I’ll say it right up front: I’ve written my share of pieces on this topic, which doesn’t invalidate the observation Nicholas Carr made in his newsletter: I hate to be a cynic, but I’m guessing the main reason for the proliferation of these sorts of articles [about using your phone less] is that they’re algorithmic catnip. They’re symptoms of the illness they seek to cure. We’re addicted to reading about our addiction to phones. If the pieces have a therapeutic value, it probably lies less in…
★★☆☆: As an unapologetic lover of the Pirates movies, this one is always a bit of a letdown. It's got its moments and a top tier cast (as usual) but it's a little too cheeky. It treads on winks to the series rather than serious character work. It does some passable work expanding the world of the Golden Age of Piracy, but it's mostly limited to a couple of lines. It's also pretty crowded - a LOT of factions show up to the climax. There are good bones in there and it's not a total loss, but…
Review of Madhava Prasad’s 2014 book seems now more than ever… “Cine-Politics asserts that after a distinct period in which writers were dominant in the movies, the celebrity star system took hold, and this star persona system now acts like a contagion. In the past, and consistent with melodrama, the fragmentary and episodic form of stories and plots existed within an abstract whole. Subsequently, the movement from writers to star system evident in Tamil films and in the discussion Prasad…
It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals. In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is … Continue reading →
His first non-Shakespeare play for more than a decade, Kenneth Branagh’s second consecutive production at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon is a reworking of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, adapted by playwright Laura Wade, assembling an impressive cast including Hollywood actors Helen Hunt and Bill Pullman. With a weight of expectation from a sold out […]
A year ago I spoke at the Creators Conference of the German Producers Alliance in Munich, detailing the interesting bifurcation in German cinema. (You can read my article write-up here Why German films look so different at home and abroad). Last month I was asked to return, this time to look into the future and consider what the German cinema industry might want to do.(I am aware that an Englishman going over to Germany and saying “This is what you must do” is a tough gig! But the organisers…
I didn't want to read this book, and had resisted doing so for a long, long time. My wife read it many years ago, and loved it, and kept telling me that I should read it. But I had seen the 1993 movie so many times that I felt the book wouldn't be able to keep my interest - since I knew the main plot and characters and all. I have been a fan of Michael Crichton's novels for over 30 years - ever since I read Sphere way back in 1993. I loved that book! I also really liked Congo too. Even though I…
The Condemned (2007)
My recent viewing of French film noir led me to try a new release from Kino Lorber, VERTIGO FOR A KILLER (1970).Known as VERTIGE POUR UN TUEUR in its native France, the film interested me as it stars Marcel Bozzuffi, who appeared in SPEAKING OF MURDER (1957) and MAIGRET SEES RED (1963). One of Bozzuffi's best-known films is THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971), in which he was prominent in the supporting cast.The movie costars Michel Constantin, who was also in MAIGRET SEES RED.VERTIGO FOR A KILLER…
StarringSterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, Sarah Shahi, Nicole Brydon Bloom, and Krys MarshallOverviewThe truth lies outside.The tranquility in a serene, wealthy community inhabited by some of the world's most prominent individuals explodes when a shocking murder occurs and a high stakes investigation unfolds.Review Paradise What if Star’s Hollow backlot, but underground and with LOST-level character driven flashbacks? Honestly, this show is amazing. The characters are incredible and deep…
Umbrellas, love and sacrifice in a Jewish New York City neighborhood as an umbrella entrepreneur must find a way to assure his daughter’s happiness and maybe find some romance for himself with a local business owner. Home Media Availability: Released on DVD. It never rains but it pours The silent era was a time of […]
Catching up on my backlog: featuring a Noise Jam 3 game and three toxic yuri jam visual novels
A few years ago I bought CAST A DARK SHADOW (1955), available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber and Cohen Film Collection, when I spotted it in a sale. The impetus for my purchase was the chance to see another film starring the marvelous British actress Margaret Lockwood.As so often happens, until now I still hadn't watched it...as the saying goes, "So many movies, so little time!" But this weekend a review by Karen at Shadows and Satin gave me the impetus to pull the disc off the shelf and give it a…
Viva Espana! The best team won (thankfully). Vamos!
My favorite things to find while researching Mark Frost and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks are early interviews from cast and crew members, especially from the 1990s. The stories shared are more fresh and contain interesting nuggets and details. This time, I found Noel Holston’s spotlight on former Twin Cities resident Chris Mulkey who played Hank Jennings... The post Chris Mulkey Shares Inspiration Behind ‘Twin Peaks’ Hank Jennings in August 1990 Interview appeared first on TWIN PEAKS BLOG.
Just saw this plane fly by, probably headed to Oshkosh.
