It's A Black Thang (You Wouldn't Understand,...)

Now just you folks don't go on worrying yourselves, I've got everything under control, yes sir, everything's going to be just fine:

From Rose McGowan to Tom Cruise to Joaquin Phoenix, some celebrities have been a part of some downright fucked up spiritual organizations. Or, as they’re more commonly called: cults. And while Scientology continues to remain the granddaddy of them all, there have been plenty of other doozies throughout the years. 

As the great Frank Zappa once said, “the only difference between a cult and a religion is the amount of real estate they own.” And while I’m also not a fan of religion, I don’t think it’s just real estate that makes a cult a cult. There are certain qualities cults boast that just make them a bit weirder than your typical mainstream religion. What are those qualities? Well, manslaughter and sex with children, to start.

Y'all go on! I can handle this! Ain't no big thang! Y'alls enjoy your party: 

 The Crack Emcee's got real life all by his self,...

 

The Master: Welcome To Clown School (Now Go Vote)

The first review is in - and it's being called "a masterpiece":

“The Master” is a dangerous movie. I can’t remember a time in recent memory when I worried about what characters might do when they entered a scene. But when Joaquin Phoenix comes into a frame or scene at any time in “The Master,” you’re really concerned he’s going to hit or kill somebody, or do something utterly wild and unpredictable. His character, Freddie, is an alcoholic and a sociopath. Freddie has just been discharged from the Navy at the end of World War II. He’s a sexual deviant, who we learn later was abused by an aunt. Freddie is also a loner, a drifter whose temper is so bad he can’t hold a job. And then he meets Lancaster Dodd, and his life changes completely. 

Dodd is played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. He comes with a family–wife Amy Adams, a daughter and son in law, and a son. What is Dodd? He says he’s a writer and a nuclear scientist, among other things. But he’s also already come up with his own religion, a cult called The Cause. His own son says later that Dodd is just making it up as he goes along. But his wife is sold and is his collaborator. The son in law sees opportunity in it as well. And soon The Cause picks up a couple of wealthy female patrons, played by Patty McCormack (star of “The Bad Seed” in the 1960s) and the much missed Laura Dern. (I wish she were in more movies. She’s spot on.) 

There’s so much going on in “The Master,” you almost need two hours and 17 minutes to dissect it. It’s a gritty, edgy, uncomfortable film marked by Freddie’s deviancy and Dodd’s avuncular unease. Phoenix and Hoffman are completely riveting, never once hit a false note, and keep the action moving. Amy Adams peels back a new side of her very interesting, onion like sensibility. She seems to always have new tricks to show us. Knowing that Hoffman and Phoenix are show stoppers, Amy works along the edges until she sees her moment. She’s absolutely terrific. 

The Cause is not Scientology per se. But it mimics it. The courses are called “Applications.” There are kind of EEG machines. There’s a violence to the Cause, mostly instigated by Freddie, that has been associated with Scientology. I was reminded of a lot of things– including Oprah tearing up every time a new New Age guru stops by with a book of aphoristic gobbledygook. Dodd knows he’s making it up as he goes along. Wait for the scene when Dern meekly questions something in his book. He’s contradicted an earlier stand. Dodd–Hoffman–loses it, and we get a glimpse into his Machiavellian mind. 

But the sham that is The Cause is unveiled–at least for the audience. When Hoffman/Dodd finally reveals his big discovery–what will change everyone’s lives–you just shake your head. It’s as mundane as the stuff that comprises other cults’ revelations. The emperor has no clothes.

"Other cults"? What "other cults"? There are NO "other cults". 

There's only prophets, churches, religions, and beliefs, providing us presidential material,…

 

"Past Help" (Yes, That's What's Got Me Into This,...)

Paul Thomas Anderson's Scientology movie, "The Master," is in the chute - with Philip Seymour Hoffman as the L. Ron Hubbard-like all things to all men, and Joaquin Phoenix (an actor who, along with his late brother, River, was raised in The Family sex cult) as the poor schmuck who somehow wandered into his moneyed collectivist nightmare.

I used to have high hopes for this film, but no more: 

With the nomination of Mitt Romney (and the Mormons) to the presidency - coming right after the Obama/Oprah charade - I'm now convinced the Baby Boom has conditioned the American people, if not the Western world, to desire being made fools of, and nothing less than their complete self-destruction will talk them out of it.

No mere movie can affect that. No words are enough. Like a drug addict, they must see it through - to the end.

So be it,...

 

The Master: 2nd Trailer ("Say Something That's True!")

The string of cult-inspired films continues, and Paul Thomas Anderson's keeping the creepfest going with teasers about his take on Scientology, "The Master." In it, Joaquin Phoenix (who, in real life, was raised in a cult) gets mentally tortured by Philip Seymour Hoffman's L. Ron Hubbard character - from what appears to be a jail cell. That works for me (as does the music - cool!)

Naturally, as we learned yesterday, "the truth" can only be found in The Book Of Mormon (you definitely won't get it from Obama) so I don't know what anybody's going on about:

We're going to have a new president, raised in that "philosophy," so - unlike poor Joaquin - everything's going to work out fine.

Weren't we always told "the truth" will set us free? I know I was. 

I just wish somebody would've mentioned there'd be so damned many of them,...

 

Bow Down To "The Master" (That Would Be Me, Folks,...)

Oh goody! Right after I do a post about a made-up prophet movie, Paul Thomas Anderson releases a clip from his up-coming Scientology flick - about a made-up prophet! (Will someone please remind Ann Althouse that she said no one cared about this subject?) Forbes Magazine writes:

It’s pretty clear from last night’s screening that “The Master,” directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, is all about the early days of Scientology. Philip Seymour Hoffman is clearly playing L. Ron Hubbard, creating his cult religion with the help of his wife (Amy Adams). In the clip reel we saw, Joaquin Phoenix is some kind of drifter who gets involved with the couple and become Hoffman’s right hand man. 

Phoenix in real life has been on a sabbatical from acting. So it’s kind of interesting that he took this role. He and his family grew up in a cult in Florida, where the kids all changed their names. But the acting from all three principals in the clips was superb. Whatever PTA has in mind, it’s going to be controversial. Scientology doesn’t like people messing with their made up history. This should cause quite a discussion.

You know who else "doesn’t like people messing with their made up history"? A certain "normal" presidential candidate (who looks forward to having his own planet when he dies) his made-up cult with theocratic ambitions, and their "normal" supporters who shout "bigotry" every time someone mentions there's nothing normal about the potential leader of the free world following a convicted con man and child rapist's "spiritual" dictates.

Yes Sir, this movie should cause quite a discussion. 

So discuss already,....

 

True Confession Time: The Macho Response Thinks This Train Wreck Of An Interview - And His Ex-Wife - Are Just About Equally Attractive

"Bear in mind as you watch that this is the same guy whose social skills were supreme enough to land Angelina Jolie."

-- Allah Pundit, who seems to be under the delusion NewAge's Big Lip Adoption Agency is some kind of mental giant (even after she traded Billy Bob Burn-out for Brad "Not-The-Sharpest-Knife-In-The-Drawer" Pitt) or - much more likely - he's maybe spewing Hot Air.