Thanks

Allow me for a moment to be serious...

I know it's cliche, and perhaps even a little cheesy, to type a list of things one is thankful for, but I felt compelled to compile this short post in light of some recent reading on this eve of the day we give thanks.

To Jim Emerson: Your Scanners blog never fails to remind me that time spent reading the internet is not time wasted. Thanks, too, for always getting me to think at a higher level about what is on the screen. Your blog reminds me daily of the fond memories I have sitting in my English Literature classes during my undergrad; every day was exciting because of the truths discovered through deep explication and deconstruction of the material.

To Sam Juliano: Your generosity and enthusiasm (not to mention your willingness to allow others to add their own posts at your blog) is something I'm glad to have come across in my short time blogging.

Thanks to Jason Bellamy and Ed Howard: Your "Conversations" series is hands down, without hyperbole, my favorite thing to read. Whenever I see a blog update stating that there's a new entry in the series (like your latest fantastic take on the film's of Arronofsky), I take a deep breath, grab a beer, and sit back on my couch and enjoy the ride. I rarely contribute to the conversation in the comments, but that is not because I'm unimpressed with that I've read; it's because your writing and analysis makes my own feel so obsolete. I mean that as the kind of compliment that should be interpreted as such: I don't comment because there's nothing left to add to the conversation; you've covered it all in your leave-no-frame-unanalyzed approach to film criticism. It's detailed, exhaustive, and always brilliant. It's the kind of film criticism that makes one stop and think: "Damn, this needs to be on my bookshelf!" Thanks for helping me see new truths in films I've seen more than a few times.

To Tim Brayton: Your blog, Antagony & Ecstasy, reminds me of why I love not just watching movies, but writing about and discussing them. Your reviews are the most densely packed with a gift for never having a feeling of over staying their welcome; they are the most hilarious, wonderfully irreverent, insightful, entertaining reads on the web. The fact that you can pack all of those into a movie review and not make it come off as cynical, pretentious, or overly verbose is truly amazing.

To my readers: Thanks to everyone who takes time to leave comments on here. It's a petty thing, but those comments always make this recreational writer feel like what I'm doing is at least somewhat useful.  There are so many of you (if your blog is listed on the right, then know that you are definitely thanked) that leave flattering comments, and a lot of you that will leave an insightful addendum to some of my musings. I appreciate that. To those of you that have been here from the beginning (even if I don't see you around here anymore): Ali Arikan, Rick Olson, Greg, Bill R., J.D., Alexander Coleman, Sam (of course), Tony Dayoub, Adam, Ryan, Jake, Bryce Wilson, Troy, Neil, Marylin, Rod, and so many more (again, look to the sidebar).


Thanks, everyone.  Whether you realize it or not, with this crazy thing called blogging, you all bring moments of joy, humor, intellectual stimulation, and new insights into my daily routine. Thank you for that.

So there you go.

Spend the holidays with Ken Russell!

Yes, folks, that is correct, I will be spending my holidays with a man obsessed with religion...how apt! Apt, I say! (to quote Lisa Simpson) Beginning December 7th or so I will begin my second attempt to cover a director's oeuvre. Ken Russell is the man the majority of you voted for last month, and I have to say that you all must hate me. I don't want to tip my hand to how favorable or unfavorable my retrospective will be, but let me just say this: I have now moved through all of Russell's mainstream 60's and 70's films...and I can only think of two that have made this endeavor worth while. But I'm here to please the voters, and the voters wanted Russell, so I will deliver. I'm a classical music and opera neophyte, so I think naturally some of Russell's early looks at musicians and artists were right over my head. I tried my hardest to look at them objectively, but some of these films could only take me to a certain place because of my lack of knowledge about composers. That being said, I will give it a go in about a month, and the retrospective will be the focus of this blog all December (with some more capsule reviews of 2010 films sprinkled in). I hope you'll join me; it should be fun times. See everyone in a month.

In the spirit of "friending"...

There's no doubt what the movie of the moment is right now: the Fincher/Sorkin (accredited in the trailer the same way Welles and Toland were in Citizen Kane, suggesting, perhaps that the film wouldn't be what people are calling it if Fincher didn't have Sorkin) collaboration, The Social Network. It will be a looooong while before I see this (okay, not really, but at least a few months), so in the spirit of online friends and community and such, (and living vicariously through other people's ability to get out there and see the film...not to mention their talents in writing about it) here are some of my favorite bloggers and critics discussing the film. Enjoy.

• Jason Bellamy of The Cooler writes a piece entitled "He Drinks Your Milkshake" (great title!)
• Jake Cole of Not Just Movies looks at the evolution of Fincher (and gives the film a 5/5 rating, to boot).
• Craig -- The Man from Porlock -- looks at the film in conjunction with Solitary Man, another Jesse Eisenberg movie.
• Bill of The Kind of Face You Hate discusses the film through the lens of Sorkin and his writing style, and doesn't have gushing praise for it.
• Jim Emerson writes a brilliant piece about a specific tete-a-tete between two lead characters that kicks off the film, and how it offers insights into the film's major themes and motifs.
• Tony of Cinema Viewfinder reviewed the film last week as part of the opening night for the New York Film Festival.
• And finally last, but certainly not least, one of my favorite bloggers (and all around nice guy), Tim Brayton  has his usual exhaustive and brilliant review up at Antagony & Ecstasy.

