Categorizing a movie as a time capsule reduces it to a simple evocation of a specific time and nothing else. William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A. is drenched in 1985, a Wang Chung score, rampant androgyny, ridiculous car chases, cheerful amorality, and a cynical fetishism that seems modeled on Miami Vice, which debuted […]
Archive for September, 2009
Skatetown, U.S.A.
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
Five Minutes of Heaven
Monday, September 14th, 2009
Period pieces always create a lot of problems for filmmakers, from the costumes, make-up, style of speech, and an overall look of the actors. It gets worse when the movie takes place in an era that the audience might have lived through. But when directors get bogged down in these small details, they often lose […]
Sorority Row
Friday, September 11th, 2009
You know what might make an interesting frat house slasher movie? If they incorporated reverse gentrification instead of just the standard “rich bitches.” Imagine a sorority struggling to find funding, and as the economy dips further, so does the state of their house. They can’t afford a caretaker, they can’t even pay for clean water, […]
Whiteout
Friday, September 11th, 2009
Do you ever wonder what goes on during meetings about theatrical release dates for movies? Well, I know you don’t, but just whose idea was it to open the violent 3 hour exploitation pastiche/parody Grindhouse on Easter weekend? “We have an opening in April; do we have anything to fill it?” “Which weekend?” “Easter.” “Hmmm. […]
Grace
Thursday, September 10th, 2009
The current issue of Newsweek has a picture of a baby staring straight at the camera with a slightly concerned look on her face, with the headline across her forehead “Is your baby racist?” A deliberately provocative question (the article is nothing more than extended book promotion for the authors of the piece), but as […]
Crank: High Voltage
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
Is it possible to be consciously and intentionally out of control? If a Nascar driver were swerving and spinning for hundreds of laps and ended up winning the race, could he do the same thing again on purpose? Should you be given credit for a lucky accident? Donnie Darko might be the answer to those […]
Skatetown, U.S.A.
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
Five Minutes of Heaven
Monday, September 14th, 2009
Period pieces always create a lot of problems for filmmakers, from the costumes, make-up, style of speech, and an overall look of the actors. It gets worse when the movie takes place in an era that the audience might have lived through. But when directors get bogged down in these small details, they often lose […]
Period pieces always create a lot of problems for filmmakers, from the costumes, make-up, style of speech, and an overall look of the actors. It gets worse when the movie takes place in an era that the audience might have lived through. But when directors get bogged down in these small details, they often lose […]
Sorority Row
Friday, September 11th, 2009
You know what might make an interesting frat house slasher movie? If they incorporated reverse gentrification instead of just the standard “rich bitches.” Imagine a sorority struggling to find funding, and as the economy dips further, so does the state of their house. They can’t afford a caretaker, they can’t even pay for clean water, […]
You know what might make an interesting frat house slasher movie? If they incorporated reverse gentrification instead of just the standard “rich bitches.” Imagine a sorority struggling to find funding, and as the economy dips further, so does the state of their house. They can’t afford a caretaker, they can’t even pay for clean water, […]
Whiteout
Friday, September 11th, 2009
Do you ever wonder what goes on during meetings about theatrical release dates for movies? Well, I know you don’t, but just whose idea was it to open the violent 3 hour exploitation pastiche/parody Grindhouse on Easter weekend? “We have an opening in April; do we have anything to fill it?” “Which weekend?” “Easter.” “Hmmm. […]
Do you ever wonder what goes on during meetings about theatrical release dates for movies? Well, I know you don’t, but just whose idea was it to open the violent 3 hour exploitation pastiche/parody Grindhouse on Easter weekend? “We have an opening in April; do we have anything to fill it?” “Which weekend?” “Easter.” “Hmmm. […]
Grace
Thursday, September 10th, 2009
The current issue of Newsweek has a picture of a baby staring straight at the camera with a slightly concerned look on her face, with the headline across her forehead “Is your baby racist?” A deliberately provocative question (the article is nothing more than extended book promotion for the authors of the piece), but as […]
The current issue of Newsweek has a picture of a baby staring straight at the camera with a slightly concerned look on her face, with the headline across her forehead “Is your baby racist?” A deliberately provocative question (the article is nothing more than extended book promotion for the authors of the piece), but as […]
Crank: High Voltage
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
Is it possible to be consciously and intentionally out of control? If a Nascar driver were swerving and spinning for hundreds of laps and ended up winning the race, could he do the same thing again on purpose? Should you be given credit for a lucky accident? Donnie Darko might be the answer to those […]
Is it possible to be consciously and intentionally out of control? If a Nascar driver were swerving and spinning for hundreds of laps and ended up winning the race, could he do the same thing again on purpose? Should you be given credit for a lucky accident? Donnie Darko might be the answer to those […]