Revisiting 1999: The Top 10 Films of the Year, #9 --- Affliction (Paul Schrader)

Paul Schrader loves making films about men who have complexes. These Schrader protagonists are never likable characters – oh, they try to be, but they try so hard to be pleasant that they come off as repugnant or annoying. And I mean that as a compliment to Schrader’s writing and directing skills. Schrader is one of my ten favorite American directors…probably of all time. His films have a hypnotic pull to them that suck you into their themes of loneliness and discomfort. He’s created marginalized...

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Alright...let's talk about these Basterds...

Artists and entertainers have always re-worked history. I don't understand some of these objections, either -- especially when the movie is so heavily stylized -- so clearly NOT "real" -- in every particular. Besides, Spielberg's "1941" (based on a real incident!) probably has more to do with the particulars of WWII than "IB" does. The fact that, say, "Mississippi Burning" made two white FBI agents the heroes of the investigation into the actual murders of three real civil rights workers (James...

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Initial Thoughts on Inglourious Basterds

I don't want to get into a big thing about it now because I am only about 5 hours removed from seeing it. But, the movie was effing fantastic. It reminded me of Red Dawn. Wolverines!!!! Anyway (obviously it's better than the Milius film, but that was my initial reaction to the film as varying scenes of visceral fantasy unfolded) . The Hugo Stiglitz moment made me smile...obviously, and my God that tavern scene is one of the most tense things I have seen in a movie. When the credits finally...

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Revisiting 1999: The Top 10 Films of the Year, #10 --- The Limey (Steven Soderbergh)

Steven Soderbergh’s neo noir-revenge tale The Limey is about as ordinary a story as you will likely see. You have a man named Wilson (Terrence Stamp) fresh out of prison and seeking revenge on the man who was responsible for his daughters death, a hipster 60’s record producer Valentine (played by Peter Fonda, in a bit of perfect casting) who “tapped into the 60’s zeitgeist and ran with it.” Along the way Wilson gathers information from new-found friends who aide him in finding out the truth about...

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...And We're Back

Well…I’m back from the honeymoon and ready to get back to this whole blogging thing. That picture above was taken at the Canadian Iron Chef's restaurant (for all you Food Network fans) The Cactus Grill (or something like that...the food and beer were delicious. They have some good breweries there in Victoria, not as good as here in the Northwest...but I digress) However, I don’t have a review of The Limey ready yet because…well I just haven’t had the time. It’s funny – when you get married how...

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A Brief Intermission

The picture above is my fiance and me last year at the coast. If you're wondering why we're at the beach and all bundled up it's because it's Oregon, and the beach doesn't get warmer than 70 degrees here. Oh, and I'm the one with the pseudo-beard. So, why the picture? I'm getting married this Friday so there will be a short sabbatical from the blog starting today and lasting until I return August 24 where I will be posting the first entry for my top 10 films of 1999 for my Revisiting 1999 project....

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Wondering About the Top FIlms of the 1980's?

Yep -- It's that time again. Head on over to the wonderful Wonders in the Dark and submit your top 25 films of the 80's. The lists are sure to be eclectic and full of great DVD ideas. I always walk away from the wonderful lists submitted there in awe of how much there is out there I still have to see. My list comes after jump...My top ten consists of some of the best films to come out of American cinema in the 80's, one of the best films by a cinematic god (Bergman), a documentary, and a flashy...

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Lazy Blogger Repost: Neo, Cyber, and Postmodern Noir: A Look at Film Noir as an Evolving Genre

Here is the final Lazy Blogger Re-post that I will toss up here. I'm really proud of this piece, which I published a few years ago for a film class and then posted it on the blog in February of last year. I love film noir, and this project gave me the opportunity to really look closely at some of my favorite neo-noir films and the particular elements that make the following films under examination neo, cyber, or postmodern noir. When I initially posted this piece on my blog I received a lot of...

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