Images from a night of movie watching without my wife...

So my wife is gone this weekend at school (she's in a program that meets two weekends every month at Portland St.), and so I decided to be mature and instead of throwing a big party I decided to work on my work samples for my masters degree. I need background noise when I work...so I went to the one genre that always gets me through schoolwork (surprisingly not horror): the action film*. Here are some images of what motivated me while I typed up lesson plans, assessment data analysis, and other various forms of busy work. Enjoy. (oh, and in case anyone is wondering where the second episode thoughts for "Boardwalk Empire" are...sorry. I just don't have the time. The Q&D, though: Michael Shannon is awesome. Oh, and "Eastbound and Down" was highly disappointing considering the amount of talent working on that show.)

*One thing I did notice when I randomly payed attention to these movies: Andrew Davis is a really goo action filmmaker, and his Above the Law is not only the best Seagal movie, but it might be one of the better action films of the 80's. Out for Justice is just goofy, Bronson-esque vigilante fun, and of course Under Siege is beyond awesome thanks to a brilliantly manic performance from Tommy Lee Jones...oh, and Garey Busey!

Blogging Hiatus (kind of)...

It looks like Ken Russell won the blog poll for my next director retrospective. I have loaded up the Netflix queue with Russell films, and I will begin viewing those shortly. However, when I actually post stuff will be sporadic at best. In fact, I have decided use this retrospective -- and the breadth of Russell's oeuvre -- as a way to get out of doing a second Italian horror-themed blogathon. For those of you that don't know, I am an educator; actually, I think of myself as more of a social worker considering the the type of students I felt a vocational calling to help ten years ago. I've worked with at-risk teenagers for at least five years now, in various arenas, but specifically in an options high school that is associated with a local community college where the students -- mostly teen moms, expelled students from public high schools, marginalized teens, or former gang members (and sometimes just super smart and ambitious students who think the public school system works too slowly for them) -- take a term's worth of classes in three weeks.

I mention all of this because I am in the midst of wrapping up my masters degree in education (I'm writing a research project and two work samples right now), and I'm teaching classes at night. So, I'm essentially working from 9am to 7:30pm. Needless to say I am tired, and I am going to anticipate being tired for a long while. Sadly this will come at the expense of the Italian horror blogathon (but I plan on doing it again next year) and some more recent movies I wanted to go see (I still have a slew of 2010 movies to catch up with); so, expect a lot of content when I'm on winter break (sometime in mid December) and random content until that time. There will be plenty of horror-themed content out there for you all to get your fix. I will continue writing blurbs for the Wonders in the Dark horror countdown, and it sounds like Bill of the wonderful The Kind of Face You Hate is returning with his great October series on horror literature (with the great theme name of The Kind of Face You SLASH).

So there ya have it. I will try my hardest* to continue posting brief thoughts on "Boardwalk Empire", and like I said, I'll get to work on the Ken Russell movies when I have time, but the plan is to step away from multiple posts during the week for my own sanity (and my wife's). See ya when I see ya.

*Not to be a Debbie Downer, but the school I teach at just started the school year off on the absolutely worst possible note: three students -- ages 16, 18, and 18 -- were standing on a sidewalk waiting for a bus outside of our school when a driver who was under the influence veered two lanes over and jumped the curb instantly killing one of the students, injuring another so badly that she died later that night in the hospital, and critically injuring the other one. I was the first teacher on the scene, and I noticed right away that the critically injured student was one of mine; three of my other students saw the entire thing happen, and I know what I saw...so I can't even imagine how they're dealing with what they saw. We're a close-knit school community (only about a 120 students total), and we're all extremely shaken-up by all of this. So, even though film and television is a positive and cathartic distraction for me right now, I think you can understand why I feel so ambivalent towards posting content: On one hand it helps to watch, read, and discuss about other stuff; on the other hand it just doesn't seem to matter at the moment.

New Blog Design

I'll be back on Monday with some more posts (continuing my look at Oliver Stone's films), but first I wanted to point out the obvious: I've redesigned the blog (yet again).  So I guess I've re-redesigned the blog. Anywho, if you look up top there are now neat little tabs that will take you to a specified page with links. I will place the current year's reviews in a tab at the top (and when I was doing this I was shocked to see that I've reviewed exactly three films this year!) and any previous years will be placed on the right under their appropriate label. Also, I've added a neat little quote that from Jim Emerson...it's pretty much perfect.  In addition, I've added tabs for any of the major features or blogathons I've done on the blog (Italian Horror, Summer of Slash, and Best Films of the 2000's). So, yeah...hope you like the new look, and I'll be back Monday.

