There has been a change for the better in this country –
and I’m sure it’s no coincidence that it has happened during the tenure of our
first black president – with respect to public knowledge and outrage at the
unjust killings of young black men. Trayvon Martin’s death is the one that made
huge national news headlines, but unfortunately his death is one among many
that occur year after year because someone, usually a while man and often a
police officer, mistakes him for a threat. These young men become names in the
news and we learn little about who they were outside of the specific
circumstances in which they died.
A blog mostly dedicated to cinema (including both new and old film reviews; commentary; and as the URL suggests - movie lists, although it has been lacking in this area to be honest), but on occasion touching on other areas of personal interest to me.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Oscar-nominated Live Action Short Films Review
After three years now it’s safe to say I have made a
tradition of seeing the Oscar-nominated short films at IFC Center in New York.
And I have the same observation this year that I had last year about the live
action shorts. There’s something so refreshing about short films. It’s like
being freed from the confines of what’s involved in a two hour plus feature.
You know with each one that the resolution will come quickly and that there won’t
be any subplots. It’s also fascinating to realize that many short films could
very easily be expanded to feature length. Therefore the converse must be true
and suddenly you start thinking about all the features that might have been
better as restrained short films. This year’s crop of five nominees represent
not only five different countries, but also very different subject matter and
styles of storytelling.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Short Cut Movie Review of Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
A Short Cut Movie Review is normally less than 400 words, but in some cases may go slightly over. This is my attempt to keep writing about as many films as I see without getting bogged down with trying to find more to say. They are meant to be brief snapshots of my reaction to a movie without too much depth.
I’m certainly no fan of the entire “Jackass”
entertainment concept. The idea of a bunch of guys basically daring each other
into performing increasingly outlandish stunts and filming them for mass
consumption is just bottom feeder garbage. It is about the lowest form of
entertainment and the emotional equivalent of a monkey throwing feces. But
Johnny Knoxville started doing a little more with the franchise in creating the
old man Irving Zisman character, who was strong enough for a movie of his own. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa is a real movie
and it actually works surprisingly well for a hidden camera prank movie.
Special 500th Movie Review: Magnolia - a Modern Classic From My Collection
In choosing a movie to watch to mark my 500th
full length review, I went with Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia because, along with Pulp Fiction and The Godfather, it’s
one of my top three movies of all time. By that I mean I consider it not only a
great film, but that I find it endlessly watchable. Incidentally, I chose it several weeks prior to, and started watching the night before, Philip Seymour Hoffman's death. It was merely a thematically fitting coincidence. I have tried to watch it
about once a year since it came out in 1999 and have mostly kept up on that
vow. I think I may have watched it twice during my five years in Spain and
possibly only this time since returning two and a half years ago, but I am
intimately familiar with the movie. I also chose it because so much time has
passed since last we met.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Death of Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967 - 2014)
That was devastating news to hear yesterday that Philip Seymour Hoffman died of a drug overdose. I was at work when I heard the news and, for a few minutes, fell into a sad slump. I remembered suddenly that I had read about his recent stint in rehab. And I remembered thinking he seemed such an unlikely candidate for that kind of drug addiction. If someone had said he was an alcoholic, I would hardly have blinked. Lots of people drink and many of them have a problem with it. But maybe we tend to think of heroin addiction as relegated to a certain corner of society, to certain members within it. In our minds, heroin is for rock stars or street junkies, but not for world class actors who earn critical praise, win awards, and seem to be otherwise normal. I think what this demonstrates is that you never know who may be hiding a secret drug addiction and those addictions can affect anyone.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
25 Years Ago This Month: February 1989
I always start with what I've seen...
Director Stephen Herek's second feature, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure was released in February 1989. Herek started with Critters and went on to a career of directing second tier Hollywood movies. He has never made a major film. Even when I was in fifth grade, even at the tender, inexperienced age of ten or eleven, when most people have absolutely no discerning critical taste, I knew that Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure looked stupid. I had no interest then, no interest through the following years of middle school when friends talked about it and quoted it, no interest when the sequel arrived in 1991. And I certainly have no interest now in watching Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter play a couple of illiterate and retarded teenagers who time travel through history to help themselves write a school essay.
Director Stephen Herek's second feature, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure was released in February 1989. Herek started with Critters and went on to a career of directing second tier Hollywood movies. He has never made a major film. Even when I was in fifth grade, even at the tender, inexperienced age of ten or eleven, when most people have absolutely no discerning critical taste, I knew that Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure looked stupid. I had no interest then, no interest through the following years of middle school when friends talked about it and quoted it, no interest when the sequel arrived in 1991. And I certainly have no interest now in watching Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter play a couple of illiterate and retarded teenagers who time travel through history to help themselves write a school essay.
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