I just might believe that they’re real
(Found thanks to “The Daily Dish.”) Continue reading I just might believe that they’re real
Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Thirty-Six
#36 — Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006) A persuasive argument can be made that all movies–all fiction movies, anyway–are individual testimonies to the wonders of the imagination. Ideas are given form and motion, emotions are conveyed in bold, almost … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Thirty-Six
It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights
Lately, Pitchfork has been doing what any sensible collective of media-obsessed opinion-slingers do in a year that ends with a nine: creating lengthy lists of the very best of the past ten years. This is naturally cause for some consternation and second-guessing (as well as appreciation, which is more rarely expressed). Their list of the “Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s” yielded a succinct and appropriate reaction from a good friend of mine and wise music observer, so I feel no need to add to the discussion. As for the recently issued Top 50 Music Videos of the 2000s, I … Continue reading It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights
You keep samin’ when you oughta be changin’
The caped crusader knows that a walk is as good as a hit. Way to build up your OBP, Batman. Good eye! Good eye! You can see the whole gripping game where I snipped these digital panels from. (Posted simultaneously … Continue reading You keep samin’ when you oughta be changin’
A new-wave Hollywood where everybody’s good but not great
Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa, 1957). You probably don’t need me to tell you this is masterful. Kurosawa’s adaptation of Macbeth is raw, muscular, urgent. Revisioning it to accommodate samurai doesn’t deepen or otherwise change the story in any dramatic way. It really just winds up being a different way to tell it, letting the natural power of the story emerge. (Sometimes this sort of thing can get tripped up by its own trickiness, even when well done like the version of Richard III starring and partially orchestrated by Ian McKellen.) Toshiro Mifune brings exactly the right intensity to the … Continue reading A new-wave Hollywood where everybody’s good but not great
One for Friday: Concrete Blonde, “Carry Me Away”
Now it seems that any indie-inclined band or performer that concocts a bright song around a clever hook can get massive exposure on a commercial for a hip automobile or a sleek Apple product. That wasn’t the case when I was in college. This was in part because the bands the filled the programming hours at our student-run radio station were still operating under the notion that during their songs into jingles was the pinnacle of selling out, but it was largely attributable to disinterest in connecting to youth culture through the cult hits that received little exposure apart from … Continue reading One for Friday: Concrete Blonde, “Carry Me Away”
Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Thirty-Seven
#37 — Ratatouille (Brad Bird with Jan Pinkava, 2007) When a new feature is produced by the artisans at Pixar, praise usually follows. Even after all their triumphs, there are still those who feel obligated to couch the praise in … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Thirty-Seven
I am a visitor here…I am not permanent
At it’s best, science fiction is all about ideas. Shrewd philosophical debates and trenchant social commentary are housed within fantastical tales of space travel and futurescapes. That’s harder to discern from the offerings in the multiplex, where the default approach … Continue reading I am a visitor here…I am not permanent
She’s a lot like you, the dangerous type
The quiz is located at the PBS Website. Continue reading She’s a lot like you, the dangerous type
Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Thirty-Eight
#38 — Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese, 2002) There is a contingent of film observers that met Gangs of New York with the perspective that Martin Scorsese’s professional narrative had eclipsed that of his films. Gangs wasn’t about the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Thirty-Eight
