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ABOUT
- Member Since
- June 2005
- Current Location
- Los Angeles, CA
- Hometown
- Portsmouth, RI
- Movie Character You Most Identify With
- Toshiro Mifune in "Yojimbo."
- Favorite Movie
- Star Wars, Pulp Fiction, Shadows
- Favorite Director
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Favorite Critic
- Roger Ebert, David Edelstein, Pauline Kael
- Best Movie Seat
- middle
- Favorite Movie Watching Snack
- Popcorn
- Favorite Movie Watching Drink
- Coke
- When I'm not watching movies, I'm...
- reading movie reviews.
- Fresh or Rotten
- Rotten
BLOG ENTRIES
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What's the world's third-largest movie industry? After the U.S. and India, it's Nigeria, a nation that churns out nearly 200 titles a month. If Nigerian films haven't gotten much critical notice in the West, the biz is thriving, offering a staggering number of titles shot quickly and cheaply and then distributed on DVD. Given the sheer volume of product, many of the titles are pretty lo-fi, but they address a number of issues pertinent to the daily lives of Africans, and are beloved by the Nigerian diaspora as a way of keeping in touch with cultural trends in their homeland.
Check out some trailers for Nollywood films here; I'm particularly enamored with The Love Doctor ("Time is running out and confusion is the issue that the Love Doctor is battling with!") and The King Fisher (who plans to "torment, kill, and destroy a whole school!"). Also, check out this five-part Esquire feature about an American attempting to break into the industry.  Just some of the many Nollywood titles. |
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Nick Nolte, Asia Argento, Udo Kier and Marilyn Manson are set to star in King Shot, Alejandro Jodorowsky's first flick since The Rainbow Thief in 1990. AWESOME.
 More Jodorowsky weirdness to come! |
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With the recent discovery of the first-ever recording of a human voice (a recording so haunting and strangely powerful that I?ve probably listened to it at least once a day since I found out about it), I?ve been interested in tracking down some other important firsts. I wondered, what is the oldest surviving film?
It turns out to be ?Roundhay Garden Scene,? a two second British short from 1888. I don?t feel like a bad cinephile for never having heard of it before; unlike some other movie milestones, like the early works of the Lumiere Brothers and ?The Great Train Robbery,? there isn?t much going on here. But it?s still a pretty amazing document, with plenty of mystery to be found in those 20 grainy frames. (For example: why is that woman walking backward?)  My buddy Jon Lutz was also intrigued by the early sound recordings, and as an employee of a DC PBS affiliate, wanted to represent on the television tip. So he sent me a link of the earliest television broadcasts, which are pretty eerie themselves. Skipping ahead several decades, I read in college about a film called ?I Am Joaquin,? one of the first movies made in the United States by Mexican Americans, and a key artistic work in the Chicano movement. Luis Valdez? film, which puts images to the words of Corky Gonzales? titular poem, is filled with some pretty remarkable pictures. I?d never been able to track this movie down until now; goodness, do I love YouTube. (Check out parts one and two.) 
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Sorry, Alex Vo -- your ultimate nightmare has come to pass.
 Someday, you will be loved... just not by Zooey. |
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I'm going to form an ironic glockenspiel band and get invited to play their wedding. Once she sees how well I coordinate American Apparel with 16th century Bavarian attire, she'll get the deal. Also, YOU'RE a hipster. 0 Replies | Report Abuse
No, Alex... It is YOU who is the hipster. I'm listening to madrigals right now. No punk rock cred whatsoever. 0 Replies | Report Abuse
I'm going to form an ironic glockenspiel band and get invited to play their wedding. Once she sees how well I coordinate American Apparel with 16th century Bavarian attire, she'll get the deal. Also, YOU'RE a hipster. 1 Replies | Report Abuse 
No, Alex... It is YOU who is the hipster. I'm listening to madrigals right now. No punk rock cred whatsoever. 0 Replies | Report Abuse |
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Here's a perceptive analysis of the films you can expect in theaters soon -- courtesy of the Onion.
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It's hard out there for legitimate movie critics these days. Either they're being laid off or nudged aisde by quote whores, who capitalize on the spoils of the industry while offtering precious little insight. So it makes me glad to know that Roger Ebert is still working to justify the existence of this much-maligned profession, while laying down the ground rules for those who want to call themselves critics. We need you now more than ever, Mr. Ebert.
