Modernist Movie Posters (and 7 alternate Harry Potter covers)
via mymodernmet.com Some great modernist posters here. The Dark Knight is pretty great, especially how it alludes to Two-Face without showing him. And I really like Rain Man, Star Wars, and Ratatouille too. Plus the Harry Potter covers are pretty great too. (via Andrew Sullivan)
Shadow of a Doubtful Foreign Correspondent
When Mary's mom was in town this past weekend, we watched two old Hitchcock films: Shadow of a Doubt and Foreign Correspondent. I'd never seen either. Both of these were made well before Hitchcock really hit the height of his talents, but each have all the same undercurrents of his future films. Shadow of a Doubt was just plain creepy. A character driven piece, it was a "psychological thriller" (or, as much of a thriller as a film can be from 1943). There are elements of future films–the sexual creepiness of Vertigo, the woman under cover, in danger, and with Read more…
The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle
“Dizzle” is one of those movies that film festivals were invented for. Too bizarre to ever see wide distribution it’s a gem of a film that expands minds even as it wallows in, well, the toilet. The film starts with a stunning sequence of a message in a bottle making it’s way down from Snoqualmie Falls to the Seattle waterfront. Shot over many months in numerous locations, it’s an opener that even big budget films wouldn’t have the budget for. It’s obvious from the beginning that this film is a labor of love and dedication. via blog.thenewstribune.com I forgot to Read more…
“The Cove”
The Cove, a documentary about a dolphin slaughter in Japan, was a difficult movie. On the one hand, it's a testament to the power of film. The footage obtained is powerful. Powerful enough to actually stop the slaughter. And it's shot like a Dirty Dozen mission or Ocean's 11 heist, which makes for an interesting movie. But on the other hand, I am extremely wary of documentaries that have a particular cause. And this movie is a good example. Take it's use of Paul Watson as a "talking head", a man I generally think has crossed the line past activism Read more…
Stockard Channing on Freelancing
A few years ago I watched Stockard Channing on Inside the Actors Studio. One of the students asked her at the end, “How do you evaluate whether you should take a part?” Her answer, and I’m paraphrasing from memory here because I can’t find it on the Tubes), was roughly this: There are three good reasons to take a part. Because you love the part. Because it will help your career. And the money. Look for two out of three. Of course, Channing was speaking about acting, but it’s a pretty good way to look at freelancing jobs too. Working Read more…
Lauren Bacall is getting an honorary Oscar
I have had a crush on Lauren Bacall for the last 10 years. I was flipping channels and saw the last half of To Have and Have Not (movie still above) on AMC. I'd read the book so I thought I'd see what the movie was like. Turns out it had absolutely nothing at all to do with the the book. But I did fall for the 20-year-old Lauren Bacall. I quickly watched the other three movies she did with her husband Humphrey Bogart: The Big Sleep, Key Largo, and Dark Passage (don't bother with that one). I've also read Read more…
Glen David Gold’s “Sunnyside”
This novel of Charlie Chaplin only has its main character in about a third of the book. The rest is … everywhere. To say that this is a "sprawling" novel is an understatement. There are some wonderful parts, but I had a hard time figuring out how they all related to each other. By the end, the through-line appear to be simply, "movies." And Gold really captures the way that they cross culture and boundaries. (I recall Kate Winslet telling a story of hiking somewhere remote in northern India, where she met a monk. The monk squinted at her and Read more…
Just saw “Extract,” the new Mike Judge movie. Kinda funny, but uneven. Rent it if you’re interested.
Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds
Earlier this week Mary and I saw Inglourious Basterds. It is a very good movie. It is surprisingly not as violent as some of Tarantino's other films, but all that means is that when you get to the violence, it stands out all the more. I definitely flinched from the screen a few times. I do think the Stranger had a pretty accurate take: Everything you love and hate about Quentin Tarantino films finds a home in his cartoon Nazi thriller Inglourious Basterds: the colorful prattle, the insistent thrills, the horrifying violence, and the long, boring conversations you're manipulated into Read more…
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