Stuff We Done Did - October 4, 2011

Hey now! It's update time once again. Before you scroll down to make sure that I hyperlinked to your piece, I'd like to put in a HEAVY Muriel plug for THE ARBOR, Clio Barnard's meditation on the brief life and career of playwright Andrea Dunbar and the effect it had on her family, specifically her two daughters, Lorraine and Lisa. Barnard transcends the (already fascinating) subject matter, creating a sui generis documentary that is quite a cinematic/formal feat.

If I were voting today, it'd be number two on my top ten of the year and top the editing, directing, and ensemble categories. How, you may ask, could a documentary earn a spot in the ensemble acting race? To which I answer: watch the film, dummy. It's streaming on Netflix and I have a screener if you want to PM me. The trailer is pasted at the bottom of this post.

And now, here's yer run-down:

- SIMON ABRAMS looks at some horrible Spielberg rip-offs

- DANNY BALDWIN is a hoarder

- ANDREW BEMIS begins a spooktacular/ghoultastic/ghostational/etc. list of the scariest monsters in cinema, beginning with Peter Lorre, that chick from the killer VHS movie, and the midget in DON'T LOOK NOW

- SCOTT BLACK yammered about RAMMBOCK, ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, 30 DAYS TO DIE, and GRAVE ENCOUNTERS and made a Muriel cram list that I think we can all benefit from. He only gave ISLAND OF LOST SOULS a "B" which makes me angry at first but, ultimately, just sad for him.

- CHRIS DEVLIN begins a month of horror with I BURY THE LIVING

- JIM EMERSON has started his coverage of the Vancouver International Film Fest. with a review of Markus Schleinzer's MICHAEL.

- JAMES FRAZIER Excels at film watching!

- KENJI FUJISHIMA TIFFs and NYFFs whilst listening to Bowie's Low.

- DANIEL COOK JOHNSON says 50/50 "pulls it off with humorously heartfelt aplomb"

- CRAIG KENNEDY posts trailers for ANOTHER HAPPY DAY, THE LADY, and WAR HORSE. He reviews MARGARET, TAKE SHELTER, and WEEKEND. And then there's some Quentin Tarantion/Coen Brother art exhibit thing that's happening.

- ADAM LEMKE soldiers on through his own horror-ific month.

- MICHAEL LIEBERMAN's friends occupied Wall Street. And were arrested by The Man.

- PHIL NUGENT gets all political an' shit while making a hilarious Miami Vice reference.

- UNCLE CRIZZLE continues to astound. Corsets?! Blaze Magazine?! Professional doormen?! Donnie Hathaway?! Crizz covers it all in true Renaissance Man style.

- PHILIP TATLER IV saw a lady at Starbucks today that resembled Roman Polanski in THE TENANT. Seriously. It was deeply unsettling. I'm barely tethered to reality as it is these days.

- BRYAN WHITEFIELD eulogizes Nobel Prize winner Ralph Steinman and shares some great photos.

That's it then. Here's the aforementioned ARBOR trailer:

What we've done: 28-30 September 2011

Anybody got a pithy leadoff sentence for this post? Because I’m finding myself regrettably short on pith at present. But since I’m a good sport, I’ll alphabetize the posts by the voters’ first names. Wheeeee!

Alison Wilmore got a glimpse of the movie it’s taken half a dozen years to release, and reviewed a couple of indies for the AV Club for good measure.

Andrew Bemis recapped his summer vacation for us.

Chuck Bowen chilled with Hesher.

Craig Kennedy forecasted the upcoming weekend's cinematic offerings.

Craig Lindsey reviewed 50/50, finding it odd that Seth Rogen just keeps making movies in which his friends get cancer.

Danny Baldwin got doubly happy and spent an afternoon with Marguerite.

Dennis Cozzalio took a gander at Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.

Glenn Heath went to bat for Moneyball.

