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The Anarchist Cookbook

The Anarchist Cookbook

List Price: $9.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Thought-provoking but unfocused
Review: This independent film, directed by Jordan Susman, gets its title from an infamous book from the 1960s which advocates every conceivable kind of rebellion against authority. This film, on the other hand, is basically apolitical, despite its title and theme. It starts off in an extremely lighthearted manner, showing a group of "anarchists" who are more like a harmless hybrid between hippies and slackers. They live communally in a large, rundown house in Dallas. The cast features Devon Gummersall as Puck, a likable, mild-mannered sort who seems to have drifted into this lifestyle by accident and John Savage (the only well known member of the cast) as an older veteran of the counterculture. The anarchists start out as a comical group who could be members of a fraternity. The story is rather unfocused and not very much happens for the first two-thirds of the film. Puck leaves the community for no apparent reason and later returns; an improbable romance between Puck and a girl who belongs to a Republican group fills some space; there is an amusing but familiar sequence of Puck and a friend working in a Starbucks-type cafe and, naturally, getting fired promptly. When a newcomer named Johnny Black (Dylan Bruno) challenges the group to do more than talk and protest, the film takes a turn into darker territory. Johnny Black joins forces with some right-wing militia groups, which raises some interesting questions about political ideology --questions which the film ultimately abandons. If The Anarchist Cookbook has a message, it is a very vague one, especially considering its provocative title. Even when the anarchists discuss politics, there is an avoidance of anything too controversial. Although the film was apparently released in 2002, there is no indication of the actual contemporary atmosphere --e.g. 9-11, War on Terror, Iraq, etc. It seems to be taking place in a more innocent era. The film seems to be saying, in its very indirect way, that when you take the idea of anarchism to its natural conclusion, you end up with someone like Johnny Black, who turns out to be violent and amoral. At the end, Puck makes the heavy-handed observation that "freedom without responsibility is a myth." This may be a valid message, but this meandering film does not back it up. I have to give it some credit, however, for being, at times, interesting and thought-provoking and for at least having the courage to tiptoe around material that other films would not touch with a ten-foot pole.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Anarchist cook book
Review: This is a light, feel good movie, not to be confused with American History X or any other movie in the same genre with seious subject matter to be interrogated. It is a kitch representation of USA high school life. What the film lacks in complexity it more than makes up for in bubble gum viewing. At times stereotypically painfull the plot and subjects are shallow and obvious but all play their parts well. Lacking gusto and clout to be anything other than another very well put together formulaic 'post teen movie'. Anarchist cook book is fun, thats all unfortunately!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fascinating, Funny, Unexpectedly Good
Review: This is a uniquely fun and original movie. But it requires an open mind. The thing that made it so good was that it subverted so many expectations. Instead of being a mindless manual on how to blow stuff up, the movie is about one guy coming of age in a hilarious and harrowing way.

PC people will probably not dig it. But anyone with a brain and a sense of humor will.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: this movie sucks!
Review: This is one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my life (and I'm one to usually get into just about any movie).It confuses the viewer of what anarchy truly is.It's contradicting.Then it tries to make it seem like being right wing is the only way of life.Not to mention it's boring.There were a couple of intresting scenes,other then that it's boring.The ending makes it stupid,just like how it did in "SLC Punk" (which at least, was decent compared to this movie).Don't even waste the $3 it takes to rent this movie.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Dreadfully Bad
Review: This movie is a complete misrepresentation of both anarchy as a philosophy and I hope it also misrepresents the way anarchists think. I'm not familiar with such a subculture as the one portrayed in this movie, but the logic employed by these characters is totally contrived, frivelous and ridden with cliches. Simply put, the writer is not smart enough to write to be writting about this stuff. I assure you that my hatred for this flick is not rooted in personal politics...its rooted in anger because I lost about 6 dollars to blockbuster and 2 hrs of valued leisure time. Anyone beyond a prepubescent brain capacity should NOT enjoy this movie. If anything, it has marginal comedic value as being a completely ridiculous joke but if that's what your looking for its still not very entertaining. That so many adults appreciated this film makes me very cyinical with regards to the general population and their capacity to think.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A terrible waste of my time...
Review: We began watching this movie with the hope of being inspired into being better activists than we are today. However, after finishing this flick my husband and I both felt duped into watching it. Its fairytale ending, reeked of right-wing propaganda: anarchy can get you nowhere, go to school, fall in love with a republican christian girl and live the 'proper' life. I was disgusted and want everyone to know that this movie speaks nothing of activism. It praises Bush at one point, assocaites activists with nazis, and is just a huge dissappointment for all it could have been. I suppose the fact that you can rent or buy it and it hasn't been blacklisted should be enough proof that it has no content whatsoever.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A terrible waste of my time...
Review: We began watching this movie with the hope of being inspired into being better activists than we are today. However, after finishing this flick my husband and I both felt duped into watching it. Its fairytale ending, reeked of right-wing propaganda: anarchy can get you nowhere, go to school, fall in love with a republican christian girl and live the 'proper' life. I was disgusted and want everyone to know that this movie speaks nothing of activism. It praises Bush at one point, assocaites activists with nazis, and is just a huge dissappointment for all it could have been. I suppose the fact that you can rent or buy it and it hasn't been blacklisted should be enough proof that it has no content whatsoever.


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