Why The Expendables will be the best movie I see this summer

No, there's no logical reason for the title to this post; this is going to be strictly emotion-based. Next Friday The Expendables – a B-level action movie that seems to be so retro that it has no place being released in theaters in 2010, but rather, it would be more appropriate to have it be shown between the hours of 12:45am and 4am on Showtime – will be released nationwide. Sylvester Stallone's recent labor of love is an attempt to bring people back to the action movie; people who have become disillusioned with the shaky-cam, CGI-fests that plague theaters and call themselves "real" or "gritty" action films. Stallone is trying to tap into a sense of nostalgia, too, with his latest film by casting virtually every action star from 80's and 90's (and more recent tough guys like the always great Jason Statham) from the likes of Dolph Lundgren to Bruce Willis to Jet Li to a cameo by the Govenator himself. Sadly Steven Seagal (my personal favorite of the 90's action stars) and Jean-Claude Van Damme turned down the opportunity to be in the film; the former because of a dislike for the producer (seems fair enough), and the latter because – and I'm not joking here – he felt like his character wasn't developed enough. You know, like his well developed characters from such classics as Nowhere to Run, Double Impact, or Hard Target. But I digress...




When the film comes out next Friday I plan on seeing it in the theater. No, not with my brother to make fun of it (although I'm sure we'll do that at some point), but I plan on shelling out 10 dollars for a movie that could just as easily be a straight-to-DVD movie because I want to see it with my dad. You see, my dad and I used to go see bad action movies every Monday night when I was a kid (Monday night was the all day matinee here in Oregon). Yup, every Monday my dad and I would head out to one of our three favorite theaters (a total of about 15 screens combined) depending on where the movie we wanted to see was playing. You had Southgate Cinema, a small, rundown theater with four screens and really bad popcorn – they mostly played horror flicks; you had Lancaster Cinema, a bigger theater (it had a large main auditorium that played family films) that catered to families, but always held a few auditoriums (again only about four or five total) for smaller films, sci-fi/horror, or blockbusters that had been out for more than a few months. My favorite though was Keizer Cinema. This tiny theater in my small hometown of Keizer was home to every bad action movie and horror film, this was my preferred spot (over the newer theater that had been built downtown) as I fell in love with the dinginess of the theater which appropriately reflected the kinds of films they showed. My favorite feature of Keizer Cinema was their wallpaper; yes, wallpaper…lined throughout the theater was a collage of old movie posters for B-grade horror films and action films. When you waited to go into their "main" auditorium you could look to your left and see shrunken posters for films like Jaws 3-D, Visiting Hours, Time After Time, Xtro, The Vindicator, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 all pasted together. As an adolescent these images (and the movie posters they would display throughout the theater) were not at all unlike my love for roving through the video store and studying coverboxes...trying to decide which movie I was going to take home with me; I ate that stuff up (I was easily pleased).

The best part, obviously, was the movie-watching. Each Monday my dad and I would decide on what to go see: should it be the latest Van Damme, or a sci-fi flick? Do we venture into horror, or stick with a bad action movie? We ran the gamut in those handful of years, as off the top of my head I can think of going to see the following films with him: Sudden Death, Demolition Man, Stargate, Species, Under Siege, Under Siege 2, True Lies, Speed, The Arrival, Alien 3, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Judge Dredd, Independence Day, New Nightmare, The Shadow Conspiracy (yeah, look THAT one up), Executive Decision, The Last Action Hero, On Deadly Ground, Universal Soldier, Hard Target, Broken Arrow, Face/Off, Timecop, Eraser, and (I'll end the list here) Passenger 57. Yes, that's quite the list of films, and even though I enjoyed these as a kid (and some of them I still love: for nostalgic purposes, but also because it points to a time when action films were simple formulas and could be entertaining, 90 min. popcorn films instead of 120+ min. chores) I would obviously grow out of these films as my palate would be fine-tuned over the years, leading to me becoming a full-fledged cinephile (I told that story a little over a year ago).


What's interesting about the release of The Expendables is that is that it didn't just bring back a flood of memories that my dad and I used to share (my parents live in the same city as me, and we're extremely close, so it isn't like this is my only link to my dad), but made me think about how awesome my dad was in nurturing my love for cinema. My dad always let us choose movies to rent at the video store, or he let us kids (there were three Olson boys in that house growing up, each of us very opinionated…I don't know how my parents negotiated those times) have input on what movie we should see as a family, and if one disagreed, then more often than not they would let us go see a movie by ourselves at the same theater, as long as it would get out around the same time as the movie the rest of the family was seeing. My parents gave us options at the cinema, and I think that's a big reason why I have the love for film that I have today. 

