As a waiter, I once had a manager approach a table to castigate a young woman for having no palate because she sent back a moderately expensive bottle of wine without allowing it to breathe. While he might have been correct in his view of her assessment, he failed to notice her bald scalp wrapped beneath […]
Jul11
Rubber – The Difference Between Absurdism and Absurdity is the Difference Between Satire and Schlock
“All great films without exceptions contain an element of ‘no reason,’” and for this notion I give writer / director Quentin Dupieux credit. There is truth to the theory that many films include plots that are impelled by “nothing.” Romantic films often follow this trope. What makes the two characters fall in love? Often, convenience and the […]
Every once in a while, there is a film from which nothing is expected but its ability to kill two hours, yet surprises with a solid plot and decent performances. The other day, that film was Black Snake Moan. There are a few reasons why I hadn’t seen this when it was released in 2007. One was […]
In an age of prequels, sequels, triads, and epic franchises, X-Men: First Class separates itself from the former list and has become less a prequel, for the most part, and more of a faithfully extended narrative, stemming from the first scene of Bryan Singer’s initial X-Men, where a concentration camp-trapped Erik Lehnsherr’s demonstrates his ability to manipulate […]
In what might be his best film since 1997’s Sweet and Lowdown, Woody Allen sheds the jittery paranoia, forced love affair, and overly-convoluted script that were staples in the 90’s by giving us Midnight in Paris, an exploration of our relationship with and admiration of nostalgia. In present-day Paris, our protagonist Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) is on vacation […]
Billing Get Low as a “True Tall Tale” immediately exposes the contradiction with the premise that it’s been based on the true story of Felix Bush Breazeale, a bachelor in Tennessee, who in 1938 decided to “have a funeral party while he was alive so he could enjoy it.” The precariousness of movies “based on a true story” […]
Cheers to those who got their smurf on over the weekend at South Street Seaport in New York City, where hundreds of blue-faced, Phrygian cap-wearing participants in Global Smurfs Day “joined dedicated fans in ten other cities to smash the world record for the biggest gathering of Smurfs in 24 hours.” And, for those of you paying […]
As I look back at one of the more nostalgic pieces of 80’s cinema, I would like to examine the highest merits of Teen Wolf: how the intro music resembles John Carpenters Halloween: a steady basketball dribbling replacing the muffled breathing, or the blatant symbolism of the single brilliant bulb in the gym resembles a full moon […]
Wes Craven’s Scream franchise has long been thought of as a series of films that parody their traditional predecessors. The first (1996) examines the various horror-movie rules and regulations that allow virgins to live, sexually experienced teenagers to die, and the sin of declaring “I’ll be right back.” Scream 2 (1997) parodies the formula for sequels while […]
I suppose an allegory that discusses the oppression of others for personal advancement could be limned, but Super 8 doesn’t try to be pedantic and delve into this theme – and it’s a better movie for it; rather, this summer’s most recent blockbuster keeps such discourse on the periphery, letting the audience know it’s present but prohibiting it from becoming a […]