tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79151038574689248002023-11-16T05:35:27.490-05:00An Honest GhostOne man's wanton ramblings about film, TV, and cultureUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger235125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-37013870686500807782013-11-26T15:14:00.002-05:002013-11-26T20:13:40.341-05:00State of the Union
I just wanted to give you all an update on what's going on behind the scenes with this blog.
For those of you who just want the executive summary:
There are going to be some changes, moving forward, and though I'm not yet sure how they will shake out, a few things are certain. I'm planning on cutting back on content and either eliminating or altering the regular weekly features in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-37180220148601318962013-11-25T12:30:00.000-05:002013-11-25T12:30:36.242-05:00FI: The To Do ListThe To Do List
US, 2013
Written and directed by Maggie Carey
There are several things to admire about The To Do List. It's a coming-of-age/gross-out comedy (in the American Pie vein), written and directed by a woman and focusing on the experiences of a female character, hyper-organized overachiever Brandy Klark (Aubrey Plaza), as she discovers her sexuality via a list of acts to try Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-66180080361685820062013-11-22T11:30:00.000-05:002013-11-22T11:30:00.907-05:00Weekend Stream for 11/22/13The Weekend Stream is a weekly feature curating content from the current selection on Netflix's US streaming service for you to watch each weekend. Just click the links or search for the bolded titles on your preferred Netflix-watching device, and you're in business! Since content can disappear from Netflix with little or no warning, there's always a chance a title Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-76591565345137712012013-11-21T11:00:00.000-05:002013-11-21T11:00:02.829-05:00FI: Twentieth CenturyTwentieth Century
US, 1934
Directed by Howard Hawks
When I wrote last week's regular TCM Tuesday post, I had not seen any of the week's screwball movies. Though I couldn't speak from experience, I said I would begin with Twentieth Century, Howard Hawks's fast-paced comedy-of-egos set in the over-the-top world of the theater—and, thanks to WatchTCM, I was able to do just that. The film shows us Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-91111793681004715762013-11-20T11:00:00.000-05:002013-11-20T11:07:47.496-05:00FI: Buchanan Rides AloneBuchanan Rides Alone
US, 1958
Directed by Budd Boetticher
Growing up, I was never much of a Western fan, though I have come to appreciate them more as I've gotten older. So, not being as well-versed in the genre, I really have to thank my friend Kerry for getting me into Budd Boetticher and the seven films he made with Randolph Scott in the '50s. Commonly called the Ranown Cycle (after Randolph Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-79901127740235514422013-11-19T15:00:00.000-05:002013-11-19T15:00:06.001-05:00TCM Tuesday #7TCM Tuesday is a weekly feature wherein I look at the upcoming week's schedule on Turner Classic Movies—the best and greatest of all television channels—and pick some stuff for you to watch or save to your DVR. All times are EST, all dates based on the SCHEDULE date on TCM.com. Check your local listings, or look on the new WatchTCM app to live stream or watch on demand.