The Monday night excursions my dad and I would go on (not to mention the movie "festivals" we would have when my mom went out of town with her friends, where we would rent tons of movies for the weekend) definitely led to my further interest in "serious" film. After we would watch the latest action movie, we would dissect it in the car ride on the way home; talking about the best action scenes and how cool they were. I would go home and write mock reviews to those movies. I didn't realize it at the time, but my dad was a major influence on me forming opinions about movies. I remember the both of us laughing and groaning through Species, a film that this youngster had to close his eyes throughout because my dad was unaware that it was essentially a softcore porno; I remember having to sift through some emotions after a viewing of Edward Scissorhands because I didn't understand why they hated him because he was different (hey, I was young!), and my dad sitting in the car with me in the parking lot talking about the film and what happened in it; I remember us beginning to see the end for aging action stars like Van Damme (we were both unimpressed with Sudden Death) and Seagal (On Deadly Ground) and discussing the various way we would make their films better. All of that led to me giving my input on us maybe seeing other movies. When I got older I still loved action movies, but I started to explore the cinema more, and I started reading more (Ebert's review books and Glenn Kenney's reviews in Premier Magazine were huge influences) and watching shows like Siskel & Ebert; so, what started out as going out to the theater to see something like Under Siege 2, now became an experiment of sorts: I would try to up the cinematic ante.

I was always good at convincing my dad – a very agreeable fellow – that maybe we should try seeing something different. I owe a lot to his agreeable nature and innate ability to be a good sport, because I convinced my dad one night to head to Keizer Cinema, and instead of seeing the latest action movie, to try out Jackie Brown. I knew the film had crime elements and interesting characters my dad would enjoy, but I also knew it was a gamble because it was a 140+ min. film with very little conventional action; let me put it this way: it wasn't whatever the alternative was (which was probably the last theatrical release of a Van Damme movie, or something along those lines). I was a freshman in high school at this point, and my love for action films evolved into my love for a different kind of cinema (the link: an interview I read with John Woo where he claimed that the inspiration for his The Killer – my favorite action film – was Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samourai; from that moment on I started seeking out a different kind of film), and I was more than happy to have my dad along for the ride; however, as most things do when you're growing up as teenager, the family tradition fizzled out. I still loved my dad, of course (I was never one of those teenagers who was embarrassed by their parents), but the Monday night trips slowly died down. 

Shortly after seeing Jackie Brown, Keizer Cinema closed for good. Sadly, they turned our favorite movie spot into a freaking car dealership. It was definitely an apt omen for what was happening to the Monday nights my dad and I looked forward to. It sucked. And to add to the suckiness, our favorite local video store, Video Rama, had to shut their doors because the owner, who was looking to build a new store, got duped by a crooked contractor who took her money to build that new building and left town.  I saw how my parents reacted to this news, and it helped me realize how I should react, too. My parents were not happy and they felt incredibly sorry for Betty, the owner of the video store. I thought it curious that they would feel so strongly about a video store, but I soon realized why they reacted the way they did: Betty had been the purveyor of our family entertainment for so many years, and now that role had been taken away from her. Her store was the place that our family would often decide how we were going to spend the next 2-4 hours together on a Saturday night. Around that time I began to see, as cheesy as it sounds, the power of movies.

It wasn't the same after that. My junior and senior years in high school were a perfect storm of my old movie-life dying and my newfound enthusiasm for art films and independent features (more "challenging" work, you could say) growing. As I was getting older my tastes were definitely changing, and it just so happened that as I began driving out of town to see movies that now interested me, the cathedrals of my adolescence were all closing down (Southgate would close at the same time as Keizer, and Lancaster would close down a few years later).

That was in 1999, my senior in high school, and even though I still went to theater a lot with my parents (that year I convinced them that we should go see The Insider and Magnolia), those are usually the years of teenage independence, and it was no different for me as I began driving myself to different kinds of theaters (there was only one, single screen, art house theater in Salem when I was growing up) to find a different kind of film. I started driving to Portland more and more, and with that independence – as great as it was – came the death knell for the Monday night traditions that I held so dearly and treasured so greatly; the traditions with my dad that definitely had an impact on the kind of filmgoer I am today. The last movie I remember heading out to theater to see with him on a Monday night was Wes Anderson's Rushmore; yes, I had successfully transitioned (my dad loved that movie) from On Deadly Ground to Rushmore.

There were other action films that my dad and I would go see in the "nicer" theater in Salem (the new theater downtown had 7 auditoriums!), films like, Speed, The Rock and Con Air, but it wasn't the same as when we saw them at Keizer Cinema. Besides, the aforementioned films were too polished; sure, looking at them now it's easy to say "they don't make 'em like they used to", but back in 1995/96 you could see the difference between a Seagal or Arnie action film and the Bruckheimer/Simpson brand that was churning out stuff like The Rock. I remember initially watching The Rock in the theater on a Saturday afternoon, and being bored to tears. Why was an action film so long and filled with so much unnecessary stuff? Subsequent viewings have more than warmed me up to the film's "charms", but I remember thinking back during the film's theatrical run that it was a different kind of action film. And sure enough I think you can point to those early Michael Bay action films as the sign of the genre changing (of course, September 11th was the major culprit in the shift in tone of modern action films). It was also the sign of everything else changing, and even though that change was wonderful, it was bittersweet, too, because I knew that the kind of films I would sharing with my dad were better than anything we had watched on those Monday nights; the films may have been better, but the experience of seeing those films was certainly different.

