abs of muscular steel of Leonides and his worrier pals was enough to persuade anyone of their divine righteousness…..

After all, these were the crème e la crème sadistic neo-Darwinian selection process that threw anything but Class A babies down the abyss. The fortune select few, where then subjected to a toughening-up regime which would earn the perpetrators 5 years hard labour for child abuse.

Now by contrast, the hapless Persian are variously portrayed as the cowardly hoard who are mere canon fodder to the divine worriers., or as freaky elite Persian immortals essentially soulless demonic entities, still no match though for the Spartan 6-packers. The depiction of the Persian emperor, contrary to all historical depictions, as the 'freak' of 'freaks' was the clincher… As a film, I found '300' an utterly boring and predictable narrative, inferior to even the tragic 'Alexander'… As a piece of anti-Persian pro-Zionist propaganda, it is crude and transparent; much reminiscent of the anti Semitic propaganda churned out by the Nazis, to demonise the indigenous undesirables - pre mass deportations and expropriations.

Will it help in softening-up 'public opinion' against the freaky 'Persian' on the road to invasion an annihilation – remains to be seen

yest another ineffectual piece of cinema from Hollywood - peddling the old time religion/fundamentalist message - much in vogue amongst men and women of power - this one is markedly more sinister as it sets out to undermine the miracle debunker's scientific approach. We learn that the professor has devoted much of her later life to debunking and exposing so-called miracles, yet finds herself in the middle of the big time rerun of the whole biblical shooting match - rivers of blood, myriad insects which appear from nowhere in huge numbers, only to disappear gain.....I

In some ways this is very much reminiscent of 'Constantine' with its Clarey fundamentalist-literalist message - music to the ears of bible-belt dwellers - if only one of the myriad Hollywood miracles would find its way to the domain of the real world....if only!!