Recounting of the making of Napoleon and its restoration.
Amazon
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
You're Welcome: A Cycle of Five Bad Plays - Paul Thureen, Hannah Bos, Oliver Butler (2010)
Pee-in-your-pants funny meta satire of theater in all its form. Each of the five mini-plays is ruined by the actors, the director, the writer, the stage hands and/or the sets.
At the Brick Theater in Brooklyn
More Info
At the Brick Theater in Brooklyn
More Info
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Moomin: Book One - Tove Jansson (1953)
Charming daily strip with fanciful charactesr and gentle satire. Has a European slant with summers in Montecarlo and high tea. Beautiful spindly artwork. Often uses objects in the comics world as panel dividers.
Amazon
Amazon
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Shutter Island - Martin Scorsese (2010)
This gave me the distinct taste of the Simon Oakland scene in Psycho that I hate so much. Too much explained and not enough left ambiguous.
Screened at the Boston Common Theater
IMDB
Screened at the Boston Common Theater
IMDB
Friday, February 19, 2010
A Drifting Life - Yoshihiro Tatsumi (2009)
Massive graphic memoir of one of the key pioneers of Japanese comics. Insight into publishing and business aspects of 1950s manga industry (rental comics shops!) and how they intersected with artistic ambitions. Sprinklings of Japanese post-war history.
The Frightened Man - John Gilling (1952)
British B-movie thriller. Some big twists crop up near the end. Criminals on both sides of the hazy moral line, but the coppers are straight arrows all the way.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Young Mr. Lincoln - John Ford (1939)
Portrait of the early days of Lincoln. Henry Fonda is monumental: gangly, embarrassed, surprising physical strength. Comedy. Courtroom drama. Building of a myth.
Screened at the Harvard Film Archive
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
A Single Man - Tom Ford (2009)
A man drained of all color and then re-infused and drained again. Psycho poster eyes. The grainy look of home movies at times.
Screened at the Stuart Street Playhouse
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans - Werner Herzog (2009)
Nicholas Cage's misanthropic performance thrown into high relief against non-actors. Hunched shoulders, asymmetrical stance, is he screaming in pain or ectasy? Reptiles and fish selected because they are the most alien of the animal kingdom to us humans. Audience laughed at many points in the screening.
At first I thought he was only semi-bad, but then he tried to fix a college football game. Then I knew the true depth of his badness.
Screened at the Brattle Theater
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
John Ford: The Complete Films - Scott Eyman (2004)
A picture-laden overview of the films of John Ford. Interesting to hear how his outlook and methods changed as he grew older and more respected.
Amazon
Amazon
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The Small Back Room - Powell and Pressburger (1949)
A truly weird, but engrossing film. Very very British. Very dark portrayal of wartime Britain produced soon after the war. Some of the Archer's trademark surrealist set pieces and expressionistic lighting play a role in this story of an alcoholic scientist struggling with professional, physical and romantic challenges. There is one high-tension bomb scene at the end, but I found the interplay of office politics and committee meetings to be equally fascinating.
IMDB
IMDB
Monday, February 8, 2010
Come and Get It! - Howard Hawks and William Wyler (1936)
Bigger than life performance by a less-than-sympathetic Eddie Arnold. Frances Farmer is incredible playing two roles, lovers and objects of affection for Arnold. Her voice, her movement, her manner form a nuanced, sultry portrait. Action-packed logging scenes too!
IMDB
IMDB
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Sleep No More - American Repertory Theater and Punchdrunk
Closing night. 8th time!
At the Old Lincoln School in Brookline Village
Friday, February 5, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Who Sent the Sentinels - Andrew Rilstone (2009)
A self-published essay on Alan Moore's Watchmen and the comic book experience. Particularly enjoyed the parallel brought between the fan experience with traditional Golden/Silver Age comics and the structure of Moore's novel.
Museum of Fine Arts Boston
The Secrets of Tomb 10A
Mindboggling how distant these objects are from us in time, but are still recognizable and touching in many ways. Amazing how much we can learn from a culture by what they leave with their dead, also mindboggling how little is still known.
Seeing Songs
The lipsync videos by Gillian Wearing and Candice Breitz are tellingly human.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
La Pointe-Courte - Agnes Varda (1955)
Two narratives intertwined without intersecting. One abstract, modern, and blanked of drama. (Man and woman begin at separation, but decide the bond is stronger than themselves.) The other documentary, realistic and of the people. (Fishermen struggle with officials and joust ceremoniously) Wait, narrative isn't really the word.
IMDB
IMDB
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)