But how can I help it, if they break then they break, when my hands are untied they’re entitled to shake
Steven Soderbergh has made it clear that the movie Haywire exists solely because he saw Gina Carano in one of her mixed martial arts fights on television. I’d like to think he also spent part of that particular evening hitting … Continue reading But how can I help it, if they break then they break, when my hands are untied they’re entitled to shake
Top Ten Movies of 2011 – Number Ten
It really seemed that Errol Morris had decided to devote his considerable talents as a documentary filmmaker to heavier, more deeply important fare, never again to revisit the sort of offbeat stories and individuals that he originally made his name … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2011 – Number Ten
Top Ten Movies of 2011 — An Introduction
A few weeks back, I had a conversation (well, an email exchange) with a friend of mine about the way I title these various features that prove I know how to count backwards while also highlighting my favored films from certain stretches of time. Specifically, we were debating the use of plainly assertive statements of value in the title of the posts. There are no qualifiers, no hedges, just the flat insistence that these are the “Top Ten” or “Top Fifty” films of the designated time frame. This was a very deliberate choice when I first starting writing such pieces … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2011 — An Introduction
Like a drug that threatens to take my life, lust is a cancer, love is a vice
I can’t think of another director that successfully mixes the tactile and the intellectual more often than David Cronenberg. In his very best films–for me, that means Dead Ringers, eXistenZ and The History of Violence–there’s a remarkable thematic balance between … Continue reading Like a drug that threatens to take my life, lust is a cancer, love is a vice
College Countdown: First Billboard Top 20 Modern Rock Tracks, Fall 1988, 14 and 13
14. “Liar, Liar” by Debbie Harry As the blonde in Blondie, few performers seemed more perfectly positioned for solo career success than Debbie Harry. She was no empty frontwoman, claiming a respectable number of songwriting credits on every one of the band’s albums, including contributions to every original track but one on the band’s 1982 swan song (at least for their original run), The Hunter. She was the face, voice and, for many, the total persona of the band. Striking out on her own didn’t exactly work out, though, and by the time the fall of 1988 rolled around, her … Continue reading College Countdown: First Billboard Top 20 Modern Rock Tracks, Fall 1988, 14 and 13
Spectrum Check
I had a more reasonable week at Spectrum Culture, contributing just a couple things and only one full-length review. The latter was for the film Miss Bala, which I’ve been anxious to see since it drew rave reviews at Cannes. In general, I’ve been trying to keep a closer eye on various festival reviews so I can snap up the more obscure potentially strong offerings after they’ve gone through the arduous circuit. That’s starting to pay dividends and Gerardo Naranjo’s incisive film was one of the first prizes of that effort. I also contributed to our weekly List Inconsequential feature, … Continue reading Spectrum Check
One for Friday: Hothouse Flowers, “Feet on the Ground”
Though I sought out the college radio and the music it was dispensing because I longed for material that was edgier, bracingly different, wholly challenging, I’ll admit that I had an enduring weakness for the bands that surely belonged there but plied their trade with more of a reliance on dependable forms. It was the fall of 1988 when I arrived and there were plenty of artists that were leaning on the tried-and-true in their songwriting and playing, probably of a few key predecessors that had cracked the marketplace with some yearning Americana. Placed against the cheap, slick hair metal … Continue reading One for Friday: Hothouse Flowers, “Feet on the Ground”
Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Forty-Seven
#47 — Assault on Precinct 13 (John Carpenter, 1976) By most assessments, the glory of American cinema in the nineteen-seventies was largely a result of major studios turning over significant dollars to daring directors who then spun that money into edgy … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Forty-Seven
Baby, baby, I’ll never let you down, I can’t stand another sound
I have no doubt that The Artist will prevail in this year’s Best Picture race at the Academy Awards. None whatsoever. Michel Hazanavicius’s tribute to the distantly bygone glamor of silent picture storytelling by making his own black-and-white, almost entirely … Continue reading Baby, baby, I’ll never let you down, I can’t stand another sound
It’s smelly and cold, but I wouldn’t trade it for a big pot o’ gold
It’s probably too late for me to tell you that I would have had Terrence Malick listed as a surprise Best Director nominee had we done predictions this year, right? Right. If you had trouble getting onto IMDb this morning, it’s because was trying to figure out who the hell Demián Bichir was at the very same time. Okay, that might be a little unfair; Bichir was also a Screen Actors Guild Best Actor nominee for A Better Life, but he was still one of the more surprising announcements this morning. In same category, Gary Oldman became an Oscar nominees … Continue reading It’s smelly and cold, but I wouldn’t trade it for a big pot o’ gold