Kudos to my dad for putting up with me during those formative years. I'm not sure what he always thought about the kind of movies I recommended we go see, but he was always a trooper (my mom, too), and it was always a fun experience to sit in a theater with him and know that I get to share the experience with the one person who most nurtured the obsession I had with film at a young age (I used to get told by teachers in elementary school that I couldn't write or talk about movies all the time). I never thought I would be able to take my dad to another action movie and have it feel the same as it did during those oh-so-prolific years between 1989-1996. But when I heard about The Expendables being in the works last year I was giddy with excitement. I knew at that moment that is was going to be my favorite movie of whatever season it was going to be released during. Finally there was a movie that was going to have the right casting, the right tone, and the right look that justified taking my dad to the theater to see a film that would transport us back to those wonderful, action-packed and blood-soaked Monday nights in Keizer.

So, on Friday night when The Expendables hits theaters, I will have the biggest grin on my face; oh, not just because I'll be able to enjoy it on some tongue-in-cheek, postmodern level, but because I can't wait to take my dad to see it Monday night. No action movie released in the last 10 years has compelled me enough to think back on those Monday night trips to the theater with my dad, and even though I'm sure Stallone's film will be goofy, inane, and perhaps even tedious I won't care because I'll be reliving one of my fondest memories with my dad. It'll be a blast walking into that theater on Monday night, watching my dad get a much-too-large tub of popcorn, and plopping down in our seats to watch a classic action film that will no doubt remind us of the mid-90's when those very films acted as the catalyst for my love of cinema. Thanks, dad, I'll always appreciate it, and I can't wait for next Monday and the subsequent conversation we'll have on the drive home (where we will no doubt rehash the better action movies the actors of The Expendables were in). I know that this is a personal anecdote that for everyone not related to me still doesn't really justify the claim of this post's title; but seriously, there is no other movie that I am more looking forward to this year than The Expendables. I have no doubts that it will be the best movie I see this summer.

A Quick Question...

I've been messing with my blog the last couple of hours.  I've changed some minor things like colors and such, and I've tweaked some major things to the sidebar like adding an index for my Italian Horror reviews, a link that explains who Hugo Stiglitz is, and as a more organized labeling system (yay OCD!)

So, here's what I'm curious about in my ongoing quest to make the blog as aesthetically pleasing as possible: How does this look when YOU see it.  I've viewed it on both Google Chrome and Firefox (the latter has the header pic fill up the entirety of its space and shows borders, while the former shows the pic not quite filling up the entire header, and the sidebar border can't be seen) and was curious what browser you use to view the blog, and how does it look to you?  Are the widths all messed up? Do the colors show correctly (the blog title should be in red)? Do you even view the site from the homepage or do you view it through an RSS reader?

I'm just curious as I've been tweaking these things and I'm wondering if they're improving the blog, or just making it a cluttered mess.  Let me know.  And please be brutally honest!  Hehe.  I'll return late tonight with another installment for my Summer of Slash series.  Thanks!

Thanks, whoever you are...

Browsing the blogosphere today I noticed that the LAMB blog is doing their annual Lammy's.  I knew this was coming down the pike, and yet I just don't care enough about nominating myself for these kinds of things.  Oh, that doesn't mean I think they aren't fun and cool rewards for hard working bloggers...they're just not for me; or, let me put it another way: as goddamn cheesy as it sounds I don't do this for things like Lammy's.  That being said, I read the nominations today, and no I didn't see my name on there for the final cut, but I did see my blog name down there for a number of categories:

Best Blog Name
Best Blogathon
Brainiac Award
Best Blog
Best Writer

Wow.  My point is...I didn't do this.  I didn't pimp myself out, here. So, whoever did throw my name out there for these: Thank you!  I appreciate it.  It's nice to know that what I'm doing here, tucked away in top northwest corner of the country, is being read and appreciated by people. It means a lot. Only two weeks left of school and work...then it's a whole lot of blogging.  I look forward to coming back to this as a full time hobby.  See ya in a few.

Those were the days...

Essential reading alert: Jim Emerson (of course) of the fantastic and...oh what's the point...you all know by now.  Just head over to Scanners where Jim has posted an interesting question regarding why me may not see all of the "essential" or "classic" films (I added the quotation marks) we may desire to, or perhaps that we had the desire to seek out in our younger days.  It's an interesting question and one I felt compelled to respond to in his comments section.  The gist of the comment: I think the oversaturation of the marker (i.e. Netflix Instant View) is both a blessing and a curse.  Too many choices leads to stagnation for me in regards to watching essential films from world cinema.  In fact...it's got me thinking about dumping this whole blogging business, which I also think contributes to the lack of movie watching I do, as ironic as that sounds, because I'm too concerned with watching movies solely for the purpose of the blog where I hope to have something new to say about the movie...that becomes a problem when one tries discussing Bergman or Ozu or Dreyer...what is there left to say about those giants of cinema?  It's a dilemma that often weighs on me, and the task of writing about them is so daunting that it almost turns me off of wanting to see their films.  Where in the past I would have simply just gone down to the local library and grabbed seven or eight classic films from world cinema and drank them all in over the span of a week.