TCM Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-20311468088782106902013-11-19T11:00:00.000-05:002013-11-19T11:00:09.740-05:00FI: Cairo Station / Bab el hadidCairo Station (aka The Iron Gate) / Bab el hadid
Egypt, 1958
Directed by Youssef Chahine
Mark Cousins, in his The Story of Film: An Odyssey, calls Cairo Station "the first great African film." While I don't have enough context to back up or contradict Cousins's claim, Cairo Station is a vehicle by which the lie can be put to the convenient western narrative of filmic Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-26058509470439336202013-11-18T12:30:00.000-05:002013-11-18T12:30:11.423-05:00Review: Pacific RimPacific Rim
US, 2013
Co-written (with Travis Beacham) and directed by Guillermo del Toro
There's a difficulty inherent to reviewing Pacific Rim, Guillermo del Toro's movie of massive monsters and mechas. This difficulty stems from del Toro's influences: Japanese kaiju films are mostly about creature effects and large-scale destruction, with social/environmental messages thrown in on Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-68231479087385066972013-11-15T15:00:00.000-05:002013-11-15T15:00:03.166-05:00Weekend Stream for 11/15/13The Weekend Stream is a weekly feature curating content from the current selection on Netflix's US streaming service for you to watch each weekend. Just click the links or search for the bolded titles on your preferred Netflix-watching device, and you're in business! Since content can disappear from Netflix with little or no warning, there's always a chance a title Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-48730254405277098982013-11-15T11:00:00.000-05:002013-11-15T11:37:14.567-05:00Review: Frances HaFrances Ha
US, 2012
Co-written (with Greta Gerwig) and directed by Noah Baumbach
Even at his best, Noah Baumbach is a polarizing filmmaker. People tend to either take to his depictions of drifting artsy middle-class white folks, or really take against them. Some of this rancor comes from the perceived meanness and cynicism of his scripts (Margot at the Wedding, Greenberg), and some from the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-89179230730773732722013-11-14T11:00:00.000-05:002013-11-14T11:05:32.927-05:00FI: The DresserThe Dresser
UK, 1983
Directed by Peter Yates
I'm not sure what would qualify a movie as un film de Peter Yates, considering how wide-ranging his films were in tone and genre. While his best-known pictures are the grim, taciturn crime films Bullitt and The Friends of Eddie Coyle, neither of those has much in common with his bizarre sci-fi/fantasy epic Krull, released the same year Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-9664785119419103662013-11-13T15:00:00.000-05:002013-11-13T15:00:02.275-05:00Criteritron #12The Criteritron is an occasional series in which I take a look at The Criterion Collection's vast streaming offerings on HuluPlus and recommend a title to watch.
The Criteritron #12: The Exterminating Angel / El ángel exterminador
Mexico, 1962
Written and Directed by Luis Buñuel
What Is It?: A class satire by one of the bourgeoisie's most constant—and most Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-10191945503237349102013-11-13T11:00:00.000-05:002013-11-13T11:01:12.887-05:00FI: Deep RedDeep Red / Profondo Rosso
Italy, 1975
Directed and co-written (with Bernardo Zapponi) by Dario Argento
Giallo films are an interesting, influential style that arose in the '60s and '70s from Italian pulp fiction. Blending elements of horror, crime fiction, and psychosexual weirdness with lurid colors and occasional light phantasmagoria, the genre flourished for many years and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-3191648419567415942013-11-12T15:00:00.000-05:002013-11-12T15:00:04.141-05:00TCM Tuesday #6TCM Tuesday is a weekly feature wherein I look at the upcoming week's schedule on Turner Classic Movies—the best and greatest of all television channels—and pick some stuff for you to watch or save to your DVR. All times are EST, all dates based on the SCHEDULE date on TCM.com. Check your local listings, or look on the new WatchTCM app to live stream or watch on demand.
TCM Tuesday Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-77861868420754754082013-11-12T11:00:00.000-05:002013-11-12T11:00:00.500-05:00FI: Abigail's PartyAbigail's Party
UK, 1977
Written and directed by Mike Leigh
As much as I enjoy the films of Mike Leigh, with their dialogue-heavy, character-centered scripts and lengthy rehearsal periods dedicated to investing the actors in their roles, Abigail's Party has not aged well. Part of this is practical: this production was originally aired on the BBC as a part of their Play for Today series. This Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-59428431855117793562013-11-08T15:00:00.000-05:002013-11-08T15:00:02.955-05:00Weekend Stream for 11/08/13The Weekend Stream is a weekly feature curating content from the current selection on Netflix's US streaming service for you to watch each weekend. Just search for the bolded titles on your preferred Netflix-watching device, and you're in business! Since content can disappear from Netflix with little or no warning, there's always a chance a title will no longer be Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-83532344053352561362013-11-08T11:00:00.000-05:002013-11-08T11:11:15.545-05:00FI: White House DownWhite House Down
