Sydney Pollack, 1934-2008

I don't have a lot of time to devote to this, but I just wanted to point out that filmmaker Sydney Pollack died at the age of 73 from cancer. Read Glenn Kenny's remembrance of Pollack here. I think the comparison to Alan J. Pakula is an accurate one. Both made classical American films that usually lingered a little too long, but you never cared because they contained wonderful acting. Pollack's films were never concise and he never really made anything that was a huge box office hit, even though...

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Playing Favorites

When my brother Troy suggested to me that we blog about our 25 favorite albums and movies, it got me thinking about the difference between 'favorite' and 'best'. I have kind of touched on this a little with this post about my taste in movies, and how that taste evolves over time. I also just explained in my post about Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade that that film holds a particularly special place in my film-going heart. It is the first film where I started to notice other aspects of filmmaking...

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"You have chosen wisely": Or Why 'Last Crusade' is the Best Indy Picture

There is a certain style of illustration that appeared in the boys' adventure magazines of the 1940s - in those innocent publications that have been replaced by magazines on punk lifestyles and movie monsters. The illustrations were always about the same. They showed a small group of swarthy men hovering over a treasure trove with greedy grins on their bearded faces, while in the foreground, two teenage boys peered out from behind a rock in wonder and astonishment. The point of view was always over...

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Meme means breast in Turkish?

Well according to Cerebral Mastication's Ali Arikan, who tagged me for this particular meme, it does. No I am not going to be writing about breasts or Turkish breasts for that matter, but here all the simple rules of this particular meme:1) Pick up the nearest book.2) Open to page 123.3) Locate the fifth sentence.4) Post the next three sentences on your blog and in so doing…5) Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.So there ya have it. The book I have next to me at the moment is John...

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Who is Hugo Stiglitz?

By popular demand (and for those wondering just who in the hell Hugo Stiglitz is) more Hugo Stiglitz!!! The Nightmare City trailer is wonderful. Just click on the 'continue reading' link to see a slew of wonderful Hugo moments in some truly awful (read: wonderful and brilliant) Italian and Mexican films. Enjoy!here is the trailer for Nightmare City be careful -- NSFW -- contains lots of boobs.Here's another video that is hilarious. Someone put together some of the best moments from Nightmare...

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Book of the Month, May 2008: Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

Now, I must say that in my prepubescent stage of literature knowledge I am certain there are thousands upon thousands of people more qualified to talk about literature in an engaging way than I could ever hope. My degree is in Literature, so I have four years of digging through weighty tomes and literary theory under my belt (postmodernism being the one I am well versed in), but I am not much of a writer, and I fear that writing about such literary giants is out of my league. I am only 26 and...

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