September 27, 2010
Everybody loves those "name the movie" quizzes that have some sort of puzzle element. Well, here's one. Move to the UK to claim your prize!
November 19, 2009
Name that Movie - different than the earlier ones, these feature some wonderful black and white illustrations: six per film, no stars.
June 05, 2009
Wes Anderson and the Substance of Style - five video essays exploring the artistic influences on Wes Anderson's style, from Charles Schultz to Martin Scorsese. Beside the content I was fascinated to hear an expert describe how the approach and grammar combine to generate an overall feel -- I feel like I understand film much better after viewing the series. It's like hearing Ron Jaworski break down football film -- he's not only telling you what he sees, but how to see it yourself.
[It wasn't initially obvious to me, but ignore the essays and watch the videos: click on the thumbnail video to the far right of each essay, right above "Related Articles".]
March 21, 2009
this movie was mentioned on a podcast called 'stop podcasting yourself' to be the absolute worst ever. What is it with those Canadians and their funny language? [more inside]
February 21, 2009
Heavy Metal Parking Lot: The Backstory - A fascinating article on the guys who made "Heavy Metal Parking Lot", an XMFC classic and one of the great pieces of ephemera from the tape trading era.
January 17, 2009
A longish but exceedingly frank profile of movie marketing (from the New Yorker) has plenty of gossip style goodness about the rules of making and selling movies to the public. If you ever wonder who all these crappy movies are being marketed to (and why) this article lays it out pretty bare. It is often said in Hollywood that no one sets out to make a bad movie, but the truth is that people cheerfully set out to make bad movies all the time. It is more accurate to say that no one sets out to make a movie without having a particular audience in mind.
November 07, 2008
I don't know about you guys, but I've always found Jean Claude Van Damme (note that his entire career can be summarized by five plots) more unintentionally hilarious than awesome. Well, that was until I found out about the release of this. Now, for the first time ever, I'm excited about the release of a JCVD movie.
October 12, 2008
Weng Weng, Weng Weng. 2 foot 9. He'll kick you in the nutsack from behind.
September 30, 2008
Remember movies before cellphones? - The LA Times reflects on how the the ability to reach anyone at any time has changed the way movies and TV have to be written to maintain believability. The discussion reminds me of 24: The Unaired 1994 Pilot.
September 23, 2008
MyHope - Do you long for someone to unblinkingly look you right in the eyes and earnestly speak their heart -- preferably from the other side of a commodity DV camera? If that ZeFrank-sized hole in your heart is vaguely Ukelele shaped, see if you share the Portal-playing pigeon-poisoning sweetafton23's hope that "your MySpace stays forever - and I hope that your kids find it" [via Waxy].
If you need something hipper and/or hopper to scratch (ha!) that itch, try Jay Smooth. His core audience might tune in to hear about how the RZA invented the digital turntable or why rapper TI needed a Davidian's branch worth of machine guns, but anyone can enjoy his insights on politics, TV news and creativity. (via ze)
July 29, 2008
Ok, building on Iron Man cliff notes, can anyone list the general plot outline for your average comic book movie? Like: normal guy turns into super guy etc. There has got to be a formula.
July 28, 2008
Death Race Neat, someone finally went in my brain and pulled out some of my adolescent violent fantasy....
July 14, 2008
Where the Hell is Matt? Dancing! With kids, crabs, Japanese Dutch waitresses, poppies and even our own Stevie Ray. Strangely inspiring. [recommended: click the hi-res option]
June 25, 2008
My new favorite chaotician
is Remi Gaillard, kindof a french Spike Jonez but more of a dick. (whole channel here; note that vids auto-play). Here are things you can't do in a city; first four by Gaillard, last three not:
* play soccer,
* reenact Rocky,
* throw a party,
* buy groceries,
* play tennis,
* make music,
* go for a drive
[via kottke]
June 11, 2008
How Many Sequels Were There? - the quiz.
May 09, 2008
Movie Pooper and Ruined Endings, so Nate need never watch another movie again.
May 03, 2008
The 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches of All Time - just completely solid bottom to top. I'd vote in more Monty Python, but when you can find 48 sketches compellingly funny enough to push "Ass Pennies" and "More Cowbell" down to #49 and #50 you have a good list.
Do NOT open this link unless you are prepared to spend the next couple hours revisiting old favorites. [more inside]
March 30, 2008
John Hughes' teens: Where are they now? - they've pretty much spanned the fame trajectory phase space. While performing due diligence, I found this 2005 gem in the vaults. It hasn't been updated in a year, but the last couple are stellar.
March 28, 2008
Jean Lafitte [WP] So while on a wikiwander in Capt. Jack Sparrow's neighborhood, I landed on the page for Cpt. Jean Lafitte. I was passingly familiar with the story, but had never realized how bigger-than-fiction his bio reads. No attempt at a based-on-a-true-story-mostly biopic actioner for this generation? You're telling me Harvey Weinstein and Vinnie Chase couldn't make an artier Pirates of the Carribean out of this kind of source material? [more inside]
March 20, 2008
George Clooney Egogoogles for Esquire - hilarious interview; A.J. Jacobs shows George Clooney what the internet says about him, recording his impressions on everything from his Wikipedia page to a list of his ex-girlfriends to 2G1C. The best part isn't in the article... it's item #3, "Clooney's Private Parts" in the online-only sidebar. [thx kottke]
February 27, 2008
- Jimmy Kimmel responds to revelations about Sarah Silverman's infidelity
- An adorable three year old explains Star Wars - See? This is why if I have a daughter I'm naming her Leia.
- Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early (spoiler alert).
February 24, 2008
How we'd fuck up Casablanca - A fun exercise: "take a classic flick that pretty much reaches the heights of iconic perfection and decide what we'd do for the remake if it were today". [more inside]
February 09, 2008
TV Strike Ovar? Sounds like the breakthrough was to agree on a percentage of revenue receipts rather than on rerun-based residuals (if I understood this correctly). I know the music labels, like most baseball teams, have made an art form out of losing money on only the subject-to-royalty parts of their revenue streams, but it sounds like they were careful to specify 'receipts' (i.e. gross, not net). Summary of the agreement (pdf) here.