So I saw the science fiction movie Looper a couple of weeks ago. A lot of stuff is going on. Some of it is time travel stuff and it gets kind of complicated, but I want to focus a bit on the family dynamics. The two main male characters become mass murderers in response to losing their mothers. One . . . . Continue Reading »
Earlier this month I fell ill with the horrible flu that is going around and lying abed in misery decided not to pay too much attention to the news for sanity’s sake. Of course, the space between not too much and no attention leaves plenty of room for discouragement and distress. . . . . Continue Reading »
This and the next will be the last songbook posts on pop-music movies for a while. Despite my doing five(!) posts on ALMOST FAMOUS , two on the SCHOOL OF ROCK, and an epic one on THE DOORS, I do think that among my list of pop-music films , THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO is the standout in terms of sheer . . . . Continue Reading »
I’ve been thinking a little bit about the 1980s comedy Caddyshack and what that movie might tell us about our changing perceptions of the wealthy. The fellow that was originally supposed to be the main character was a young caddie who was trying to figure out how to get to college without . . . . Continue Reading »
Sometimes, when Romney is trying so hard to convince an audience that he agrees with them (on what? who cares? Romney doesn’t), he comes off like the Matt Dillon character in There’s Something About Mary , when Dillon is trying to explain how much he likes the mentally handicapped. . . . . Continue Reading »
Having written one , two , three , four ALMOST FAMOUS-driven posts and now this one, I obviously do think it is an excellent film. Its one weakness is a certain complacency, underlined by its ending. I dont have a problem with happy endings per se, but the one it provides really is too easy. . . . . Continue Reading »
First off, let me direct you to this Batman thread from the old No Left Turns site. Second, I saw The Dark Knight Rises and here are my thoughts below: There has been some discussion about whether The Dark Knight Rises is critique of Occupy Wall Street. The most obvious villain (though as it . . . . Continue Reading »
Im currently working on an introduction to a book Im co-editing on one of the greatest films about communism, The Lives of Others , and Im wondering what other films there are that portray life under communist oppression that our readers know about. There dont seem to be . . . . Continue Reading »
The Hunger Games is a dystopia about a country named Panem, in which one city, the Capitol, rules twelve other districts. Due to the districts rebellion, the Capitol has instituted the Hunger Games: each district submits two children to a contest where they fight to the death. . . . . Continue Reading »
Thomas Hibbs has updated his book Shows About Nothing: Nihilism in Popular Culture in light of films and TV shows of the last decade like Christopher Nolans movies and AMC’s Mad Men. He says Nihilism has been the reigning philosophy in Hollywood since the 1960s. By Nihilism, . . . . Continue Reading »