Beltmann

I found that interesting as well, but I also felt that Kot had preconceived this dichotomy and then filtered everything so that it would fit into that neat literary story--at the expense of accuracy, fairness, and complexity.

I lurve that movie... one of my favorites, and definitely one of Bogart's very best performances. Last night: It was a sold-out screening, which added to the fun. Sitting next to me was a guy with his young son (perhaps ten years old), and it was terrific listening to this man share his enthusiasm for Strummer with his son.

I vote go! I saw them in Milwaukee last Friday, and it was one of the better shows of my year. Lots of highlights, especially the epic version of "About Today," which concluded with a crunching blast of guitar impressionism. I didn't much care for St. Vincent, though--she was too precious, too reliant on cluttered effects and a juvenile slashing aggression. (Am I alone on that? I'll concede that her record sounds much better, at least.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Kevin! Hope to see ya soon.

One of the year's best, I think.

This is depressing.

Haven't seen anything new lately--not much free time--but I did show a few short films in class today: Fallen Art / T. Baginski / Poland / 2004 Segment Mexico [from 11

My favorite part of that is how, near the end, he calmly repeats it: "Police brutality. Rodney King." It even got old for him, and quick.

I once sent a baggie of pubic hair through the mail. Not my own, of course.

Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta! I'm surprised by how often I've been returning to this over the last few weeks... very catchy stuff.

Wow, thanks Kalle! Sounds great... hope they play it in Milwaukee!

I'm worried the same thing is going to happen here... it's playing in Milwaukee right now, but I won't have time to see it for a couple of weeks, at which point it'll probably be gone. Most likely I'll have to catch up with it on video.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to one of VC's most generous people!

Bosnian film about the longlasting effects of war, here illustrated in the strained relationship between a mother and daughter.

When Gephardt retired, everybody assumed Russ Carnahan--who had a familiar family name--would step right in, but this documentary follows the efforts of political unknown Jeff Smith during the Democratic primary season.

The Mendoza Line - 30 Year Low I love this thing. Can't stop listening.

I agree. While the audience energy was more subdued than usual, the sound quality more than made up for it.

I was high school acquaintances with this guy--we played baseball on the same team--and my wife knew him all through elementary school and up. Lost touch after high school (in 1992), but his mom is a secretary at the school where I teach, so occasionally I'd hear news about how he was doing. Wow... just wow. Police: Man who fell to death wanted in molesting case

Ditto on all the above. Unfortunately, Westerns, and their inherent mythic qualities, have become passe, to the point that new ones are routinely mocked for being old-fashioned--as if old fashions are invalid merely for being old. Still, as with the slasher genre, I think there's more going on under the image in Westerns than simply good-versus-evil parables. The genre lends itself to elemental formulas, but also uniquely American meditations on landscape, architecture, human destiny (some movies unfortunately confuse this with Manifest Destiny), modernity, existentialism (aren't most great W

If you're around the festival, you'll definitely see me... I'm the guy with the backpack, always taking notes, snapping pictures, and munching granola bars for survival.

Watcha see today? For me, the Milwaukee festival is always a highlight of my year. It's coming up at the end of September, and right now I'm scheduled to see at least 26 movies. I'm most excited about these: Bamako; Our Daily Bread; Taxi to the Dark Side; A Battle of Wits; Control; Killer of Sheep; The Banquet; The Unforeseen; The Paper Will Be Blue; For the Bible Tells Me So; Tell No One; In the Shadow of the Moon; The Signal; Avida; King Corn; Lady Chatterley; In Search of a Midnight Kiss; and the usual smattering of shorts programs.

Since college, I've read a new Shakespeare play every summer... I'm a little behind this year, but finally got around to it this week.

I occasionally bump into Mark Borchardt--several times in movie theaters, once in a Target.