Mere frat clubs or real deal-changers on the grand and global scale? Murky conspiracy strategists or beacons of individual liberty? Esoteric dreamers or intelligent architects of human development? The Feral House book Ritual America (by Adam Parfrey & Craig Heimbichner) presents a wonderful and quirky peek into a freemasonic world most of us can only fantasize about. Or… Perhaps you, dear reader, are a mason? Even so, this book is amazing in its abundance of radical and sensational(istic) tidbits and images from a world of secret handshakes and initiatory mindquakes. Perhaps there is an inherent human need to be a part of an order structure, ie a collective with very set rules and regulations that are more concrete than those of society in general? If you have a structure like that, some esoteric bling to dazzle with and promises of something revelatory higher up on the initiatory ladder, you’re in for success. The interesting thing about fraternal orders is that they often claim...

Indonesia, 1965. Civil war and a military coup that led to over one million deaths in a mere year’s time. Then it just kept on rolling. The estimation is that 2,5 million people were killed by the military and various paramilitary groups during that first phase of dictatorship. And also by freestyle gangsters who joined the fun for empowerment and a fierce hatred of communism. Perhaps not so much for the overall political ideas but because they had been told that the communists would ban American movies. Reason good enough for you? This surely sounds like insane chaos and violence en masse. No one really in charge and everyone out to slaughter someone. This was of course a perfect environment for small time hoodlums like Anwar Congo and his buddies. They made a living scalping cinema tickets, but soon found new friends in the (para)military world. Why? Because they had no objections whatsoever to killing plenty of people, as long as these were communists. And as there...

What happens when the sex drive goes into compensatory overdrive? Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac (2013) and Steve McQueen’s Shame (2011) show us just what, and therefore deserve to be compared. Great and at times (literally) penetrating filmmaking or merely exploitation of human weaknesses? That I leave for you to decide, but I do strongly recommend both films. If you have the time, preferably as a wonderful feel-bad double bill. A four hour Lars von Trier display of a nymphomaniac’s exploits and adventures, from childhood to womanhood. Enticing concept, eh? After Antichrist’s (2009) darkly humorous exposure of the inherent risks of non-resonant relationships, and Melancholia’s (2011) purely emotional angst romanticism, this new offering is pure flesh and then some. The catch phrase of the film’s marketing campaign is “Forget about love” and that is certainly true to the (hard) core. Protagonist Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is a slave of...