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Everyone?s least-favorite dictator Kim Jong Ill is a renowned film buff ? heck, homeboy kidnapped a noted South Korean director and his wife ? so it?s only natural the Dear Leader would have his own film fest. And, given Kim?s noted eccentricities ? and hatred of the West ? it comes as little surprise that the festivities at the Pyongyang International Film Festival are both anti-Hollywood and super weird.
  Given the lack of culture available within the hermit state, it's unsurprising that the fest is popular with North Korea's film-starved populous -- screenings for "Atonement" and "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" caused near riots. (Period pieces are favored because they don?t show any modern effects that the people might covet).And it's encouraging to hear that some countries like Germany send films that they hope will tweak the authorities and raise public consciousness -- this year, "The Counterfeiters" screened at the fest -- ironic, since North Korea has been accused of forging currency. Foreign filmmakers are kept apart from citizens, escorted at all times by government handlers, aren?t allowed to use cell phones or PDAs (hey, that?s not such a bad idea!), and are housed on an island in a rotting hotel. Enough. Check out Barbara Demick's fascinating overview in the Los Angeles Times. And heed the words of Culture Minister Kang Nung Su, who proclaimed, "[Cinema must not] harm the sound mind of the people." Tru dat! |
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Slate has an excellent multimedia piece about the decline of the fight scene that echoes a lot of the complaints I've had about cinematic fisticuffs in recent years. My feeling (and the point author Dennis Lim makes) is that onscreen throwdowns these days are so loaded with quick cuts that it's hard to enjoy the simple pleasures of watching people beat the stuffing out of each other.
 They don't make 'em like they used to... I can't go too long without big-upping film happenings in my home state of Rhode Island, so here: goes: the Rhode Island International Film Festival kicks off Aug. 5. The fest features 289 films, 58 of which are world premieres. If you happen to be near the Ocean State, check it out.  What are you waiting for? Go see a movie! |
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Cineastes often sit around the campfire and discuss what lost classics they?d love to see. The extended cuts of "Greed" or "The Magnificent Ambersons" often spring to mind, being two of the most notoriously butchered classics. But what if a film's narrative is truncated not out of cinematic philistinism, but because... well, it documents events that never took place? I present to you this DVD: "The Los Angles Lakers: 2007-2008 NBA Champions," a film that promises "an inside look at the Los Angeles Lakers 2007-2008 NBA Champions regular season, triumphant playoff run and NBA Finals victory." Like Philip Roth?s novel "The Plot Against America," it presents an alternate history so frightening that most of us shudder at the mere thought of it. "Preorder" yours at CBSSportsStore.com today!
 Man, was I ever bummed when those tough-as-nails Lakers out-rebounded, outhustled, and simply outlasted my Celts. Oh, wait... |
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Holy cow, that is pretty scary. 0 Replies | Report Abuse
Holy cow, that is pretty scary. 0 Replies | Report Abuse |
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I love sports.
 You can't handle the Truth! |
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woo hoo! 0 Replies | Report Abuse
woo hoo! 0 Replies | Report Abuse
from deadspin this a.m.: The game was almost a formality. Hey, it was nice of the Lakers to show up to the arena and wear different-colored jerseys in hopes that the Celtics didn't have to clinch by doing lay-up drills, but that's what it felt like. I mean, seriously? A freakin' 39-point victory to finish the series? This is what it came to. Somebody fiddled with the NBA Jam cheats for the Boston side and enabled everything but large heads. http://deadspin.com/5017437/respect-thy-nba-champion-the-boston-celtics 0 Replies | Report Abuse
from deadspin this a.m.: The game was almost a formality. Hey, it was nice of the Lakers to show up to the arena and wear different-colored jerseys in hopes that the Celtics didn't have to clinch by doing lay-up drills, but that's what it felt like. I mean, seriously? A freakin' 39-point victory to finish the series? This is what it came to. Somebody fiddled with the NBA Jam cheats for the Boston side and enabled everything but large heads. http://deadspin.com/5017437/respect-thy-nba-champion-the-boston-celtics 0 Replies | Report Abuse 
Go Celts! 0 Replies | Report Abuse
Go Celts! 0 Replies | Report Abuse |
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