Don't get me wrong, I love the blogosphere and the dialogue surrounding contemporary films that can be found within it (I don't know what I do without Jim's superlative essays on No Country for Old Men or Keith Ulrich's insightful look into Miami Vice), but I also wonder if my hobby of blog writing has been dictating what kinds of movies I watch, neutering my film growth in the process?  Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of stuff to be learned about contemporary cinema and American cinema...but I do feel like my knowledge of world cinema has fallen by the wayside.

One glance at Tim Brayton's amazing Top 100 films of the decade list and I'm rushing to Netflix to add a ton of titles from other countries.  I wish I didn't have to do that, I wish I had already seen those films.  I know that geography has something to do with it -- being in Salem, OR isn't exactly the heartland for world cinema -- but really I'm only 40 minutes away from Portland, which has some pretty good options for non-mainstream/non-American film. 

Perhaps that's just the difference between being a young cinephile and being a little older, married, and having a job that isn't part-time.  I was more willing to rush to Portland to catch a film at the Hollywood Theater on a one week run, or I was more willing to drive the 40 miles or so to Cinema 21 to catch a revival of something like Bicycle Thieves.  I don't know...I don't think there's an easy answer here.  I love these kinds of questions, though, and I hope that you all will read Jim's piece.

My Favorite Albums of 2009

I usually don't talk music on here, but I figured since I'm working on my year-end review (to be posted at the ever-relevant time of January 25th) I would toss up 20 of my favorite albums I've heard this year.  My tastes aren't for everyone, but there's some good stuff in here, and I hope some of you will ask about them in the comments...I'll be more than willing to let you know which songs to sample. 

My choices after the jump...

As Tall As Lions - You Can't Take It With You

Download this track: Go Easy

Ben Kweller - Changing Horses

Download this track: Ballad of Wendy Baker

Brand New - Daisy

Download this track: Gasoline 

 

Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen

Download this track: Caveman

The Dear Hunter - Act III: Life and Death 

Download this track: The Thief

Fake Problems - It's Great to Be Alive

 Download this track: Level With the Devil

 

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Download this track: Southern Point

 

Karen O. And the Kids - All is Love 

Download this track: Worried Shoes 

 

Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing

Download this track: I Can Feel a Hot One 

Monsters of Folk - S/T

Download this track: Say Please

Owen - New Leaves

Download this track: A Trenchant Critique

Person L - The Positives

Download this track:  Changed Man

Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist

Download this track: Mornings

Ramona Falls -  Intuit

Download this track: Melectric

Say Anything - S/T

Download this track: Less Cute

Stomacher -  Sentimental Education

Download this track: Any Joan a Lady

Thrice - Beggars

Download this track: The Weight

Thursday - Common Existence 

Download this track: Time's Arrow

William Elliott Whitmore - Animals in the Dark

Download this track: Old Devils

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

Download this track: Skeletons 

Symbolism has never looked so tasty...

Happy New Year

This picture makes me happy as two of my favorite things, Keira Knightley and Ishiguro's novel Never Let Me Go, join forces in making sure I'll have at least one amazing filmgoing experience in 2010.  I'll be interested to see how this adaptation turns out, but I remember reading the novel a few years ago and thinking that Keira would be perfect as the opinionated Ruth.  Anyway...I'll have more to post on Monday, but you know, I can never get enough of Keira Knightley...so there ya go.  Happy New Year, everyone!

Off for the Holiday...

I'll be away from the blog for the next couple of days, but that's not why I'm posting something...no, I just wanted to take the opportunity to wish everyone a happy holiday.  Whether you celebrate it for religious reasons or for taking-a-break-from-all-the-things-I-hate-about-my-job reasons, I hope that you all enjoy a few days of rest and relaxation.  Anyway, see ya in a few days.

Merry Quiz-mas: Time for another SLATIFR quiz.

Well...it's that time again.  Dennis Cozzalio of the fantastic Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule has asked the blogosphere to fill out one of his endlessly entertaining tests.  I usually feel like a dummy after getting through with these things, but that never tempers my enthusiasm in doing them.  Dennis has lobbed a whopping 50 question(!!) exam at us.  I hope I at least get it out of the infield.  Thanks again, Dennis, for such a fantastically fun exercise. My answers come after the jump...

      
      1)      Second-favorite Coen Brothers movie

Fargo

2) Movie seen only on home format that you would pay to see on the biggest movie screen possible? (Question submitted by Peter Nellhaus)

Fellini's 8 ½

3) Japan or France? (Question submitted by Bob Westal)

France gets the edge for their modern (post 50's) output – from the stellar crime films of Melville to the stark and powerful realism of the Dardenne's.

4) Favorite moment/line from a western.

Boss and Charlie's conversation before the big shootout in Open Range. I just love the way Costner's Charlie lays it all out for Boss (Duvall); the violence that will occur and how the others will react once the violence happens.

