After last week’s movie theater debacle, I took advantage of a day off and went to see Prisoners at noon on a Friday. In case you were wondering, it was glorious. Just me and a dozen retirees. Fantastic.
After last week’s movie theater debacle, I took advantage of a day off and went to see Prisoners at noon on a Friday. In case you were wondering, it was glorious. Just me and a dozen retirees. Fantastic.
My reason for going to see the 2005 remake of The Bad News Bears (did that movie really come out almost nine years ago?) was not because of Richard Linklater. I don’t think I even knew Richard Linklater was making it, although his name was certainly well known to me, by the time this update of a 1976 minor sports classic hit theaters on July 22nd. Nothing about the 2005 Bad News Bears really bothered me, and I guess that’s partially because at the time, I hadn’t seen the original.
Twin Peaks made television what it is today.
If you’ve never seen Twin Peaks then you’re missing out. Not only is Twin Peaks incredibly important to the history of television, but it also has some of the best moments to ever appear on screen.
Everyone is already writing a grim review of the summer movie season, and I suppose that’s fair enough. August is behind us, after all, and when you compare this year to last year, it’s not going to be pretty.
It’s hard to dislike a movie that tries so incredibly hard to look like it’s not trying. No, seriously. Riddick is the popular guy in high school who dresses and acts like he’s not trying at all, but is actually meticulous about every little detail. He wants everyone to think that all this coolness just comes naturally.
In terms of American films, “trilogy” and “franchise” are usually part of the same conversation. Of course, they’re not the same thing. Even though Richard Linklater now has three films depicting the chance encounter and subsequent relationship, between an American man named Jesse Wallace (Ethan Hawke) and a French woman named Celine, (Julie Delpy), franchise seems like a grossly inappropriate word.
A few days ago I went to my local theater to see what all the buzz was about regarding The Butler. Movies that release in August aren’t supposed to get Oscar whispers. Dramas released in August aren’t supposed to be noticed at all unless they’re some sort of indie counter-programming that, while decent, can’t stand up to the big dogs come Fall. But The Butler is the big dogs.
Do you like dumb movies with a terrible, nonsensical plot? Do you like wooden acting? Do you like watching cars go vroom? Well sir/ma’am, you’re in luck because Getaway is now in theaters and I went to the very first showing just for you.
The term “Lynchian” is thrown around a lot, usually to describe how weird a film is. For instance, Last Year at Marienbad, a famous French surrealist film from 1961 has been called Lynchian more often than once due to its incomprehensible nature and fractured narrative. While Last Year at Marienbad is a great film, it’s not particularly Lynchian. After Twin Peaks, a number of shows were labeled as being Lynchian in nature, The X-Files included. The X-Files is hands down one of my favorite shows but there’s nothing about it that’s Lynchian. Lynchian being misapplied is annoying but gets even more annoying when the film or television show it’s applied to isn’t particularly good. We still see this today when there’s a poor horror film; someone will invariably call it a David Lynch knock off. It’s frustrating because this means the commenter is completely misunderstanding what makes a film Lynchian.
Over the course of four days, I will participate in 4 fantasy football drafts. Last year I was also in 4 leagues, and 3 the year before that. I have been an avid fantasy football fan for a decade. Yet in all this time, despite playing over 20 ‘seasons’ via all the different leagues, I have only taken first place twice and I have never taken top 3 in any of the money leagues I’ve participated in.