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Introduction: Welcome to the Art, Culture & Politics page of the
Socialist Action website. On this page you'll find music, movie and
theater reviews, cultural commentary and media analysis, and a sampling
of poetry from the front lines of struggles for a better world. We
welcome your feedback, and encourage our readers to send us their own
articles and poetry for this site!
Art and
Culture News & Views:
 Review of “The Golden Compass”: On Christmas
Day the New York Times carried yet another
chilling tale of the dangerous impact of religion on our society. It
quoted a juror who had held out for the acquittal of a Black man charged
with shooting a white youth threatening his son on how he was pressured
by Bible-thumping fellow jurors to vote for conviction. One juror said
"this government was founded on the law of Moses,” and that the
guilty verdict was "an act of God" and was reached
"through prayer." Jurors prayed out loud during deliberations.
Such a story is not surprising in a country with a religious fanatic as
President; in a country where Presidential candidates of all parties trip
over themselves in their rush to pay tribute to their deities; and in
which the head of science education in Texas is pushed
out for supporting evolution. continued
SICKO & the U.S. Health Care
Industry: “Sicko
is Boffo!” screamed the Daily News.
Michael Moore’s latest film – an acute dissection of the U.S. health-care
“system” – is taking the country by storm. Not only because it’s one of
his best efforts as a director, but also because once again he’s struck a
raw nerve, in this case the anger over care denied in order to keep
medical profiteers wealthy. continued
Kurt Vonnegut – Literary Icon: Noted
author, iconoclast, and champion of Vietnam War dissenters, hippies, and
other counterculture enthusiasts, Kurt Vonnegut, 84, died on April 11 of
a brain hemorrhage as a result of a fall. Vonnegut has been compared
to Mark Twain because of his bitingly humorous written and vocal opinions
on politics, religion, oligarchic corporations and the men and women who
run them—and since 2000, the Bush administration. Like Twain, he also did
not stint on taking on Heaven and God. continued
Review of the Da Vinci Code: Dan
Brown’s novel, “The Da Vinci Code,” and the movie based on it, have come
in for their share of artistic criticism. The book often reads like a
supermarket potboiler, and the movie crams in too many of the book’s
“facts” to flow smoothly. But what are we to make of a
book selling over 50 million copies while claiming Jesus wasn’t divine,
got married, and had kids with Mary Magdalene—and that a secretive,
murderous plot by the Catholic Church hides these “truths”? continued
Review of “V for Vendetta”: The Wachowski Brothers’
futuristic political thriller, “V for Vendetta,” begins and ends with a
bang. Adapted from Allan Moore’s and David Lloyd’s 1988 novel, the film
is vastly complex. It requires rapt attention to figure out just why the
man who calls himself “V,” wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, wants to blow up
important buildings in London. continued
Remembering
Richard Pryor: Redd Foxx used to say that Richard Pryor would have been banned from every
nightclub in the country had he performed his act before the Black
Revolution of the 1960s. continued
A Look Back at Bob Dylan: For the first 10 years of his
career, Bob Dylan was the catalyst who transformed the nature of popular
music in America and the artist whose songs can serve as the soundtrack
for the history of the Sixties. With strong record sales and artistic
success, Bob Dylan consistently enlarged the scope of popular music. His
entire career could be summed up as a continual redefining of the
boundaries of the possible. continued
Archived
Articles:
Art & Politics:
Imus: Going, going, gone
Kurt Vonnegut: Death of a Literary Icon
Cultural
Boycotts vs. Agitprop Art - an Open Letter to John Berger
Gillo
Pontecorvo: An Appreciation
 A Look Back
at Bob Dylan
The Agitprop
Murals of Mike Alewitz
Interview
With Political Muralist Mike Alewitz
Review of Trotsky's "Literature &
Revolution"
Andre
Breton & the Politics of Surrealism
Trotskyism & Art
by Trotsky & Andre Breton
Politics
& Rock 'n' Roll
Capitalism
& Gangsta Rap
In Memory of Ossie Davis
Black poet
harassed for travel to Cuba
In Memory of Arthur Miller
Film, Book & Theater Reviews:
"Charlie
Wilson's War" Celebrates U.S. Imperialism
Film Review
of "Lions for Lambs"
Iraq War
Films Are Box-Office Flops
Film Review
of "Rendition"
Film Review
of "Strange Culture"
Film
Review: "No End in Sight"
New book
recounts early career of socialist leader James P. Cannon
Film
review: 'A Mighty Heart'
SICKO is
RIGHTO
Film review: 'Civic Duty'
Review of
"The God Delusion"
Film review: 'The Wind That Shakes the Barley'
'U.S. vs.
John Lennon' - Songs for the Revolution
Film
Review: Who Stole the Electric Car?
U.S. Soldiers:
Shorn, Shipped Out, Shot At, Shunned
Review of the Da Vinci Code
Review of "Choose Your Poison"
Review of
"People's History of Science"
Review of the Movie 'Munich'
Review of the Documentary 'Why We Fight'
The Fatal Eggs
Review of
"The Constant Gardener"
Review of "Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend
Freedom"
Review of "Hotel Rwanda"
Review of
the Film "Motorcycle Diaries"
Two women speak for many (Sonia Sanchez & Sarah
Jones)
Review of
the Musical "Hooray for What!"
The Genius
of Soul
Corporate
head games in The Manchurian Candidate
Michael
Moore skewers Bush in ’Farenheit 9/11’
Film
Review: 'Cradle Will Rock'
Review of
Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine
Hollywood
Declares War on North Korea
The Blair
Witch Project
Film Reviw
of "My Vida Loca"
Review of William Kunstler's "The Emerging
Police State"
Book Review
of "Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehreneich
Review of
Serge's "The Case of Comrade Tulayev"
Music:
Cuba Honors
the Legacy of John Lennon
Mumia
Abu-Jamal on the Origins of Rap Music
Review of
The Coup's Album "Party Music"
Tom Petty
Rails Against the Music Industry
Zach De La
Rocha Leaves Rage Against the Machine
Poetry:
A Poem 4
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Media Analysis:
Broken Health System
Demands More Than Apologies in the Media
Women in the Media
Loaded Language in the Media
The Music
Industry Attacks Consumers
Tom Petty
Rails Against the Music Industry
Media
Coverage of the Iraq War
Art & Culture Links:
Diego
Rivera Web
Russian
Posters 1914-1953
Cuban
Poster Art
Surrealist
Movement in the USA
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