“I’ve been an atheist all my life but I always knew that if my mum asked me when she was dying if there was a heaven I’d say yes. I’d lie. I think that’s how religion started — as a good lie.” –Ricky Gervais, quoted in an interview, though I found it somewhere else Continue reading Sorry to disturb you, but I feel that I should be heard loud and clear
The Women (Diane English, 2008). This remake of the 1939 George Cukor-directed comedy had been in development for so long that I swear we reported on it on the movie review radio show I co-hosted in college. That show ended in 1993. Watching the finished product, it’s easy to understand what inspired the reluctance. Similarly, the easiest explanation for the project finally coming to fruition is sheer attrition: Diane English must have simply outlasted the studio execs with sounder taste. As nice as it is to see the rarity of a movie filled with female characters, it would be nicer … Continue reading Theatre goddess, film destroyer, New York girls are sure to enjoy her
#33 — Bad Education (Pedro Almodovar, 2004) Pedro Almodovar is one of those directors that rewards those who make their film-going selections on the basis of adherence to the auteur theory. Not every Almodovar film is exceptional, but every one … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Thirty-Three
I’m operating on too little sleep, and foolishly watching a bunch of award show red carpet coverage has further softened my brain. I’m starting to fall behind on that big ongoing project of mine, but I’m afraid the best I … Continue reading Those Hollywood kids, those Hollywood kids got it made
Here’s the funny thing. If Glenn Beck went on television Monday night and rattled off this exact same monologue, the majority of his demented audience would be nodding along, mouths pressed tight into determined indignation. (Due credit.) Continue reading Leave you here wearing your wounds, waving your guns at somebody new
I’ve used this weekly feature to write extensively about my bygone time at a student broadcaster at WWSP-90FM, the campus station at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point I’ve focused almost entirely on what I played back then: now I discovered the … Continue reading One for Friday: The Cast of Meatball Radio, “The Angry Chef”
(Due credit: I discovered this elsewhere.) Continue reading You! Yes, you behind the bikesheds, stand still, laddy!
#34 — Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton with Lee Unkrich, 2003) Recently The New York Times Magazine profiled director Spike Jonze with special attention paid to his troubled route he involuntarily took in bringing Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Thirty-Four
Coffee for Two 