In dreams, Jim Emerson walks with Chinatown / In dreeeeeams, Jim Emerson taaaaalks… to Chinatown…

Kenji Fujishima went under the NYFF with Dreileben and The Loneliest Planet.

Lucas McNelly offered some advice for future Kickstarter campaigns and posed the question, “what does is The Stagg Do”?

Phil Nugent found precious little Hope and met The Man Behind the Mosque.

Sean Burns also ventured into the backwoods with Tucker and Dale and gave good odds to 50/50. He also interviewed Seth Rogen and Will Reiser for the latter. Although wouldn't it be fun if more movie stars would be interviewed for movies with which they had nothing to do?

Simon Abrams wallowed in Carnage.

Steve Carlson shared his preliminary list for Adam Lemke’s horror challenge. And if you want to play along at home, there’s still time!

Finally… is it possible for a trailer to win an Oscar? Because that is how frickin’ bad the Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close trailer wants to push the Academy’s buttons. Let’s see… it stars Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock and it’s directed by Stephen Daldry (who’s never not been nominated for a movie he directed- chew on that a while) and it’s about a child reconnecting with his dad AND it’s set in the aftermath of 9/11. And even with all those Academy ringers they still feel the need to slather the trailer in magical U2 lotion, just in case anyone wasn’t already sure of their intentions. What are the odds that Daldry and Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth threw a Holocaust survivor into the story for good measure? Anyway, see this but preferably not if you’ve just now eaten:

What we've done: September 24th-27th, 2011

UPDATE: Ali Arikan pointed out that I skipped the latest terrific entry in the terrific column he's doing for Press Play. It's about Withnail and I and the legacy of the Baby Boomers, and it's a really killer read. If you haven't already, do yourself a favor.

Y'all been busy lately. Must be getting to the good-movie season then. Let's do this.

- Simon Abrams. Incendies. Roman Polanski. TIFF. Roman Polanski... again. Dude's a machine. A MACHINE.

- Jason Alley assured us that he's okay.

- Scott Black turned an eye towards everyone's favorite annual cram session.

- Chuck Bowen found Finding Joe... and told it to fuck right off. He did think, though, that Zanskar is worth the journey.

- Steve Carlson saw Abduction. And now he's going to kill all of your friends on Facebook.

- Drive has gotten into Chris Devlin's brain. HIS BRAIN, I TELL YOU!!!! (He also alerted me to yet another band I need to hear more from. He's very, very good at that.)

- Jim Emerson took issue with Christopher Nolan's notions of realism but not with Alec Baldwin's comedic chops.

- Kenji Fujishima let us know what he's been up to lately. He also got his Abbas on.

- "Do you ever stand in the mirror so long that you become disgusted with yourself?", Glenn Heath wonders. He also says nice things about a film I've had two chances to see and never have because both times the VHS copy I'd procured was defective and another film that I hope I don't have similar troubles with.

- Craig Kennedy dropped into a busy projection room and joined the knights of a roundtable about a search for a holy grail. (Or something like that.) Also: Trailer! Poster! Poster! Weekend! Moneyball! Really fucking awesome poster! (Seriously, I want that last one. On my wall. In my car. As a hat. Whatever - I just want it.)

- Adam Lemke prepped for the annual Halloween Horror Challenge. For which I am sooooo game.

- Matthew Lotti's latest batch of reviews is pretty damn eclectic. (Dude, Mondo Cane 2? Why?)

- Sam C. Mac just got back from Toronto, and boy, are his eyes tired!

- Lucas McNelly is finished with the powerful portly youth he'd been hanging around.

- Coming attraction from Marya Murphy! Whee!

- Matt Noller... is... uh... where'd ya go, bud?

- Phil Nugent, it turns out, is not fond of Rick Perry.

- Scott Von Doviak is watching The Amazing Race. Are you?

Well... if not, here's something you can watch. Because Halloween is coming, and you might need a suggestion.

