What can you make in 72 hours?
Five years ago I was very proud to create the 72-Hour Film Competition at the Grand. Then three years ago I got to actually compete in the festival with a few friends. Our movie (below) won Best Use of a Tacoma Landmark and Best Use of the "Action"–in this case, something had to be dropped or thrown. (The other qualifications for the movie were to have a hat and the line of dialog "what we have here is a failure to communicate.") Well, we'll be at it again this weekend making another 5 minute movie in 3 days. Next Friday, Read more…
A Long Post Explaining Why I Think “Kick Ass” Is An Awful Movie
I was intrigued by the idea of Kick Ass, till I read Ebert’s review that called it “morally reprehensible.” His review contained things that made me think, “I wouldn’t like this movie.” Then a lot of people twittered about how great it was, I got an email about how great it was, and then an invitation to see it. So we went. Mary walked out 20 minutes in. I stayed. Perhaps because I wanted to write this post having seen the whole thing. Ebert was right. I think “morally reprehensible” is about right. Watch an 11 year old girl get Read more…
Join me next Wednesday night at the Downtown Library to talk about The Maltese Falcon as part of Tacoma Reads
I'm going to be moderating a panel on Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon" as part of Tacoma Reads on Wednesday, April 28, at 7:00 at the downtown library. Panelists include County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist, Architect and Tacoma Councilmember David Boe, and Hans Ostrom, Professor of English at UPS. If you haven't read the book, you can get it at Kings Books. It's a great noir read (and a quick one too). Join us!
Hot Tub Time Machine
Hot Tub Time Machine is the kid brother to The Hangover. It very much wants to be like its older sibling, but it just isn't there. I thought The Hangover was incredibly funny, hitting almost all of its jokes. HTTM, on the other hand, has some that flop badly, and some scenes that need a lot more of them. That said, HTTM has what might be one of the funniest running gags in a movie. I could have watched Crispin Glover as the bellhop for the whole of the movie.
“The Ghost Writer” at the Grand
I'd definitely recommend "The Ghost Writer" as a mystery/suspense film. It's at the Grand now, and it's pretty great. I'd read the book it was based off going in, and Mary had not. We both agreed it was a good film, and there's no reason to go because you haven't read the book. In fact, it's possibly better than the book. Really well done.
Fade to Black
via pheedcontent.com An homage to last scenes.
Wonder Boys
I'm a big fan of Wonder Boys. It came out in 2000 but got lost. The studio apparently thought enough of it that they decided to rerelease it again. It still got lost. Which is too bad, because it's a great movie. The only thing that seemed to stick was that Bob Dylan's song was really good (which it was). Good writer's inspiration, too. There's a feel to it that I really like and realize that I've often tried to emulate.
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: The Movie
Mary and I went up to Seattle with some friends to see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo early (it comes to the Grand in a few weeks). It's a great adaptation of the book, true to the spirit and the plot, with some excellent decisions made on what to cut. It's a good mystery, in either book or film form. Really well done.
Live and Let Die
Among other things I'm reading, I've been going through the James Bond books in order. Live and Let Die is, surprisingly, the 2nd book in the series. I say surprisingly because it feels later, thanks to the movies. The book and the movie actually bear a passing resemblance to each other, which is more than you can say for some of the other Roger Moore movies, and especially the later movies when they just pulled in the title and nothing more. Mr. Big is a pretty great villain, and he loves the gadgets in both the book and the movie. Read more…
George H. W. Bush
via whitehouse.gov I finished a short biography of George HW Bush over the weekend (the book I read was by Timothy Naftali and it’s part of the American Presidents series). Bush was the first President in my presidential reading list who didn’t have a wealth of biographies to choose from–my hunch is some of these presidents will get harder and harder to read up on. HW was a major inspiration behind this whole project of mine. After seeing Oliver Stone’s W. (which I didn’t like), I thought Bush Sr. was by far the most interesting character. And Obama referenced him Read more…
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