Beltmann

Yesterday I watched Roberto Rossellini's Paisan, which is a series of vignettes depicting Italian characters interacting with occupying forces--mostly American--as WWII winds to a close. The idea is to deliver a portrait of war comprised of the stories that are usually pushed off to the side, such as an innocent villager taken as a guide, or priests who agree to house several Army chaplains for a spell, or a young pickpocket who steals the boots of a drunk American M.P. Apart from the wooden acting--the neorealistic style includes non-professional actors--the movie has a compelling verisimil

Marah - Life Is A Problem

My grandmother, for one.

Don't have time to elaborate right now, so I'll just quickly chime in: I loved it.

That would be in the running for me, too. (I think White is hilarious and criminally underappreciated.)

Best trilogy of all-time? I thought everybody knew it was The Apu Trilogy.

Has this been posted yet? National VEVO Event on YouTube "Live at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on May 15, 2010. A VEVO event on YouTube. Directed by Chris Hegedus and DA Pennebaker, the proceeds from the event will benefit the Red Hot Organization." Lots of terrific HD videos and interview segments. Put this on a DVD and I'd buy it immediately.

Quick note of FNL awesomeness: In tonight's episode, two characters went to see the Heartless Bastards at a music festival in Austin. This show has always featured awesome music. Looks like this thread went no further than Season 2. Not sure how many people stuck with the show after the mediocre sophomore season, but Season 3 was a return to form, and Season 4 has been terrific so far--perhaps the best since the first.

Yeah, the original is not just one of the best vampire movies I've ever seen, it's one of the best movies, period, I've seen in the last few years. I'm curious to check out the remake, I suppose, but I'm definitely glad to have seen the original first. I don't want a carbon copy in which the only difference is American faces, or a dumbed-down Hollywood version (which might be likely). But if they can somehow bring an American sensibility and thoughtful interpretation to the project, I'd welcome the project. I don't want to re-ignite an old war around here, but I think of Infernal Affairs--

They already did, starting in 1914, then again in 1921, 1925, 1939, 1969, 1971, 1976, 1978, and 2006. That doesn't include various sequels like The Land of Oz (1932) and side projects like the upcoming The Great Powerful. There have been roughly 20 Oz-related film projects over the decades; the 1971 one is a well-known Turkish version. And once we start counting up TV projects, it gets out of hand. I've seen bits of the 1914 version, but the earliest one I've seen in its entirety is the 1925 version, which features Oliver Hardy in a supporting role about a year before he hit it big with t

Good advice all the way around.

Jeff hates all of you.

Destroyer Pavement is true for me, too.

Coppola's Tetro is plenty interesting--and beautiful to look at--but I'm not sure it really amounts to much.

You watched those back-to-back? Good grief. (I like one a lot more than the other, but neither one is easy viewing. Reminds me of the time an old friend attended a festival of films by his favorite director, Ingmar Bergman, but came back feeling suicidal.)

Gallardo and Santana had a classic pitcher's duel tonight in Milwaukee. Santana went 8 shutout innings, while Gallardo went 9 shutout innings. Game's still not over... EDIT: Hart hits 2-run walkoff homer in the bottom of the ninth. Brewers win, in movie-script fashion.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Unfortunately, yes. I still dig the band, but the vocals prevent my enjoyment from soaring. I'll second Band of Horses, too. Lucero is another one that comes to mind.

FYI: The National is scheduled to appear on Craig Ferguson tonight, Friday, May 28. It's new. In related news, I am still obsessed with High Violet.

Dr. Dog

In "Shake It Off," I always hear "When I'm awake enough" as "When I'm whacking off..." I'd feel guilty, but I'm pretty sure it's totally normal. 97% of Wilco fans hear it that way, and 3% are liars.

After two months in prison, Jafar Panahi is released--but he still might face trial. Good news. Some of my favorite movies of all time were made by Panahi--if you haven't seen The White Balloon or Crimson Gold or Offside or The Mirror, you really should--and his film The Circle was the single best film of 2001, in my opinion.

I went into the booth planning to vote for "Poor Places," but once I was in there I second-guessed myself and ended up pulling the lever for "Handshake Drugs." "Poor Places" is perhaps more sonically adventurous, but there's something about the expressionism of "Handshake Drugs"--a perfect abstract representation of the kind of jolting pain and suffering that requires, um, handshake drugs--that really resonates with me.

Holy crap. Another new album? It's a good time to be an Eels fan.

Panahi's statement