In addition, for general knowledge on debunking the claims of creationists you should check out The Panda’s Thumb, TalkOrigins, TalkDesign, TalkReason, and the National Center for Science Education. Also, New Scientist has an excellent article up featuring 24 misconceptions about evolution. Read it. Also check out some other articles about the film and its marketing: An animation in Expelled was ripped off from Harvard University and XVIVO. It should be noted that famous cdesign proponentsist William Dembski was for a long time in the habit of stealing this film to display in paid lectures. Expelled tries to draw a line between belief in evolution and anti-Semitism. Interestingly, one of the creationist scientists they interview is the anti-Semite Maciej Giertych.
Biologist PZ Myers, interviewed in the film, is expelled from a screening of Expelled. But they let Dawkins in.
The presentation looked more sophisticated, I grant. But dressing people up in black leather does not, in fact, make for a sophisticated story. All this dark, steampunk set-dressing looks pretty cool, but it doesn’t really fit with the theme of magical little girls who save their world with the power of love. The more adult visuals simply didn’t mesh with the story that was presented. As a result, I felt a certain dissonance, as if I were seeing Strawberry Shortcake depicted as a dominatrix.
And while the story was unsatisfying on its own merits—a tale of a counterproductive MacGuffin fetch quest that heavily involves amnesia, of all damn things—it was even less satisfying as a re-imagining of Baum’s original. When you re-imagine something, you ought to say something new, otherwise you’re just making fan fiction. But Tin Man is essentially childish in its presentation of good and evil, and the only adaptations it makes to Baum’s world are to insert stock elements from other sci-fi worlds and movies, as well as importing Nurse Ratched’s hair. You can read Wizard of Oz crossovers at fanfiction.net if that’s what you want; there’s no reason to make a movie out of them.
Don’t misunderstand me, Tin Man isn’t bad. It looks nice, and the actors largely do a good job (although the child who plays little DG was not very good). The music leaves something to be desired, but doesn’t offend. But Tin Man just feels unnecessary, a superfluous bit of fluff trying to staple a grown-up look onto a childish and irrelevant story.
The Sci-Fi channel is a curious contradiction. Most of its original series (at present, anyway) are actually pretty good, and their re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica may be the best scripted show on television. Their original movies, however, are largely pathetic drivel starring actors that have washed up on this shore after fading from better careers. And then there are the mini-series, which are typically of very high quality, probably because many of them are adapted from books. In this case, it seems, the movie quality bled into the mini-series. Although the production values of Tin Man were high, the writing was poor, and in the end, you’d be better off watching the original, rather than this fanfic.
The conceit of the film is that an exceptionally pretty boy named Kano Sozaburo joins a samurai military unit towards the end of the Shogunate (the politics of this era play a minor, but substantive role in the story). Many of the men become infatuated with him, and their jealousy starts to tear the unit apart until a bloody episode that ends the film. Beat Takeshi stars as the unit’s second-in-command Hijikata Toshizo, who is the one that has to deal with the problems Kano creates. These are many, as Kano seems to catch absolutely everyone’s eye, including the commander, at least one lieutenant, and even perhaps Hijikata himself.
This is not the best movie I’ve ever seen by any standard. The plot seems to come and go at times, and the tension builds only unevenly towards the final confrontation. While the movie centers on Kano little is done to give the viewer a real handle on his character. He blows hot and cold, and Matsuda Ryuhei at times just doesn’t seem equal to his task. Takeshi does more with less; Hijikata is much easier to grasp, even though he has his own set of unresolved questions. In the end the viewer is left to resolve most of the movie’s central mysteries.
The directing is very interesting. Oshima Nagisa’s camera tries to let action speak for itself, which works splendidly in some scenes (Kano’s embarrassing kendo bout against his lover) and not so well in others (an extended entrance by a geisha). As is often the case, color features prominently in the film (Kano’s frequent wearing of white against the black of the militia’s livery), but it bears thinking about what the colors mean in the cultural context.
Some cultural context may also be needed for westerners watching the film. An American might find it strange that all these men are attracted to Kano, who seems by our standards pale and rather pinched. The seeming lack of romance in the love scenes (there is one sex scene, but barely anything is shown) may also seem a little odd. These aren’t flaws but rather important components of the historical and cultural setting, ultimately helping to build a fairly accurate picture of this world.
Taboo isn’t easy to understand and just isn’t for some people. I don’t mean this pejoratively; you aren’t a better person if it is for you. It’s the strangest case ever made against gays in the military — beware, all the straight men might become infatuated! And yet, though some of the plot seems totally alien, it works, even the slightly strained ending. Beat Takeshi is to be credited for this, as he grounds a film that could have easily flown off into space. Sakagami Jiro, Takeda Shinji, and a few others in the supporting cast also do great work, propping up (in my opinion) Matsuda, who just doesn’t seem to have quite enough poison in his eyes for this role. If you think a gay samurai mystery art film might be for you, then try to get your hands on it, at least for a rental.
I also watched Hot Fuzz; all you need to know about this film is that it is very funny and you should rent it.