5) Of all the arts the movies draw upon to become what they are, which is the most important, or the one you value most?

Literature --- Film compounds upon all the things that make literature (or stories) great (mood, characters, symbolism, metaphor, subtext, et al) by using light and shadows and photography to make beautiful art out of these very basic elements.

6) Most misunderstood movie of the 2000s (The Naughties?).

Michael Mann's Miami Vice

7) Name a filmmaker/actor/actress/film you once unashamedly loved who has fallen furthest in your esteem.

Edward Norton. He had a great role in Primal Fear – a throwaway movie starring Richard Gere – and he was fantastic in Spike Lee's 25^th Hour, but I feel like he's this generations Anthony Hopkins…an actor who rests on his laurels and too often produces the same performance film after film. His mannerisms, his way of speaking and delivering a line…it all just feels stale now. When you see Anthony Hopkins in a movie it's quite clear he's doing Anthony Hopkins (it doesn't matter if it's something as different as Amistad or The Edge or The Human Stain), and the same goes for Norton…his characters never feel realized or fleshed out, they're just shells for Norton to show off his Nortonisms.

8) Herbert Lom or Patrick Magee?

Pass.

9) Which is your least favorite David Lynch film (Submitted by Tony Dayoub)

Lost Highway. I was too scared of having my cinephile card revoked if I were mention Eraserhead…a film I really can't stand.

10) Gordon Willis or Conrad Hall? (Submitted by Peet Gelderblom)

Willis gets the nod thanks to his best Sven Nykvist impression with Interiors and for his great work in the The Goodfather.

11) Second favorite Don Siegel movie.

Coogan's Bluff. (The Beguiled and Escape From Alcatrraz are my favorites).

12) Last movie you saw on DVD/Blu-ray? In theaters?

DVD – The Limits of Control

Theater – Inglourious Basterds

13) Which DVD in your private collection screams hardest to be replaced by a Blu-ray? (Submitted by Peet Gelderblom)

Peter Weirs Fearless. Can someone explain to me why this film only exists in a shitty Pan and Scan, Snapcase version? It's a crime that this film – one of Weirs best, and one of Jeff Bridges' best performances – hasn't been given proper treatment on DVD.

14) Eddie Deezen or Christopher Mintz-Plasse?

Christoper Mintz-Plasse for his performance in Role Models.
 

15) Actor/actress who you feel automatically elevates whatever project they are in, or whom you would watch in virtually anything.

Actress – Catherine Keener: There's just something so sexy about her I just can't place it, and she's never not interesting to watch.

Actor – James Woods: Anytime I see the man pop up in a movie I become giddy. He's always doing something interesting or using some kind of odd quirk to make his characters overshadow the other actors he shares scenes with. Just watch how he immediately makes Clint Eastwood's ho-hum True Crime better, or how he elevates films like Cop and Diggstown. And watch how he does sleazy in Scorsese's Casino. He's always been one of the most unique actors in Hollywood.

16) Fight Club -- yes or no?

No.

17) Teresa Wright or Olivia De Havilland?

Olivia

18) Favorite moment/line from a film noir.

"Forget it, Jake, its Chinatown." I don't know if there's ever been a better ending at making the audience feel like they've just been rewarded for getting punched in the stomach.

19) Best (or worst) death scene involving an obvious dummy substituting for a human or any otherunsuccessful special effect(s)—see the wonderful blogDestructible Man for inspiration.

The end of Umberto Lenzi's Nightmare City. At least Hugo Stiglitz made it out alive!

20) What's the least you've spent on a film and still regretted it? (Submitted by Lucas McNelly)

Well…I had a friend in college who used to work at a movie theater in Boise. I remember not paying anything to see Freddy Got Fingered and Blair Witch Project 2: Book of Shadows. I wanted my time back.

21) Van Johnson or Van Heflin?
 
pass.

22) Favorite Alan Rudolph film.

Equinox.

23) Name a documentary that you believe more people should see.

It's pretty popular among cinephiles, but I never get tires of recommending American Movie. It's a beautiful, hilarious, and sometimes poignant film about having a passion for what you feel like you were meant to do…in the case of Mark Borchardt it's making horror movies. One of the best docs of the 90's.

24) In deference to this quiz's professor, name a favorite film which revolves around someone becoming stranded.

I freaking love that first hour of The Black Stallion.

25) Is there a moment when your knowledge of film, or lack thereof, caused you an unusual degree of embarrassment and/or humiliation? If so, please share.

Doing these quizzes. Also…I remember when I was in 4^th grade or so and a cop came to visit our class. All I could ask him about was how realistic movies like Lethal Weapon were. Every question was about a movie. I was like Chris Farley when he did his "The Chris Farley" show bit on SNL. The teacher had to tell me to stop asking questions about movies. I was known from that time on as the movie nerd.

26) Ann Sheridan or Geraldine Fitzgerald? (Submitted by Larry Aydlette)

Pass.

27) Do you or any of your family members physically resemble movie actors or other notable figures in the film world? If so, who?

