CINEMA: THESE JOKERS ARE WILD

IT'S NOT WHETHER YOU WIN OR LOSE BUT HOW THE FILMMAKERS--AND THE AUDIENCE--PLAY THE GAME

Let's play a game. I'm in charge, but you don't know who I am. You don't know the purpose of the game. In fact, you know only one thing: you're It. You go home, turn on your TV and find newsman Daniel Schorr insulting you. Your ballpoint pen leaks all over your expensive shirt. You are given keys but not told what they unlock. Then things get nasty. Someone is framing you, trying to drown you, shooting at you. Uh-oh. It's dawning on you: this "game" is not a game.

Watching a movie is a consensual act of sadomasochism. Sado: the...

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