What the tiff is up: 19-23 September 2011

Because we’re all about variety, we’re going in reverse alphabetical order today! Hold on tight, this could get exciting!

By the way, this week’s post is sponsored by the new FilmDistrict release, Drive. I swear, if the title wasn’t so damn short I’d get really tired of typing it over and over.

Alison Willmore considered the portrayal of Christians in independent cinema and reviewed Weekend and The Man Nobody Knew Probably Because His Movie’s Title Was So Stinkin’ Long over at the Muriel-winning AV Club.

Bryan Whitefield shared his thoughts on the inevitable end of St. Mark’s Bookshop.

Philip Tatler dug into Le Quattro Volte.

Phil Nugent reviewed new episodes of CSI, Raising Hope, The Mentalist, and A Gifted Man. I guess someone had to, right?

Lucas McNelly speculated on the future of film production and blah blah Matthew Lillard.

Uncle Crizzle logged some thoughts on gay marriage and Clint Eastwood and Prince’s Black Album.

Craig Kennedy did a text-to-screen comparison of Drive, forecasted the weekend’s new releases, and dropped a whole mess o' trailers.

James Frazier burned Hollywood for its ongoing treatment of Mississippi .

Jim Emerson posted twice about Drive and still found time to transcribe his video essay on The Dark Knight and salute the pride of Winnipeg, Mr. Kim Morgan himself, Guy Maddin.

Chuck Bowen reviewed the Bridesmaids DVD.

Kent M. Beeson continued to count his golamine beads.

Danny Baldwin enjoyed Dolphin Tale and didn’t care for Drive. One in every crowd, I tell ya.

And Simon Abrams- because we had to get to him eventually, right?- penned pieces on the films of Jerzy Skolimowski, a twofer of 10 and La Dolce Vita, The Wave, and much, much more.

Finally, a propos of nothing- when I was younger (never mind how much younger) one of my career aspiration was to be the guy who wrote one-liners for Norm on Cheers. Obviously that never happened, but that’s OK. Here’s a pretty decent YouTube compilation of some of the better “Norm” entrance lines:



And because I feel like it, here’s your obscure fact of the week: the best man at Peter Boyle's wedding was John Lennon. Because of course.

What we've done: September 16th-18th, 2011

- Chuck Bowen did not fall for One Fall. No, not at all. (Boy, this film sounds fucking awful.)

- Sean Burns, to a degree, approves of Vera Farmiga trying to reach that Higher Ground.

- Chris Devlin posted a piece of music from Barn Owl, a band that I suddenly feel really compelled to explore further.

- Jim Emerson continued his examination of editing techniques in action movies by breaking down sequences from Bullit and Don Siegel's awesome The Lineup. I can't wait until he gets to Bad Boys II!

- Rolling back a bit: Daniel Getahun put his site on hiatus. And I missed it. Dammit. Come back whenever you're ready, bud.

- Glenn Heath got all revved up over Drive. Contagion, though, left him nonplussed.

- Craig Kennedy posted a trailer for "Le Help... without the appalling sociopolitics." (Come on, that's a good line.)

- Good God, don't we all wish that what Michael Lieberman is posting here still existed in filmed form. Don't we though.

- Craig Lindsey blurbed Bilal.

- Lucas McNelly pondered an unusual car and other things on the set of that Matthew Lillard film he's working on.

- Phil Nugent wins the Prolific Writer of the Update Award (aka the Abrams): he used If a Tree Falls as an impetus to discuss activisim and terrorism, dug into creative writing departments and their discontents, groused about two flawed films and a ridonkulous DVD commentary and correctly pointed out that it's a damn shame that most people can't name a single Dramarama song outside of "Anything, Anything."

- Scott Von Doviak got into Squidbillies, which by his own admission is a species of hillbilly outside his area of expertise.

- Alison Willmore gave positive reviews to Silent Souls and The Mill and the Cross. America went and threw money at a 15-year-old cartoon instead. Whatever, America.