This photo reminds me of the dining room in the SciFi series ‘Silo’1. If you know, you know. It was taken in the cafe of the main pavilion at the National Arboretum in Canberra. –ooOoo- In other news, my email digest saga continues. I finally got it up and running all tickety-boo, only to have the service temporarily frozen because of the number of sketchy email addresses in my subscriber list. I am probably going to need to manually cull the entire list (around 700). Im guessing…
In the summer of 1947, a group of Swiss surgeons watched a man walk calmly across a hospital corridor with a rapier sticking clean through his torso, entry wound in his back, tip poking out through his chest, no blood, no wincing, no apparent pain at all. They X-rayed him with the blade still inside. The film showed exactly what it looked like: a sword, threaded straight through several vital organs, in a man who was very much alive and, by all accounts, mildly bored by the fuss. His name was...
ok Die Woche hat mit viel Energie begonnen. Am Ende war ich müde. Musik geniessenAm Dienstag ist unser Plattenspieler angekommen! Ich habe Kid Cudis Album „Free” oft gehört, denn es war unser einziges Album. Am Freitag ist Metronomys „Greatest Hits” im Plattenladen angekommen. Ich geniesse es, im Bett zu liegen und Schallplatten zu hören. Es ist ein tolles Gefühl. HeimwerkerarbeitenUnsere „Entspannungsecke“ ist fast fertig. Wir müssen nur noch ein paar Dinge montieren. Ein kleines Wandregal ist…
When the gods wish to punish us… and if you’re twins, then your run the risk of double trouble. This animated short from Rubika students tells the story of a pair of twins who are rescued by the gods and are gifted a place to live. Twin Island East for one, and Twin Island West for the other. The only problem is that the gods (twins themselves) ordain that everything must go two by two in a kind of cult of symmetry. That leads to a big problem when the queen of Twin Island West gives birth… and…
Two villages that received only half their necessary annual budgets decide to wage it all on a soccer game between themselves. Whoever wins gets it all and fulfill their objectives. So everything becomes fair game in their quest to win. Knowing about the guy that wrote and directed the movie, I was expecting more from this movie. There are some funny moments here and there, but it felt rushed, underdeveloped and the good actors that starred in this were severely underutilized. Good to watch on…
Some times, I got the feeling that the plot was put together with the same nonchalant attitude. Not a super great movie. Overall, I liked the movie. I wanted to like it more. I was ready to see someone get in there and be a hero, but I left the movie with a feeling of indifference. Why? I think it might be that this movie isn’t much different from other superhero movies that I’ve already seen in other movies. It really emphasizes that the execution of the story is very important. I’m not saying…
This is the second part of Justin’s article about his experience at Kyokutaisei’s sumo training venue. For the earlier post, click here. Suriashi and Psychological Warfare: Next came suriashi or “sliding feet”. The goal is to combine that low posture from the squats with forward movement, keeping feet close to the ground. You should almost … Continue reading The Peek Behind the Curtain (幕の内): The Conclusion
Algorithms are funny old things. After seeking out all the Cretinetti films I could find on YouTube, I suddenly find another one, CRETINETTI’S TWO LOVES, that was posted six years ago. And it’s a good one! The opening shot creates a nice comic tension since the title clues us in that the window on the […]
Alan Alda in The Four Seasons (1981) Vitals Alan Alda as Jack Burroughs, married lawyer Saint Thomas, Summer 1980 Film: The Four Seasons Release Date: May 22, 1981 Director: Alan Alda Costume Designer: Jane Greenwood WARNING! Spoilers ahead! Background Six months ago, I observed Alan Alda’s 90th birthday with my first post of his seasonal wardrobe in The Four Seasons, his 1981 comedy following four pairs of couples vacationing together throughout a tumultuous year in their lives, scored by…
I started the day by misreading the time for Trauma or, Monsters All as 1:45pm rather than 1:15pm, which means when I got there at 1:30pm, the film was just starting because it had a nice long intro. I occasionally complain about that sort of thing causing films to bump into each other, but in this case it worked out for me, so I'll try not to whine later! It did mean there wasn't a whole lot
Welcome to Day 7 of The Great Balkans Road Trip. If you’ve just joined me, you’ve missed some great adventures already. You can find the whole series here. This is a 13-part series, beginning in Romania, travelling through Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia, before completing the circle back in Romania. This blog includes affiliate links to help support my writing. Breakfast at the Hotel Solun Breakfast was ace today. I went all in on the strawberries. I’ve always considered…
Miscellaneous bits of news and fun stuff from around the Internet......An advance review copy MURDER AT THE MOVIES: A MOVIE PALACE MYSTERY by Alicia Malone of Turner Classic Movies has just arrived in my mailbox. It will be published by Running Press in October. Looks like fun! ...Dave Karger of TCM also has a book coming out from Running Press later this year: 50 MOVIE NIGHTS: CONTEMPORARY STARS ON THEIR FAVORITE CLASSIC FILMS...Raquel Stecher of Out of the Past has just published a new…
