Monthly Archives: June 2006

prisoner: cell block H

Posted on 6/15/2006 by gio

even since i came to the US and met simon (the two things happened very near each other) i’ve been hearing about this allegedly fabulous australian tv show. it just about broke simon’s heart to leave england while the show … Continue reading →

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Gore

Posted on 6/14/2006 by reynolds

No, not another post on violence. I saw An Inconvenient Truth last evening, and it’s a pretty damn good documentary. Admittedly, I kind of enjoy well-spun, finely-crafted talking-head documentaries, and this is essentially one guy on a stage doing a … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict) | 10 Comments

Cars

Posted on 6/12/2006 by john

Saw Cars last and I enjoyed it. I’m a big fan of Pixar, and I’ve been really delighted with animated features coming from Emeryville, CA, the past two decades. Since Pixar merged with Disney last May, I’ve been eager to … Continue reading →

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Ken Russell – Fall of the Louse of Usher

Posted on 6/12/2006 by mauer

I’ve wondered for a couple of days whether to write about this film. I’m fascinated by Russell mostly because it’s interesting to see what happens to a director that had a very specific artistic vision that falls way out of … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict), piece of crap | 14 Comments

Prairie Home

Posted on 6/9/2006 by reynolds

Depending on your appreciation of Keillor’s conflation of schmaltzy cornpone and dry, sly sting (which brings out, in the actors, ham on wry), either a dreamy afternoon in good company or a forceful lug-wrench to the soft area between your … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict), ho hum | 18 Comments

The Agronomist

Posted on 6/9/2006 by reynolds

Jonathan Demme’s documentary about Haitian journalist/activist Jean Dominique gets a quick recommendation from me. It doesn’t reinvent the form, nor is it the one film to see about Haiti’s political struggles over the last 40 years. But–kind of like the … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict), likey | 2 Comments

The Ringer

Posted on 6/7/2006 by reynolds

Mostly dead. I so wanted this to be a sly, subversively funny dismantling of disability tropes which employs–and then implodes–cultural stereotypes. Instead, it was not so sly, rarely funny, even if still nicely subversive of said tropes. For those interested, … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict), ho hum | 1 Comment

incredible beauty, incredible sadness

Posted on 6/7/2006 by gio

i want to write about two beautiful films i just saw. they are, among other things, about children, a subject that lends itself to sentimentalism. i generally avoid films about kids, and i was tempted to avoid these too, had … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict) | 14 Comments

Summer Club

Posted on 6/4/2006 by reynolds

Okay–a proposal. We are (obviously) already starting conversations, suggesting films, following up on others’ suggestions and entering into discussion…. but for the summer months, I’m proposing that every week or two, someone suggest a movie that we all (or many) … Continue reading →

Posted in (by verdict) | 63 Comments

Film Critics and Film Theory; Academics and Macadamia Nuts

Posted on 6/3/2006 by jeff

You’ve probably read the New York Times “Book Review” and if so I think a conversation on Clive James’ essay on American film critics to be worthy of discussion. Thoughts?

Posted in (by verdict), the state of things | 3 Comments