Back again!
Simon Abrams’ recent viewing was highlighted by a Hal Ashby triple feature. To see what else he's been up to, check out his blog.
Jason Alley attacked the block- but sadly, not the wack- and some other stuff besides.
Scott Black enrolled in Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, crashed The Myth of the American Sleepover, and started cramming for the Muriels. Attaboy, Scott.
Then, I- wait, Sean Burns had some words for The Interrupters.
Chris Devlin soared with Airport 1975, raced with Senna, and dug into Forks Over Knives.
Kenji Fujishima went on an art bender.
Craig Kennedy delved into Richard Stark and his cinematic spawn, and posted a couple of roundups from the fall festival scene.
Uncle Crizzle interviewed Yelawolf and Julie Dash for Indyweek.
Lucas McNelly logged time with Matthew Lillard on his ongoing Year Without Rent.
Phil Nugent stood in the long shadow of 9/11 and took a long look at Rescue Me.
TIFF noob Mark Pfeiffer had some questions for festival vets.
Finally, Chris Devlin shared a song from the latest Samiam record with you. Here you go:
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
What we've done: Sept. 2nd-5th, 2010
Sorry I didn't have this up yesterday - I used up pretty much the entire Labor Day weekend shopping for a car to replace my tired old Corolla. The search, I'm happy to say, was successful.
Anyway, here's the rundown:
- Simon Abrams thought Shark Night didn't totally bite. Meanwhile...
- ...Danny Baldwin thought it did.
- Scott Black was fairly positive on The Myth of the American Sleepover, less so on Friends with Benefits and Red State.
- Dennis Cozzalio highlighted an upcoming project.
- Kenji Fujishima offered a couple of quick words on Tabloid.
- Glenn Heath wrestled with Bellflower.
- Craig Kennedy had a busy weekend - a roundtable interview with Ludivine Sagnier, a review of The Debt and a thorough two-part look at the upcoming fall film fest season.
- Michael Lieberman played us a song.
- Lucas McNelly got into the financials of A Year Without Rent.
- Phil Nugent contributed to The AV Club's Inventory on abandoned subplots from long-running TV shows and their Q&A on bad episodes of good shows. He also tossed barbs at Michelle Bachmann and Dave Weigel.
- Mark Pfeiffer hashed out his schedule for the Toronto Film Festival.
Today's video: Those who follow my Twitter feed may remember the 24-hour film marathon I attended in June. This is easily the most amazing thing I saw in that 24 hour span:
Friday, September 2, 2011
What we've done: 29 Aug through 1 Sept
Hey folks. Paul here, taking you into the weekend with links from the past few days of activity. But first, to answer a question posed in the last update, here’s a list of my favorites so far this year:
1. Tree of Life (duh)
2 (tie). Certified Copy / Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (both so different, but so clearly awesome that I can’t decide which I prefer after a single viewing)
3. Meek’s Cutoff
4. Tabloid
5. Rango (this one probably requires the most explanation. Yes, Verbinski still hasn’t learned how to wrap up a movie in a timely manner. But this is so infectiously goony that it left me with a blissed-out grin on my face from beginning to end. I’m willing to allow Depp to keep lining his pockets with Captain Jack loot if he continues churning out Rango adventures as well)
And now, the links!
Jason Alley got his metal on, had a religious experience with Ozzy, and more!
Danny Baldwin recommends that you seek out Higher Ground and avoid Bellflower. He’s somewhere in between on The Debt.
Andrew Bemis finally got around to submitting his answers to Dennis Cozzalio’s most recent quiz.
Sean Burns had an issue or two with Chasing Madoff and heaped scorn upon A Good Old Fashioned Orgy.
For those who missed it, I re-examined a key stepping stone in my moviegoing education.
Dennis Cozzalio eulogized a recently-departed frankfurter favorite.
Jim Emerson spotlights some stunning “cinematographs” by Gustaf Mantel.
Kenji Fujishima checked into the legendary Algonquin Hotel.
Daniel Getahun went looking for A Better Life.
Daniel Johnson reviewed The Debt and The Perfect Host.
Uncle Crizzle gave it up for The Guard, debuted for the LA Weekly with a piece on composer Adrian Younge, and did plenty of other fun stuff over at his Tumblr.
Phil Nugent unleashed some deep thoughts about the current political climate along with some musings on the conundrum that is Lady Gaga.
Mark Pfeiffer shared his for-reals schedule for TIFF. Arrrgh… envy!
Philip Tatler pored over the new Kurahara box from Eclipse.
Bryan Whitefield linked to a short film shot during Hurricane Irene. Ch-ch-check it out!
And over at the Muriel-winning A.V. Club, Alison Willmore reviewed I’m Glad My Mother Is Alive (hey, so am I!) and Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles.
Finally, you all know Simon Abrams. Know how he makes a livin’. Well, he’s been extra-busy these last few days, so rather than taking up all your time making you click through links here, I’ll just post a link to his blog, which will let you know all he’s been up to. Seriously, just looking at what he’s done since the last update makes me seriously frackin’ tired.
Also, courtesy of Craig Kennedy, here’s the trailer for Kenneth Lonergan’s looooooooooooooong-overdue follow-up to You Can Count on Me, Margaret:
1. Tree of Life (duh)
2 (tie). Certified Copy / Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (both so different, but so clearly awesome that I can’t decide which I prefer after a single viewing)
3. Meek’s Cutoff
4. Tabloid
5. Rango (this one probably requires the most explanation. Yes, Verbinski still hasn’t learned how to wrap up a movie in a timely manner. But this is so infectiously goony that it left me with a blissed-out grin on my face from beginning to end. I’m willing to allow Depp to keep lining his pockets with Captain Jack loot if he continues churning out Rango adventures as well)
And now, the links!
Jason Alley got his metal on, had a religious experience with Ozzy, and more!
Danny Baldwin recommends that you seek out Higher Ground and avoid Bellflower. He’s somewhere in between on The Debt.
Andrew Bemis finally got around to submitting his answers to Dennis Cozzalio’s most recent quiz.
Sean Burns had an issue or two with Chasing Madoff and heaped scorn upon A Good Old Fashioned Orgy.
For those who missed it, I re-examined a key stepping stone in my moviegoing education.
Dennis Cozzalio eulogized a recently-departed frankfurter favorite.
Jim Emerson spotlights some stunning “cinematographs” by Gustaf Mantel.
Kenji Fujishima checked into the legendary Algonquin Hotel.
Daniel Getahun went looking for A Better Life.
Daniel Johnson reviewed The Debt and The Perfect Host.
Uncle Crizzle gave it up for The Guard, debuted for the LA Weekly with a piece on composer Adrian Younge, and did plenty of other fun stuff over at his Tumblr.
Phil Nugent unleashed some deep thoughts about the current political climate along with some musings on the conundrum that is Lady Gaga.
Mark Pfeiffer shared his for-reals schedule for TIFF. Arrrgh… envy!
Philip Tatler pored over the new Kurahara box from Eclipse.
Bryan Whitefield linked to a short film shot during Hurricane Irene. Ch-ch-check it out!
And over at the Muriel-winning A.V. Club, Alison Willmore reviewed I’m Glad My Mother Is Alive (hey, so am I!) and Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles.
Finally, you all know Simon Abrams. Know how he makes a livin’. Well, he’s been extra-busy these last few days, so rather than taking up all your time making you click through links here, I’ll just post a link to his blog, which will let you know all he’s been up to. Seriously, just looking at what he’s done since the last update makes me seriously frackin’ tired.
Also, courtesy of Craig Kennedy, here’s the trailer for Kenneth Lonergan’s looooooooooooooong-overdue follow-up to You Can Count on Me, Margaret:
Monday, August 29, 2011
What We've Done: August 22nd thru August 28th
UPDATE TIME!
I have to do this super-fast as deadlines are breathing down my neck like a fatman in a packed subway car:
- Posting powerhouse Simon Abrams has the usual glut of material on the webs. He's updated his own blog, Extended Cut, reviewed another cartoon for the AV Club, written a nice think piece on Guillermo del Toro's efforts as a producer/presenter, interviewed del Toro for Vulture, reviewed a brace of new releases for Wide Screen, talked about Lee Chang-Dong's Poetry for Fandor, threatened the safety of our souls with another Bad Idea Podcast (an endeavor co-piloted by Steve Carlson), and - finally - hated on the new Conan. Per his Facebook status, he's also "just ate (his) penultimate home-grown jalapeno." So Simon's a busy bee/beaver/whatever.
Lest this be an all-Simon, all-the-time affair, it's worth noting the following:
- Jason Alley liked 30 Minutes or Less, Fright Night, and that Apes movie equally.
- Ali Arikan's inaugural installment of Nobody's Business But The Turks, a column for Indiewire's Press Play, focused on the Apes as well.
- Danny Baldwin encapsulated Griff the Invisible and Senna.
- Sean Burns barely gave Fright Night a passing grade.
- Chris Devlin linked to a Schlitz Malt Liquor advertisement featuring Shaft and Huggy Bear (don't miss this).
- Dennis Cozzalio revisited his hometown movie palace.
- Ari Dassa has posted a teaser trailer for his forthcoming documentary, The Israeli Dancer.
- Jim Emerson weighed in on Sean Penn's Tree-pissing and commented on the much-ballyhooed Press Play "Chaos Cinema" piece which I refuse to link to.
- James Frazier liked One Day.
- Kenji Fujishima updated his ever-charming Artistic Consumption index.
- Craig Kennedy writes a love note to Los Angeles and participates in a podcast wherein The Help and the best movies of the summer are discussed (and I'm pretty sure those two subjects don't intersect).
- Uncle Crizzle has been almost Abrams-busy: he reviewed a Jill Scott concert, learned about white people with the Hold Steady, took a look at a pair of early Spielberg features, and -- in a great piece over at indieWIRE -- asked "just what is a 'nigga movie'"?
- Phil Nugent contributed with wild abandon to the AV Club, adding to their Katrina and songs-about-disease Inventories, reviewing episodes of Top Gear, Leverage, and Homicide: Life on the Streets and tackling the 2011 MTV Video Awards.
- Lucas McNelly continued his Year Without Rent.
- Mark Pfeiffer is gearing up for Toronto 2011.
- and, alphabetically last but first in the hearts of her countrymen, Alison Willmore reviewed The Caller and Special Treatment for the AV Club and co-starred with her former IFC colleague Matt Singer on the Filmspotting podcast, chatting about their favorite haunted house films.
If I may highlight two pieces that were too old to make the last update:
- Daniel Getahun's 300 Words About Steve James' Stevie, an extremely overlooked doc that needs to be seen by all of you.
- My own take on the Criterion disc of Polanski's Cul-de-Sac because what's in it for me if I don't shamelessly plug my own e-scribbles?
While people are yammering about "Chaos Cinema" (a postulate that excites me about as much as the "Pool Movie"), here's some beautiful chaos, courtesy of Stan Brakhage. It's 1994's Black Ice and contains multitudes in its two minutes:
I have to do this super-fast as deadlines are breathing down my neck like a fatman in a packed subway car:
- Posting powerhouse Simon Abrams has the usual glut of material on the webs. He's updated his own blog, Extended Cut, reviewed another cartoon for the AV Club, written a nice think piece on Guillermo del Toro's efforts as a producer/presenter, interviewed del Toro for Vulture, reviewed a brace of new releases for Wide Screen, talked about Lee Chang-Dong's Poetry for Fandor, threatened the safety of our souls with another Bad Idea Podcast (an endeavor co-piloted by Steve Carlson), and - finally - hated on the new Conan. Per his Facebook status, he's also "just ate (his) penultimate home-grown jalapeno." So Simon's a busy bee/beaver/whatever.
Lest this be an all-Simon, all-the-time affair, it's worth noting the following:
- Jason Alley liked 30 Minutes or Less, Fright Night, and that Apes movie equally.
- Ali Arikan's inaugural installment of Nobody's Business But The Turks, a column for Indiewire's Press Play, focused on the Apes as well.
- Danny Baldwin encapsulated Griff the Invisible and Senna.
- Sean Burns barely gave Fright Night a passing grade.
- Chris Devlin linked to a Schlitz Malt Liquor advertisement featuring Shaft and Huggy Bear (don't miss this).
- Dennis Cozzalio revisited his hometown movie palace.
- Ari Dassa has posted a teaser trailer for his forthcoming documentary, The Israeli Dancer.
- Jim Emerson weighed in on Sean Penn's Tree-pissing and commented on the much-ballyhooed Press Play "Chaos Cinema" piece which I refuse to link to.
- James Frazier liked One Day.
- Kenji Fujishima updated his ever-charming Artistic Consumption index.
- Craig Kennedy writes a love note to Los Angeles and participates in a podcast wherein The Help and the best movies of the summer are discussed (and I'm pretty sure those two subjects don't intersect).
- Uncle Crizzle has been almost Abrams-busy: he reviewed a Jill Scott concert, learned about white people with the Hold Steady, took a look at a pair of early Spielberg features, and -- in a great piece over at indieWIRE -- asked "just what is a 'nigga movie'"?
- Phil Nugent contributed with wild abandon to the AV Club, adding to their Katrina and songs-about-disease Inventories, reviewing episodes of Top Gear, Leverage, and Homicide: Life on the Streets and tackling the 2011 MTV Video Awards.
- Lucas McNelly continued his Year Without Rent.
- Mark Pfeiffer is gearing up for Toronto 2011.
- and, alphabetically last but first in the hearts of her countrymen, Alison Willmore reviewed The Caller and Special Treatment for the AV Club and co-starred with her former IFC colleague Matt Singer on the Filmspotting podcast, chatting about their favorite haunted house films.
If I may highlight two pieces that were too old to make the last update:
- Daniel Getahun's 300 Words About Steve James' Stevie, an extremely overlooked doc that needs to be seen by all of you.
- My own take on the Criterion disc of Polanski's Cul-de-Sac because what's in it for me if I don't shamelessly plug my own e-scribbles?
While people are yammering about "Chaos Cinema" (a postulate that excites me about as much as the "Pool Movie"), here's some beautiful chaos, courtesy of Stan Brakhage. It's 1994's Black Ice and contains multitudes in its two minutes:
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have Jean Vigo's ENTIRE filmography to watch before I retire for the evening.
EXTRA CREDIT: Should anyone want to weigh in in the combox: now that we're two-thirds through 2011, what are the must-sees of the year? Particularly the hidden gems?
Monday, August 22, 2011
What we've done: August 19th-21st, 2011
Whew, been a while. Sorry for letting this place get dusty and abandoned. Trying to do this daily has proved too difficult for me to keep up with. So, couple of changes:
1) Updates will be twice a week. Larger, but less day-to-day work.
2) I've enlisted a bit of help. Both Paul Clark and Philip Tatler have volunteered their time in keeping the updates going. Which is very cool of them.
Anyway, here we go:
- Simon Abrams knocked out another episode of Cowboy Bebop.
- Jason Alley gives a thumbs-up to both The Help and Glee 3D.
- Danny Baldwin likes Point Blank a lot more than One Day.
- Jim Emerson dredges up the origin of a blatant continuity error and says a quick word about Paradise Lost 3.
- Glenn Heath Jr. got giddy at the new Fright Night. He was not so keen, however, on A Proper Violence.
- Daniel Cook Johnson had mixed thoughts about One Day.
- Craig Kennedy posted some news of interest, then caught up with The Help and the Fright Night remake.
- Michael Lieberman eulogized Raul Ruiz with Ruiz's own words.
- Craig Lindsey broke down the soudtrack to Despicable Me. He also dug up a couple of older pieces.
- Lucas McNelly spun tales about Day 9 and Day 10 of the shoot for Paul Osbourne's Favor, his latest Year Without Rent stop.
- Phil Nugent found the latest episode of Leverage to be better than he'd feared. He also penned a piece on a classic episode of Homicide: Life on the Street and another on a film about a texting competition. (No, really.)
- Bryan Whitefield crowed about Rap Genius.
Today's video: This here's expiring from Netflix Instant in the next couple of days. Maybe you'll want to give it a look. I know I'm gonna watch it as soon as I'm done here.
1) Updates will be twice a week. Larger, but less day-to-day work.
2) I've enlisted a bit of help. Both Paul Clark and Philip Tatler have volunteered their time in keeping the updates going. Which is very cool of them.
Anyway, here we go:
- Simon Abrams knocked out another episode of Cowboy Bebop.
- Jason Alley gives a thumbs-up to both The Help and Glee 3D.
- Danny Baldwin likes Point Blank a lot more than One Day.
