January 04, 2009
Different Strokes
Compare and contrast Manohla Dargis' extraordinarily well-written piece on Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, NY to this review of the same film by Rex Reed, which has been sticking in my craw since he wrote it in October.
It doesn't even sound like these two are reviewing the same movie. I personally thought Dargis' piece was logically thought, insightful, and beautifully wordsmithed, whereas Reed's, though meticulously written in its own way, is just so incredibly vapid that I can only hope he actually slept through half the movie.
Posted by kvoynar at 11:18 AM | Comments (1)
January 03, 2009
New Years Confession #2
My sentimental favorite movie of all time is E.T. And I cry at the end every single time I watch it, no matter how much I swear to myself I won't.
Also, I think I may be addicted to watching The Incredibles.
Posted by kvoynar at 11:03 PM | Comments (0)
What'd You Call Me?
There's an discussion going on at Hollywood Elsewhere in a post titled "Pussies," in which Jeff Wells discusses Clint Eastwood's Esquire interview where Eastwood says, in part: "We live in more of a pussy generation now, where everybody's become used to saying, 'Well, how do we handle it psychologically?' In those days, you just punched the bully back and duked it out. Even if the guy was older and could push you around, at least you were respected for fighting back, and you'd be left alone from then on."
There's an interesting side conversation in the comments now over the use of the term "pussy" in this context. Is it a sexist term? Eh. One the one hand, you can say that the derogatory use of the female sexual organ in that sense implies that to be female is to be weaker, or less than desirable. And sure, I've heard more than a few men use it that way on their sons, as in, "Oh, get up, son, don't be such a pussy. Get back in that game!" And you could substitute "Nelly" or "Mary" or "girly-man" or "girlie" in there for "pussy," and it would mean pretty much the same thing, albeit in a less overtly vulgar way.
Continue reading "What'd You Call Me?"
Posted by kvoynar at 08:59 PM | Comments (2)
January 01, 2009
New Years Confession #1
Every time the Gran Torino trailer comes on behind me (fourth time today) and Clint growls, "Gettttt offff myyyy laaaaawn," I break into uncontrollable giggles.
Yes, I am a bad person. Sorry.
Posted by kvoynar at 05:36 PM | Comments (3)
December 31, 2008
Which Men Should Get Oscar Nods ... and Which Men Shouldn't
And just to clarify up front: this is a discussion of who I think most deserves to be nominated for the Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor categories, not who I think the Academy, in all its collective wisdom, is likely to put there. There are others who are far better at playing the Oscar ponies than I am, and I'll let them have at that game; meanwhile, I offer you the following thoughts on which actors most deserve a shot at going home on Oscar night with a naked golden man in their arms.
Read the rest of this entry ...
Posted by kvoynar at 06:50 PM | Comments (0)
December 30, 2008
You! Yes, you! Can Be a Superhero!
Is it just me, or is this whole thing an indie-superhero film waiting to happen?
My favorite bit is the motto of the Justice Society of Justice: The JUSTICE SOCIETY OF JUSTICE ™...offering twice the JUSTICE as the leading competitors!
Awesome.
Maybe we need to add a branch of the Justice Society of Justice for film critics and journalists who take on superhero identities to fight the crime of bad movies. Who wants to design superhero costumes for Manohla Dargis, Jeff Wells and Elvis Mitchell? Caveat: Wells' costume must include a cowboy hat ...
Hat tip: Cinematical
Posted by kvoynar at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)
December 29, 2008
Taking a Wrong Turn on Revolutionary Road
Revolutionary Road is not a story about suburban angst; it's a story about the illusions people create to sustain their belief in who they are and who they wish they were. Lee Siegel, writing for The Wall Street Journal, has a piece up titled "Why Does Hollywood Hate the Suburbs? America's Long Artistic Tradition of Claiming Spiritual Death By Station Wagon," which unfortunately completely misreads both the film Revolutionary Road and the book from which it was adapted.
Read the rest of this entry ...
Posted by kvoynar at 05:47 PM | Comments (0)
No Kidding.
News flash: Virginity pledges don't work. Sheesh, we didn't need a study to tell us that. Didn't these people see Teeth?
Posted by kvoynar at 01:00 PM | Comments (1)
Roaring About Lyons
Over the weekend, the Los Angeles Times finally sat up and took notice of the blight to film criticism that is Ben Lyons in a scathing piece enumerating the many film critics and bloggers who have disparaged the 27-year-old, celeb-mugging quote whore since he took over At the Movies with his onscreen counterpart, Ben Mankiewicz. (I hear LAT's been sitting on this piece for a month ... guess they decided to wait and run it as a special Christmas present). Back in my college days, I used to debate, and we often had to advocate for the side of an argument we disagreed with, as an exercise in learning to debate an issue regardless of what our actual beliefs were. I thought about writing a post defending Lyons, just to practice my skills at taking up an argument in which I don't believe; unfortunately, Lyons doesn't give one a whole lot to work with.
Continue reading "Roaring About Lyons"
Posted by kvoynar at 10:58 AM | Comments (3)
December 26, 2008
Defining a Dramatic Structure for Defiance
Adapting a scholarly tome into a dramatic narrative retelling for the big screen is no easy task; how does one take a detailed, rather dry account of historical facts and translate that into a movie with character arcs, dramatic flow and dialogue, keeping true to the soul of the source material while creating a film that will appeal on a more emotive level? Such was the task Edward Zwick and co-writer Clayton Frohman faced in adapting the book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans.
Read the rest of this piece ...
Posted by kvoynar at 09:55 AM | Comments (0)
