The Tale of 3 Pauls: Coincidence, Confusion & Sex
1. PAUL THOMAS (dir. Bad Housewives, The Masseuse, The New Devil in Mrs. Jones) – A real actor (he played Peter in the film version of Jesus Christ Superstar), Paul[…]
Against Interpretation: Synecdoche
Having recently bid a fond adieu to the post-DVD-release critical interest resurgence for Synecdoche, New York, it seems a ripe enough time for us to forget this dauntingly nebulous film[…]
Women in Wonderland, Part 5 – Coraline (Henry Selick 2009)
Every one of Henry Selick’s four feature films to date has dealt with alternate realities. In the Tim Burton-produced The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), the ghoulish Jack Skellington finds a[…]
Book review: “Have You Seen . . .?”, by David Thomson
“Have You Seen . . .?”: A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Film, by David Thomson. New York: Knopf, 2008. Hardcover, $39.95, 1,024 pages. ISBN: 0-307-26461-0. One entertains the vague possibility that our dismal[…]
Book review: Encyclopedia Shatnerica, by Robert Schnakenberg
Encyclopedia Shatnerica: An A to Z Guide to the Man and His Universe, by Robert Schnakenberg. Philadelphia: Quirk Books, 2008. Paper $16.95, 290pp. ISBN: 1-594-74230-8. William Shatner, it may be[…]
Book review: Hollywood Dreams Made Real, by Mark Vieira
Hollywood Dreams Made Real: Irving Thalberg and the Rise of M‑G‑M, by Mark Vieira. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2008. Cloth $50.00. 240pp. ISBN: 978-0-8109-7234-6. Not a conventional biography, though all[…]
Actors & Personalities · Reviews
Bride of the Joker: Thoughts on Jolie
As we prepare for Oscar once again, we see Angelina Jolie nominated for being in Clint’s “craftsmanship” film, CHANGELING. I heartily admire Jolie but, for my money, she’s never found[…]
OMF Godard There’s a Hitch in my stitch
Over time it becomes more and more obvious that as a species humans really aren’t much more than a bunch of monkeys. And our monkey brains, motivated with banana dreams[…]
Women in Wonderland, Part 4 – MirrorMask, Pan’s Labyrinth, and the “Strangeness” Factor
Dave McKean’s MirrorMask (above) and Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth were released within a year of each other. Both are women-in-wonderland tales. Pan’s Labyrinth is about a little girl who[…]
Is Cheeta an Imposter?
As reported in the Los Angeles Times – In Hollywood, “even the animals lie about their age.” Cheeta may not be 75 years old. He may not even be[…]
Hotter Younger Sister Thing #7: Gail Patrick as Cornelia Bullock in MY MAN GODFREY
I know Cornelia isn’t necessarily the “younger” sister in Gregory La Cava’s classic screwball comedy, MY MAN GODFREY (1936), but she was born three years earlier (than Lombard) and damn[…]
Yea as I walk through the Uncanny Valley of Elah
Speaking of THE VALLEY OF ELAH, what about the Uncanny Valley, hat “misrecognition” which makes us creeped out by CGI animated humans? The proliferation of CGI has always fascinated me[…]
Women in Wonderland, Part 3 – Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock 1960)
The Alices in flight, those beautiful women alone in their cars on the run – Sylvia Kristel in Alice ou la Dernière Fugue, Candace Hilligoss in Carnival of Souls,[…]
Women in Wonderland, Part 2 – Alice, or the Last Flight (Claude Chabrol 1977)
Alice (Sylvia Kristel) has an argument with her husband. She drives off into the pouring rain. There is an accident. When she wakes up, the sun is shining, but something[…]
Deliver us from Craftsmanship
Preparing to go see Revolutionary Road tomorrow, I’m scoping out the RT and noticing the words “craftsmanship,” “Oscar-bait,” “meticulously crafted but emotionally empty,” and so forth… Oscar bait becomes oscarbate,[…]
Women in Wonderland, Part 1 – Lost Girls
All three meet as adult women in Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie’s X-rated graphic novel, Lost Girls (above). Moore, the genius author of Watchmen, From Hell, and The League of[…]
When the English-Dubbed Version is Better
With regard to the whole issue of dubbing, conventional wisdom tells us that foreign films are best viewed in their original language. And I tend to agree with that. But[…]
Actors & Personalities · Reviews
Cooler Younger Sister Effect: Barbara Rush in MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION
The recent Criterion release of MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (1954) makes a good–not great, but still worthy–addition to our cooler younger sister collection. This 1954 Douglas Sirk soap was a big,[…]
On How Things Seem: The Views of Robert Warshow
“Where Warshow distinguishes himself from Kracauer and other sociological critics is his reaction to the ‘absorbing immediacy’ of films.”
Activist & Political · Animation
The Responsible Dream: On Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir
“We were the Nazis.”
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