- Jim Emerson dredges up the origin of a blatant continuity error and says a quick word about Paradise Lost 3.
- Glenn Heath Jr. got giddy at the new Fright Night. He was not so keen, however, on A Proper Violence.
- Daniel Cook Johnson had mixed thoughts about One Day.
- Craig Kennedy posted some news of interest, then caught up with The Help and the Fright Night remake.
- Michael Lieberman eulogized Raul Ruiz with Ruiz's own words.
- Craig Lindsey broke down the soudtrack to Despicable Me. He also dug up a couple of older pieces.
- Lucas McNelly spun tales about Day 9 and Day 10 of the shoot for Paul Osbourne's Favor, his latest Year Without Rent stop.
- Phil Nugent found the latest episode of Leverage to be better than he'd feared. He also penned a piece on a classic episode of Homicide: Life on the Street and another on a film about a texting competition. (No, really.)
- Bryan Whitefield crowed about Rap Genius.
Today's video: This here's expiring from Netflix Instant in the next couple of days. Maybe you'll want to give it a look. I know I'm gonna watch it as soon as I'm done here.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
What we've done: April 4th & 5th, 2011
- Simon Abrams found some nice things to say about Machete, fewer nice things to say about Antonioni's I Vinti.
- Danny Baldwin found Little Fockers "commercially vanilla," preferring the more action-oriented stylings of Source Code.
- Notoriously tough grader Matthew Lotti's latest round of reviews includes a couple positive writeups: Nightmare Alley, Colossal Youth and... Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes?
- Chuck Bowen was frustrated yet elated by Black Swan.
- Glenn Heath Jr. wasn't keen on Nicholas Ray's King of Kings. The Muriels, on the other hand...
- Craig Kennedy ran down some recent film-news headlines and revealed the poster for this year's Cannes Film Festival. (A classy image, at that.)
- Lucas McNelly wants Batman to bug off.
- Phil Nugent weighed in on the latest episode of Nurse Jackie.
- Scott Von Doviak was lukewarm on the most recent episode of Being Human U.S..
- Philip Tatler confessed to some errata in regards to his Muriels ballot.
- A couple of amusing images found by Martin McClellan involving a law firm and an airplane.
And in case you missed it, the 5th Annual White Elephant Blogathon took place last week at Paul Clark's place. Among the many excellent contributions were pieces by Simon Abrams, Kent M. Beeson, Andrew Bemis, Dennis Cozzalio, Philip Tatler, Patrick Williamson and Paul himself. (Oh yeah... also, there's a piece from this scrub.)
Today's video: At South By Southwest, Kenji Fujishima got a chance to play around a with Super 8mm camera. The results are below:
- Danny Baldwin found Little Fockers "commercially vanilla," preferring the more action-oriented stylings of Source Code.
- Notoriously tough grader Matthew Lotti's latest round of reviews includes a couple positive writeups: Nightmare Alley, Colossal Youth and... Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes?
- Chuck Bowen was frustrated yet elated by Black Swan.
- Glenn Heath Jr. wasn't keen on Nicholas Ray's King of Kings. The Muriels, on the other hand...
- Craig Kennedy ran down some recent film-news headlines and revealed the poster for this year's Cannes Film Festival. (A classy image, at that.)
- Lucas McNelly wants Batman to bug off.
- Phil Nugent weighed in on the latest episode of Nurse Jackie.
- Scott Von Doviak was lukewarm on the most recent episode of Being Human U.S..
- Philip Tatler confessed to some errata in regards to his Muriels ballot.
- A couple of amusing images found by Martin McClellan involving a law firm and an airplane.
And in case you missed it, the 5th Annual White Elephant Blogathon took place last week at Paul Clark's place. Among the many excellent contributions were pieces by Simon Abrams, Kent M. Beeson, Andrew Bemis, Dennis Cozzalio, Philip Tatler, Patrick Williamson and Paul himself. (Oh yeah... also, there's a piece from this scrub.)
Today's video: At South By Southwest, Kenji Fujishima got a chance to play around a with Super 8mm camera. The results are below:
Monday, April 4, 2011
At long last!
The official Muriels site is completed for 2010, with all voter pages up to date! New and shiny! Go on and take a look.
And now, on with 2011...
And now, on with 2011...
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