Today's video: The great experimental filmmaker George Kuchar passed away recently. So, if you haven't seen it, here's his most famous piece of work:

What We've Done - Sept 13 through 15

What have we been up to lately? Behold!

Aaaagh! Scott Black’s blog has been hacked by the Backson! Incidentally, the Backson says that you’ll probably also enjoy Dr. Giggles.

Sean Burns interviewed Bellflower director Evan Glodell, then reviewed the movie.

Paul Clark punched the neighbor’s cat in the kidney (twice, just to be sure), then filed his tax returns a full four months before his W-2s were scheduled to arrive. In other words, no new activity on the blog.

Feel free to take Jim Emerson’s latest video with a grain of Salt.

Busy bee Glenn Heath Jr. reviewed half a dozen movies for AWhalesVagina.com, including The Fookin’ Guard and No, Not the Lee Marvin One, the Other One.

Craig Kennedy reviewed Drive, linked to TIFF coverage of Bobcat (Hot to Trot) Goldthwait’s latest, and dropped a trio of new trailers for yo ass.

Mike Lieberman is going to the CORNER STORE! For a PHOSPHATE!

As promised, Uncle Crizzle came back with more about Kenny “Soundtrack King” Loggins, by way of Michael “Yah Mo B There” McDonald and stuck it to preview audiences.

You know, Jeff McMahon, you might get more hits on your blog if you didn’t keep subjecting visitors to Madonna’s washboard abs. Seriously dude, that's just not nice.

So, Lucas McNelly- whenever Matthew Lillard says, “hey guys, I’ll be right back,” did you fear for his life?

Finally, Simon Abrams has been in Toronto, so his blog, as strange as this may sound, hasn’t been updated. Normally I wouldn’t mention it, but we’re contractually mandated to include something about Simon in every post, so here you go.

Oh, and here’s the new Underground Railroad to Candyland video, courtesy of Chris Devlin:




P.S.: Philip, in case you’re wondering, the technical term for referring to oneself in the third person is “illeism.” So much like Rickey Henderson and The Rock, you could be considered an illeism enthusiast. The more you know…

How We Livin' - Sept. 9th thru the 13th

Hey everyone! Here's what we've been doing. Never forget!

- Simon Abrams watches films and then reviews them. His latest: a three-fer by Nanni Moretti

-  Ali Arikan continues his live blog of the 2010 Oscars. Someone stop this guy!

- Danny Baldwin throws WARRIOR, HIGHER GROUND, and BELLFLOWER into his review bucket.

- Scott W. Black has promised to return soon.

- Dennis Cozzalio defends THE HELP and writes a few words regarding the Bicycle Film Fest. 

- Chris Devlin looks at CONTAGION and BELLFLOWER.

- James Frazier sez "OUR IDIOT BROTHER = 3 outta 5!"

- Kenji Fujishima is at TIFF 2011 but still manages to keep his consumption log going.

- Glenn Heath reviews some new releases and some new Criterion Blus for Slant.

- Craig Kennedy has A TON of cool stuff going on: Terence Davies! Whit Stillman! Francis Coppola's horror film! ETC.! Check it out.

- Michael Lieberman Tumbles a fascinating experimental film/music video exploring patriotism, etc. 

- Uncle Crizzle will soon be writing more about Kenny Loggins.

- Lucas McNelly's car was broken into, Matthew Lillard something something, and charity wine! 

- Phil Nugent offers up his usual brace of bucks over at the AV Club, hates on Dick Cheney, digs something cool that Guillermo del Toro said, and pontificates about the reaction to Paul Krugman's reaction to the nation's reaction to the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

- Philip Tatler IV, who likes to refer to himself in the third person, wrote belated appreciations of Criterion's Vigo and SECRET SUNSHINE discs.

- Alison Willmore suffered for her craft at a screening of BUCKY LARSON and participated in a Slash Filmcast on CONTAGION.

That's about it. Here's an irrelevant Krautrock jam: