Beltmann

Not my favorite Melville--that would be Le Samourai or maybe Bob le Flambeur--but this wartime epic about the French Resistance is still pretty great. The movie is structured as a series of self-contained episodes that connect primarily on thematic grounds, particularly about how the meanings of morality and sacrifice shift during extraordinary circumstances.

Asked for, and received, this for Christmas. It's terrific being able to see it again after all these years.

Holy balls.

I miss that day.

The Kevin Federline album made some new fans, too.

I think a lot of people around here love Trace, too (including myself). I might be in the minority, but I think Okemah, while different in sound, is just as strong. In fact, these days I'm much more likely to give Okemah a spin than Trace.

Platform releases suck--and don't make sense any more, either, with the way buzz now spreads in nanoseconds rather than weeks. As a Wisconsinite, I'm used to having to wait to see things until long after the national discussion about them has ebbed (especially international fare that opens here six months to a year after they were released in NY/LA). At least There Will Be Blood is scheduled for Milwaukee release on January 11... I assume that's when most other cities will have it, too.

Heroic Conservatism: Why Republicans Need to Embrace America's Ideals (And Why They Deserve to Fail If They Don't), by Michael Gerson Gerson is a former speechwriter for and advisor to GWB, and he essentially argues for the principles of "compassionate conservatism," a philosophy that, in his view, has been abandoned by a Republican party uninterested in social justice and humanitarian concerns. Most of my political reading comes from the left, but it's always wise to be familiar with what the "other side" is saying. So far, it's an interesting read and I agree with about half of Gerson's

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, friend! Thanks for all the great convo over the years.

I caught Son Volt during the Okemah tour, and had a good time--but it was still probably one of the most monotone, and least exciting, rock shows I've ever seen. (The crappy sound at the Rave sure didn't help, either.) I'm a fan, but I doubt I'll pay to see them live again.

I don't think I've seen a worse movie this year than Captivity--although we might say it does a creditable job (unintentionally) parodying the "torture porn" genre.

I've had a DVD of The Fountain here for months, but I haven't watched it yet. I don't really mind movies that downplay narrative, but this one looks more like What Dreams May Come than, say, Mulholland Drive, and that's not a good vibe. Hopefully my preconceptions are off base.

I didn't think so, but others might feel differently. It probably helped that my conception of Ellen Page was not limited to the Juno ads--I know her well from other movies, especially Hard Candy, where she was very memorable.

Strange to think that Jason Reitman has now made two movies better than anything his dad ever directed.

Perhaps you just have limited notions of what songs can be. Panda Bear does not produce conventional songs, true, but that does not disqualify his music from being songs--they are just a different kind of song. There's room for all kinds, right?

I think I could listen to "Bros" all day long. In fact, I think I have.

Well, no more than Hitchcock "tricks" the audience with his manipulations. Sometimes directors lead audiences one way only in order to later re-direct them, and that process can yield dividends for willing audiences. I'd say the Coens--perhaps following McCarthy's lead, as TDW pointed out--are guilty of manipulating the audience, but not for the trivial purpose of playing a prank; instead, their manipulations are integral to revealing, and deepening, the theme. In other words, I didn't feel tricked or betrayed.

That doesn't sound strange at all. In fact, what I like about the final section is that it challenges our notions of how traditional narrative works. Movies have trained us to look for certain signposts and to devise certain expectations--in this case, the genre has taught us to expect [spoiler: Highlight to read] Moss to survive, the money to be followed, and Jones to solve the mystery--but the final section thoroughly subverts that structure. Essentially, we're reminded that the story we thought we were following is not the story at all. The real story exists on a more abstract or psycho

Over the weekend I saw Lars and the Real Girl, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Atonement, and Sweeney Todd. I enjoyed them all, but for wildly disparate reasons. The strongest was probably Atonement, or perhaps Devil.

"Silver Bells"

Side note: "Slow Show" is featured in the current trailer for Snow Angels, the new David Gordon Green movie.

Dear Lord, what a crapfest.