Beltmann

The uproar around the Spidey snubbing seems misguided, I think. First, it's silly to complain about the Oscars, which have never been a reliable barometer of artistic merit. It's all a fool's errand. Second, the griping is predicated on the specious notion that box-office hits should automatically be considered artistic triumphs and the false premise that the Oscars aren't populist enough (a stronger case could be made that the Oscars are too middle-brow, routinely overlooking the best, most artistically rewarding fare). Third, it presumes that awards ceremonies ought to cater to populism, to

There’s nothing especially wrong with HBO's new techno-thriller Kimi except that it confirms my nagging suspicion that Steven Soderbergh has given himself over to making watchable yet overly modest, undercooked home movies. He’s stopped making great movies in favor of “neat!” movies. This is a depressing development.

Recently I watched two very tense dramas that use real-time to their advantage. First, the nerve-racking, single-take drama "Boiling Point" stars Stephen Graham as the chef at a posh British restaurant who is dealing with professional and personal woes. Even more breathtaking, though, is “The Killing Kenneth Chamberlain,” which chronicles, detail by detail, the real-life story of an elderly black man who was killed by police performing a welfare check. I’m not sure how this riveting, real-time suspense drama fraught with hot-button topicality was so criminally overlooked, especially since it c

Followup: I guess at one time I had set YouTube TV to record the movie if it ever aired, because the TCM broadcast was saved to my DVR list! Sweet.

This weekend I caught two theatrical releases. Parallel Mothers, which stars Penélope Cruz as a middle-aged single mother who forms a close bond with an adolescent single mother while also grappling with the legacy of the Spanish Civil War, offers many of the usual pleasures of a Pedro Almodóvar movie. I think it's one of his best. Meanwhile, the lazy Rifkin's Festival is one of Woody Allen's worst. (And I say that as someone who has liked his late-career output more than most.)

Ugh, wish I had seen your post in time! I've been trying to see that movie for a long time.

In terms of narrative, pacing, performances, and editing, it clunks again and again. (Did you notice that it doesn't have scenes? It only presents sketches for scenes.) I'm baffled by the vigor of its defenders. It's almost as if the mere fact that Don't Look Up has well-meaning satirical intentions means it's automatically a good movie. But well-meaning is not synonymous with well-made.

Read more novels, watch fewer movies. (C'mon! Stop rolling your eyes!)

Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut provides plum roles for Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, and Jessie Buckley, but the best thing about The Lost Daughter is how it examines, with genuine honesty and dexterity, the kind of emotional currents that accompany parenthood and middle age that are rarely acknowledged on screen.

I actually listened to this for the first time earlier today, and then came here and found it at the top of your list! Nice. Looking forward to checking out many of your other favorites... thanks for the long list!

Santa gave me two shirts for Christmas:

No idea. I suspect she had them custom-made. I'll ask once classes resume after holiday break.

My students spoil me. Today one of them surprised me with these:

Here's a thread to post gifts you received or gave for the holidays this year that are Wilco-related or Wilco-adjacent. Flex away! I'll start. Today one of my students gifted me a sealed box of Wilco-themed memo books, a set which I did not even know existed. From the Field Notes website: "This set was truly collaborative; we paired each member of Wilco with an exceptional artist, handed them all the same limited palette of colors, and let them improvise. This 'Wilco × Field Notes' Box Set is the result. The box contains six Memo Books reflecting the craft and talent of the artists and th

I haven't seen all of the buzzy titles (living in flyover country means waiting for some key films, like Drive My Car), but of the many 2021 titles I've managed to catch so far, The Power of the Dog is my favorite. It's really four stories of four couples (brother/brother; man/wife; mother/son; bully/target), and each one, through amazing alchemy, deepens the others. Campion's directing choices also telegraph so many subtle, rich ideas that my movie sensors went haywire. Loved it!

I haven't drawn up a list yet, but I'm eager to see everyone else's picks. I always look forward to this year-end thread! This is one of my favorite places to find new discoveries. Thanks for getting it going, Chez!

For the first time, our family of four observed Thanksgiving alone at home. (A last-minute positive case in the extended family torpedoed the plan to have visitors.) It was different and strangely subdued, but by day's end each one of us decided it was, maybe, the best Thanksgiving ever.

I'm in!

I'm eager to see this! Cummings is such an intriguing talent. (I was surprised to see him turn up in Halloween Kills, basically doing a riff on his character from The Wolf of Snow Hollow.)

I loved it, too, and it was one of two movies that I saw recently that seem to have been saddled with misguided critical baggage. It’s true that The French Dispatch lacks the emotional hooks of Anderson’s earliest works. But it has been replaced by stagecraft of such overwhelming personal invention that it carries viewers forward on an equally gratifying wave. Like you, I'm eager to see it a second time. (If The French Dispatch were Anderson’s debut, the film would almost surely be welcomed as a majestic revelation by a new wunderkind.) That the movie continues Anderson’s familiar, chosen mode

This was the first interwebs "fan forum" I ever joined (2003, maybe earlier), and that was because Wilco had become an exceedingly important fact in my life. I needed to find my tribe. At the time, I didn't expect that Via Chicago and its extended community would also become important facts in my life. Too many memories to share... endless B&PS (I still have them all); Wendy calling my answering machine so I could hear live Jeff singing "Radio King"; bbop and skyflynn saving me balcony seats in Madison; the lovely Saint Genevieve; the VW ad throwdown; ranking the albums in chronologic

I've been here for most of it, but not the earliest times! I'm excited to hear about those hazy, crazy days!

Over the last two weeks of October I consumed 27 horror movies, including eight rewatches. I'm a little embarrassed that it's taken me this long to finally see Dan O’Bannon’s apocalyptic zombie comedy The Return of the Living Dead and what can I say? This might be my favorite collection of merry bad-taste gags outside of Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive. My only regret is that I’ve wasted three decades not watching this. I’m guessing the bald, hungry punk zombie in The Return of the Living Dead that cries for “More brains!” would turn away from Halloween Kills, which unforgivably fo

Ooh, I've been eager to see this. Thrilled to hear your glowing endorsement!

I read every word of every dispatch, Paul. And I'm sure I'm far from alone! Thank you for everything you do for the world of Wilco!