Category: Film

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Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Forty-Nine

Dan Seeger

#49 — The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001). For all the precision that Wes Anderson brings to his filmmaking–the carefully constructed shots, the pristine cinematography, the merging of imagery with the rock’n’roll soundtrack so complete that it feels like the movie itself is breathing in time with each song’s backbeat–it is the ungainly sprawl of The Royal Tenenbaums that impresses most. Anderson has been upfront about drawing upon the works of J.D. Salinger, particularly those involving the Glass family, for this film, and it indeed comes across as a wildly inventive, overstuffed novel. Set in a arch, Bohemian, colorful New York … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Forty-Nine

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Though I’d like to look down at the earth from above, I would miss all the places and people I love

Dan Seeger

I definitely appreciate that Duncan Jones is trying to create a science fiction film that’s as much about ideas as it is about C.G.I. logistics with his feature directorial debut, Moon. Set in an indeterminate future era in which our … Continue reading Though I’d like to look down at the earth from above, I would miss all the places and people I love

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Top Fifty Films of the 00s — An Introduction

Dan Seeger

Nearly ten years ago I was given a proposal from my old partner on the movie review program we did on college radio from 1990 to 1993. He suggested we each concoct our respective lists of the top fifty films of the nineties, adapting the traditional yearly top ten to a larger scale. While it had been years since we’d done the radio show together, we’d each remained avid moviegoers. In fact, we’d each taken little spins with movie reviewing and Academy Award analysis on other radio stations during the intervening years, he much more notably and productively than I. … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — An Introduction

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And our silver screen affair, it weighs less to me than air

Dan Seeger

McCabe and Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971). There are many who consider this film to be the quintessential Altman effort, and it’s not hard to see why. The hallmarks of Altman’s legend are all there: the overlapping dialogue, the moral ambivalence, the richly-conceived characters. Most importantly and impressively, the film is a thrilling example of the ways in which Altman pulls all these elements of his craft together to give the sense of a fully developed culture and society. The film is focused on the main characters, but the entire frame ripples with life. You feel as if you know … Continue reading And our silver screen affair, it weighs less to me than air

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I got lots of money, I got lots of time, bought myself a penthouse, filled it up with bubbly wine

Dan Seeger

After a hard day of installing hardwood flooring, there’s only one movie that stands as an adequate reward. Here’s a hint or two: “Where do you dance at, darlin’?” “Um… at the Cheetah.” “I don’t know how good you are, darlin’, and I don’t know what it is you’re good at, but if it’s at the Cheetah, it’s not dancing, I know that much.” “You don’t know shit!” “She’s no butterfly. Tony, she’s all pelvic thrust. I mean, she prowls. She’s got it!” “I’ve had dog food.” “You have?” “Mmm-hmmm. Long time ago. Doggy Chow. I used to love Doggy … Continue reading I got lots of money, I got lots of time, bought myself a penthouse, filled it up with bubbly wine

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Oh the movie never ends, it goes on and on and on and on

Dan Seeger

Trouble the Water (Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, 2008). It would be easy to make a documentary about the devastation Hurricane Katrina brought to New Orleans and the equally disastrous governmental response that is grounded in apoplectic anger, especially since indignation seems to be the default starting point for many current non-fiction filmmakers. Deal and Lessin create something more delicate, more nuanced, more complicated, and, because of these qualities, far more fascinating. The hook of the film’s first half is on-the-scene camcorder footage taken by Ninth Ward resident Kimberly Rivers Roberts as her neighborhood and then her home floods during … Continue reading Oh the movie never ends, it goes on and on and on and on