Beltmann

Plus, last night I revisited Blazing Saddles for the first time in at least a decade. That sucker holds up.

I think my favorite show of 2007 was given by the National...

I saw Freshwater Collins open for somebody once--Guster, maybe?--and thought the band didn't live up to their local hype. Not bad, certainly, but I also didn't hear anything that made me want to rush out and hear more.

Yes.

Checking that one out tomorrow. Too bad Lumet is pretty much dismissed these days--take, for example, the way last year's Find Me Guilty was systematically ignored by critics and audiences, despite being a pretty darn good movie. This new one's getting a little more attention, but not by much. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to it. I'm hoping to make it a double bill with I'm Not There, if time permits.

Thanks for the link--I picked up new stuff by Devendra Banhart and the Weakerthans. Also worth noting: Amazon's Black Friday sale has all sorts of bargains. A bunch of CDs and DVDs are dramatically marked down... for example, I picked up 300 for 6.99.

We ate at George Webb's today. Still had a gift card from last Christmas.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Maudie!

I haven't been a huge fan of his recent foray into navel-gazing minimalism--10 on Ten being the nadir--but Abbas Kiarostami's Five Dedicated to Ozu really makes something out of virtually nothing. It consists entirely of five seaside shots that range from 8 to 27 minutes long, starting with waves aggressively crashing on a piece of driftwood and ending with an astonishing night shot that captures the moon's reflection in the sea as layers of natural sound--frogs croaking, roosters crowing, storms thundering--build towards an unnerving cacophony. Besides a penchant for long takes and a virtua

Beat me to it!

Not faithfully. It seemed to me that Tarantino started from that place, but used it largely as a springboard for his own unique blend of ideas--in the end, Death Proof feels more like an adoring comment on the genre, infused with a lot of other influences (including Godard). The final scene (the beat-down) is finally less exploitative than a witty observation about how audiences respond to exploitation. Maybe I'm reading beyond T.'s intentions, but I think it's there, intended or not--and I think that stuff makes it a lot more interesting, and a lot more amusing, than Planet Terror, which w

Once I realized that Death Proof was not really trying to mimic a true grindhouse movie--unlike Planet Terror--I was able to enjoy its unique synthesis of genres. That makes it more of a Tarantino flick than a grindhouse flick, yes, but I'm not complaining. It might not be one of his best, but I still liked it a whole bunch.

My last name is not in the top 5000 (no surprise). But my wife's maiden name is 2072.

I loved that movie. I guess it deals with typical time-machine topics (paradoxes, identity, obligations, profiteering) but infuses them all with a surprising credibility and jerry-rigged poetry. (That storage locker, which becomes some kind of witty birthing chamber, is one of the great places in recent movies.) The spare, drab locations certainly work to the film

I haven't seen Manhunter in years. I should revisit that one.

I've seen the 1941 Wolf Man several times, and there's nothing sacred about it. I say, bring on Benicio Del Toro!

I haven't seen the first Election--apparently it's unnecessary to grasp this standalone sequel--but I have seen other Johnnie To films, and this solid gangster flick trumps them all, even 1999's The Mission. (And it's certainly in a different category than some of To's earlier, goofier successes, such as The Heroic Trio.) Despite the barbarous violence, the tone is one of resigned fortitude, and it's serious about suggesting how the machinery of commerce often depends upon controlled corruption.

It was okay... I liked the story and tone more than most Sandlers, and I felt its low blows were mostly harmless. (Most of the so-called "homophobia" really seemed to be jokes about the folly of stereotypes. As for Rob Schneider's nasty Asian routine, that's another matter...) Still, I can't imagine wanting to ever see it again.

I liked that too--although I admit I could have used a caption at times!

Awesome. My daughter isn't old enough for the movies yet, but obviously that's something I really look forward to.

Last year some of my students told me that there was a Facebook group dedicated to me. I didn't bother to check it out until recently--apparently, I am a "real-life Mr. Feeney." I guess I'm, uh, flattered, or something.

Yes, yes it does. Fortunately, most of the essential live shows are elsewhere--I like the Pabst best of all.

Opens here on Wednesday. I have mixed feelings about the Coens, but I still can't wait.

You've probably seen him in a bunch of things: Brendan Gleeson