Some people think my brother Troy looks like Zac Effron. But I think that's more of a joke and the fact that he's over 30 and I'm 27 and when people see us together they think he's the younger one (some even think he looks like he just graduated from high school). He was blessed with youthful looks…I slouch and hunch over a lot…so I guess I could be mistaken for Paul Giamatti.

28) Is there a movie you have purposely avoided seeing? If so, why?

Napoleon Dynamite. When you work with high school kids for a living you hear the quotes all day long…after awhile you just convince yourself that you never want to see the movie. Plus, it never looked that appealing to begin with.

29) Movie with the most palpable or otherwise effective wintry atmosphere or ambiance.

Jokingly: Cliffhanger. Seriously: The Sweet Hereafter.

30) Gerrit Graham or Jeffrey Jones?

Ed Rooney.

31) The best cinematic antidote to a cultural stereotype (sexual, political, regional, whatever).

Pass. (I can't think of anything to write and I really want to get this posted.)

32) Second favorite John Wayne movie.

The Searchers

33) Favorite movie car chase.

To Live and Die in L.A.

34) In the spirit of His Girl Friday, propose a gender-switched remake of a classic or not-so-classic film. (Submitted by Patrick Robbins)

The Ocean films starring Sophia Loren and Catherine Deneuve as George Clooney and Brad Pitt's characters respectively.

35) Barbara Rhoades or Barbara Feldon?

Pass.

36) Favorite Andre De Toth movie.

House of Wax is the only one I've seen.

37) If you could take one filmmaker's entire body of work and erase it from all time and memory, as if it had never happened, whose oeuvre would it be? (Submitted by Tom Sutpen)

I don't know that I would because that would be too much like censorship…but in the spirit of participation (and not being a fuddy-duddy) I'd say those jerk asses that made the Crank movies. They should be making video games, not feature films.

38) Name a film you actively hated when you first encountered it, only to see it again later in life and fall in love with it.

A small little gem of a film called The Ice Harvest. Harold Ramis directed and it had a pretty recognizable cast, but I still think it's one of those films that not a lot of people have seen. I loathed this film when I first saw it, but a friend of mine praised it highly and convinced me to watch it again, and since I've seen it three more times. It's a darkly wry and violent noir picture, and it's certainly the best thing John Cusack has done since the 80's.

39) Max Ophuls or Marcel Ophuls? (Submitted by Tom Sutpen)

Max.

40) In which club would you most want an active membership, the Delta Tau Chi fraternity, the Cutters or the Warriors? And which member would you most resemble, either physically or in personality?

The Cutters. Daniel Stern's character because I'm always the one who looks like he doesn't belong.

41) Your favorite movie cliché.

The police Captain yelling: "I want your gun and your badge on my desk, and if it weren't for your reputation I'd have your ass out on the street issuing parking tickets! Now get out of my office!" The cop then investigates the case in spite of his Captain's orders and the cop's partner gets killed in the process leading to the Captain having sympathy and re-issuing the cop's badge and gun. Then the cop solves the case.

42) Vincente Minnelli or Stanley Donen? (Submitted by Bob Westal)

Got give the slight edge to Minnelli only because I just barely like Some Came Running more than Charade.

43) Favorite Christmas-themed horror movie or sequence.

Movie: Black Christmas

Sequence: Silent Night, Deadly Night 2. "Garbage Day!"

44) Favorite moment of self- or selfless sacrifice in a movie.

I have to copy an answer I saw another person give: Ed Harris in The Abyss.

45) If you were the cinematic Spanish Inquisition, which movie cult (or cult movie) would you decimate? (Submitted by Bob Westal)

I never understood the love for Peter Jackson's early stuff. I think Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles, and Dead Alive (aka Braindead) are all horribly excruciating to get through. There bad in a way that low-budget, cult movies are supposed to rise above, and yet I've never been able to see the allure of these ultra violent yawn fests. But Jackson acolytes – and horror buffs in general – seem to think these films (especially Dead Alive) are some of the best of the genre.

46) Caroline Munro or Veronica Carlson?

Pass.

47) Favorite eye-patch wearing director. (Submitted by Patty Cozzalio)

Easily the best question on here, and one that really made me think. I think I have to go with Fritz Lang because of the fact the man had a monocle and an eye patch. That's awesome.

48) Favorite ambiguous movie ending. (Original somewhat ambiguous submission---"Something about ambiguous movie endings!"-- by Jim Emerson, who may have some inspiration of his own to offer you.)

An obvious one would be The Graduate. I also love A History of Violence and Miami Vice as recent examples.

49) In giving thanks for the movies this year, what are you most thankful for?

The blogging community for continuing to aide me in the ongoing quest to enrich my palette (especially in regards to world cinema).

Inglourious Basterds for making going to the movies fun again.

Sure 2009 may have not been the strongest year for movies, but I don't care…I'm always thankful for the opportunity to watch film and discuss it intelligently, regardless of the year's merits.

50) George Kennedy or Alan North? (Submitted by Peet Gelderblom)

George Kennedy!