I’ll readily concede that this is a minority opinion, but I don’t think David Fincher was really a filmmaker who merited serious attention until 2007’s Zodiac. He was a formidable stylist and his impact and influence were mutually significant. The … Continue reading Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that
Now matter how contentious this year’s election season gets, just remember that there are always even more fiery debates that can consume the citizenry. When there’s that many exclamation points, you know it’s dead serious!!! Continue reading Don’t try to fight it, just get excited
Let Me In is based on the novel Let the Right One In (or Låt den rätte komma in, if you prefer), but it’s probably more accurate to say it’s based on the Swedish film adaptation written by the book’s original author, John Ajvide Lindqvist, and directed by Tomas Alfredson. It’s a debt that’s openly acknowledged, including a special citation in the the credits. It’s also unavoidable. The original film version has a spirited cult following and earned critical praise well beyond that usually afforded to entertainments centered on supernatural creatures spilling a lot of blood. Writer-director Matt Reeves had … Continue reading There’s a peacefulness and a rage inside us all
84. Tom Petty, Full Moon Fever It seems odd to consider Full Moon Fever Tom Petty’s solo debut. His name is front and center on all of those records with the Heartbreakers after all. He’s hardly a guy stepping out … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 84 and 83
#12 — Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999) Charlie Kaufman has his screenwriting Oscar for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and he has plenty of swooning admirers ready to step forward and declare either of his metanarrative Möbius bands, Adaptation. or Synecdoche, New York, the purest distillation of his own unique form of absurdist existentialism. There are things to admire in all of those works, to be sure. Kaufman concocts crazy, complicated cinematic puzzles, and the offbeat invention that is seemingly second nature to him gives him one of the most distinct voices in modern movie-making. But from my … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Twelve
There are two relative recent developments on the live music landscape that I find equally interesting and curious. One is the return of the cult heroes of my college radio years, often playing sizable venues that would have been out of their reach during their heyday. The Pixies had a lot of fans back then, but they weren’t playing big rooms unless they were opening for U2. The other thing is the emergence of single-album concerts as a viable option, with all sorts of artists taking the stage to move track by track through one of the seminal releases. Sometimes … Continue reading One for Friday: Tommy Keene, “Nothing Can Change You”
Once again, I must direct you elsewhere. Continue reading Of all the people I don’t know, the ones I do I hate the most
As the baseball post-season begins, it’s worth remembering that the century-long winter on the north side of Chicago continues. I just someone had warned me when I was eight-years-old and announced my decision to be a Cubs fan, that’s all. Continue reading The summer turns to winter overnight
#5 — Parker Posey as Libby Mae Brown in Waiting for Guffman (Christopher Guest, 1996) One of the most vexing elements of evaluating performances is weighing the work of the actor against the quality of the writing that went into … Continue reading Greatish Performances #5
Lucky (Jeffrey Blitz, 2010). After a middling sidetrack into fiction filmmaking, Blitz returns to the sort of quirky documentary that first earned him attention. Lucky is about lottery winners. Blitz follows the trajectories of several different individuals that became instant millionaires when a few kinetic ping pong balls bounced their way. While some of the asides are good, especially those that consider the incredible unlikelihood of actually striking it rich this way, Blitz struggles to find a clear narrative to give the film some structure and cohesion. It winds up instead as a smattering of human interest studios. Some are … Continue reading Blitz, Miller, Newman, Rudolph, Thurman
