Give me your dated, your backlashed, your obscure…
When it comes to music, it is the pattern of my life that I never quite embrace things right when everyone else likes them, if everyone else has even heard of them. The album I’ve been listening to most lately is a two-year-old effort by The Apples in Stereo to create the best ELO power [...]
One of those nights
I wanted to write tonight – stayed in and drank light at dinner for that very purpose. But I am either fighting off or succumbing to a cold, and my brain is mush. Since as usual there are about eighteen different things I want to write, being unable to even attack one of them makes [...]
MOVIE REVIEW – A Serious Man
A Serious Man Directors: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen Writers: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen Producers: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen Stars: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Lennick, Aaron Wolf, Jessica McManus, Peter Breitmayer, Fyvush Finkel I use it often, but no movie in my memory is more appropriately described by Mel Brooks’ [...]
MOVIE REVIEW – The Brothers Bloom
The Brothers Bloom Director: Rian Johnson Writer: Rian Johnson Producers: Ram Bergman, James D. Stern Stars: Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel Weisz, Rinko Kikuchi, Robbie Coltrane, Maximilian Schell Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) is blessed with a gift, which is that he knows how to tell great stories. His younger brother Bloom (Adrien Brody) also has a [...]
MOVIE REVIEW – It Might Get Loud
It Might Get Loud Director: Davis Guggenheim Editor: Greg Finton Producers: Thomas Tull, Davis Guggenheim, Peter Afterman, Lesley Chilcott Featuring: Jimmy Page, The Edge, Jack White When Gods meet, you want there to be thunder. The guitar-centric documentary It Might Get Loud certainly raises the promise of a heavy Something – bringing together three generations [...]
From the Archive – MOVIE REVIEW – Garden State
Originally published August 12, 2004 Garden State Director: Zach Braff Writer: Zach Braff Producers: Pamela Abdy, Gary Gilbert, Dan Halsted, Richard Klubeck Stars: Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Ian Holm I’d offer that I consider Zach Braff – the writer/director/star of Garden State and a familiar face from his work as the amiable star [...]
From the Archive – MOVIE REVIEW – The Bourne Supremacy
Originally published 8/1/04 The Bourne Supremacy Director: Paul Greengrass Writer: Tony Gilroy, based on the novel by Robert Ludlum Producers: Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley, Paul Sandberg Stars: Matt Damon, Brian Cox, Joan Allen, Franka Potente, Julia Stiles, Karl Urban One of the many things that works about The Bourne Supremacy is that not all of [...]
MOVIE REVIEW – Das weiße Band (The White Ribbon)
Das weiße Band (The White Ribbon) Director: Michael Haneke Writer: Michael Haneke Producers: Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Margaret Ménégoz, Andrea Occhipinti Stars: Christian Friedel, Leonie Benesch, Ulrich Tukur, Ursina Lardi, Fion Mutert, Michael Kranz, Burghart Klaußner, Steffi Kühnert, Maria-Victoria Dragus, Susanne Lothar, Sebastian Hülk, Mercedes Jadea Diaz, Josef Bierbichler, Marisa Growaldt, Janina Fautz, Thibault Sérié, [...]
From the Archive – MOVIE REVIEW – King Arthur
Originally posted 7/21/04 King Arthur Director: Antoine Fuqua Writer: David Franzoni Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer Stars: Clive Owen, Ioan Gruffudd, Keira Knightley, Ray Winstone, Mads Mikkelsen, Hugh Dancy, Stephen Dillane, Ray Stevenson, Stellan Skarsgard I do not profess to know if there’s historical backing for the theory that King Arthur (Clive Owen) was really Arturius, a [...]
From the Archive – MOVIE REVIEW – Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy
Originally published 7/16/04 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy Director: Adam McKay Writers: Will Ferrell and Adam McKay Producer: Judd Apatow Stars: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steven Carrell, David Koechner, Fred Willard Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy is like the cinematic equivalent of Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain. It’s a successful satire [...]