US, 2013
Directed by Roland Emmerich
Implausibility goes hand-in-hand with big-budget action movies, and always has. In order to set up these kinds of situations, where the hero is in the right place at the right time to save the day, there generally has to be a level of plot coincidence and a number of bad choices on the part of the bad guys paving the way. White House Down&Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-50111256932294583492013-11-07T11:30:00.000-05:002013-11-07T11:30:00.741-05:00FI: Premium RushPremium Rush
US, 2012
Directed and co-written (w/ John Camps) by David Koepp
Of all of the films I've watched this year, Premium Rush might be the one that surprised me most in terms of sheer enjoyment. The pleasure of watching the smart-ass, speed-obsessed bike messenger Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) take on Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon), a cartoonish crooked cop with "impulse control Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-69022612621606349062013-11-06T11:00:00.000-05:002013-11-16T12:42:52.033-05:00FI: La MoustacheLa Moustache
France, 2005
Directed and co-written (with Jérôme Beaujour) by Emmanuel Carrère
Imagine a Twilight Zone concept that Rod Serling might have dreamed up on his most creatively-drained day, filter it through the cold, calculating perspective of Claude Chabrol, then add a healthy dose of French existentialism, and you might have something close to La Moustache. This bizarre Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-8330060422270630102013-11-05T15:00:00.000-05:002013-11-05T15:00:01.489-05:00FI: Monsters UniversityMonsters University
US, 2013
Directed and co-written (with Robert L. Baird and Daniel Gerson) by Dan Scanlon
The thing that so often separates Pixar's animated films from those of their competitors is their ability to craft engaging stories that are exciting and funny, but also have a solid, emotional heart. In the original Monsters, Inc., that heart largely comes through the relationship Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-18375501553192419082013-11-05T11:00:00.000-05:002013-11-05T11:00:06.704-05:00TCM Tuesday #5TCM Tuesday is a weekly feature wherein I look at the upcoming week's schedule on Turner Classic Movies—the best and greatest of all television channels—and pick some stuff for you to watch or save to your DVR. All times are EST, all dates based on the SCHEDULE date on TCM.com. Check your local listings.
TCM Tuesday Picks for the Week of 11/05/13–11/11/13
(Full Schedule)
TOP PICK
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-7184502011238620892013-11-04T11:00:00.000-05:002013-11-04T11:00:04.579-05:00FI: Gun CrazyGun Crazy
US, 1950
Directed by Joseph H. Lewis
The opening of Gun Crazy is reminiscent of the old socially-conscious gangster movies made in the pre-code era. Our protagonist, Bart Tare (played as a teen by a young Russ Tamblyn), breaks into a store to steal a gun and immediately gets caught. In a hearing, his older sister (Anabel Shaw), who appears to be raising Bart alone, and a pairUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-7127922900689067992013-11-01T11:30:00.000-04:002013-11-01T11:30:03.771-04:00Weekend Stream for 11/01/13The Weekend Stream is a weekly feature curating content from the current selection on Netflix's US streaming service for you to watch each weekend. Just search for the bolded titles on your preferred Netflix-watching device, and you're in business! Since content can disappear from Netflix with little or no warning, there's always a chance a title will no longer be Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-63332382960891967152013-10-31T11:00:00.000-04:002013-10-31T11:00:01.582-04:00FI: Room 237Since the wonderful film writers over at The Dissolve have made Stanley Kubrick's The Shining their Movie of the Week for this Halloween week, today seems like a perfect time to look at a related documentary that you can stream on Netflix if you should so desire. Enjoy!
Room 237
US, 2012
Directed by Rodney Ascher
Having attended grad school for film studies—even if the reviews Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7915103857468924800.post-53760776373905273602013-10-30T15:00:00.000-04:002013-10-30T15:00:07.838-04:00Criteritron #11The Criteritron is an occasional series in which I take a look at The Criterion Collection's vast streaming offerings on HuluPlus and recommend a title to watch.
The Criteritron #11: The Big City / Mahanagar
India, 1963
Written and directed by Satyajit Ray
What Is It?: A progressive, socially conscious movie set in the "big city" of Kolkata (Calcutta) in eastern India. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0