Marathon Man

Here's a fun drinking game: Take a drink every time there is a double cross. You will pass out before the end of the second act. Someone should render it into Shakespearean prose so that Olivier can get more screen time. Dustin Hoffman has never been more believable than as a naive horndog.

Requiem for a Heavyweight

I only knew this as part of Rod Serling's resume, so it seemed high time to watch it. I found it interesting to watch Robert Wise make the most out of not very much. More of a mood piece (well, it is Rod Serling, after all) than great cinema.

The Seventh Seal

Man, you just want to punch Death right in the gut! What a right bastard Death is. Prick!
Surprisingly, not the moodiest Bergman movie. Far from it!

Henry V

This is a hard sell for those more accustomed to the Kenneth Branagh takes on Shakespeare. The conceit of progressively more naturalistic performance and simultaneously more stylized milieu as the play progresses may be more information than some may want. Repeated viewings are warranted but I found myself distracted by a sense that Olivier is thinking about something else in every scene. Maybe it's just me.

Aguirre: Wrath of God

All one needs to know about this movie is that one must watch it through to the very end. That is not to say that the matter preceding the end is not worth watching on its own for it is, but the finale is in a class of its own.

Big Fish

Another Tim Burton movie about leafless trees, minds of doubtful sanity but unquestioned clarity and a whopping great dollop of sentimentality. This could have been several more interesting, but unmarketable, smaller movies, or even a miniseries. I love Albert Finney but i wanted to punch him in the gut the whole time.

On the Beach

Optimistic fantasy portrays humans as dignified and noble as they face nuclear annihilation. As if. Only slightly less improbable as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and then only because of the presence of oompa-loompas. Gregory Peck has his stoic schtick on full display while Fred Astaire does his level best to steal the show. Maybe it's all a radiation sickness-induced hallucination. This notion is supported by the interminable repetitions of Waltzing Matilda.

Fail-Safe

Poor cousin to Dr. Strangelove has all the makings of a great movie, but doesn't quite make it. The best moments belong to Henry Fonda. Compare and contrast his portrayal of a world-weary president with Frederic march in Seven Days in May.

I, Robot Is a Bad Movie

Wild Wild West meets A.I.

RoboFlop - The mechanical heart of I, Robot. By David Edelstein

RoboFlop - The mechanical heart of I, Robot. By David Edelstein: "There are people who regard Proyas' Dark City as a masterpiece for the ages—I believe Roger Ebert holds seminars in which he goes through the movie frame by frame for something like two years with breaks only for Yom Kippur and Lent."

I, Robot | The A.V. Club

I, Robot | The A.V. Club: "Only in Hollywood could Asimov's robot theory somehow get processed into a sassy grandmother with sweet-potato pie at the ready."

I, Robot (Roger Ebert)

:: rogerebert.com :: Reviews :: I, Robot (xhtml): "You can't even be mad at them, since they're only programs. Although, come to think of it, you can be mad at programs; Microsoft Word has inspired me to rage far beyond anything these robots engender."

loaded thoughts

loaded thoughts

Vikings!

  

Seven Days in May

The final scene is one of my all-time favorite performances from Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster. The premise of the movie (an American putsch) is all too likely now.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I thought this was going to be a new production based on the book, but it seems to owe a lot more to the earlier movie. Very handsom and imaginative. The expansion into Glass Elevator is a good idea. And of course, Christopher Lee in a surgeon's smock is always welcome.

Beagle on the ferry

 

I looked up from reading the Stranger to find this squat hound staring at me. 

Miscellaneous Spring Pictures

Warren Buffett and the Fruit of the Loom Guys

"For investors as a whole, returns decrease as motion increases." Isn't this part of what John Nash was on about?

Zardoz

Preposterous claptrap and thoroughly enjoyable. Made for a mere million dollars! And a fifth was Sean Connery's salary. Urbane commentary from Boorman worth a listen. Finale as chilling now as the first time that I saw it.

LEGO V-Wing Modification

Lego recently released a slew of Star Wars-themed sets, including a model of the V-Wing from Revenge of the Sith. It's a small set of a vessel not really featured in the movie. Normally, I am very forgiving of the design decisions made to render Lego models. It can be an ungenerous medium. However! This model has an error. The rear wings are not meant to fold over the cockpit like a broody hen, but rotate along the sides of the craft like a goose-stepping Nazi.
The correct action can be accomplished with just a few pieces: 1x2 hinge plates. After moving a few spacers around to allow for stud-play, it all works out almost exactly the same but with the correct mechanism. I think. In the movie, it's not easy to see what the ships are doing. Close enough!

Darren McGavin, Dennis Weaver, Don Knotts

You guys were great, thanks for the TV.

Zemblan Grammar

Snarky. Funny.
Zemblan Grammar

Separated at Birth?

Toa Maiden
St. Evandra

The Killing

Undeniable energy and unstoppable momentum propel every scene. Even those with the pedantic narration. I am not convinced that this isn't simply a extended joke of a rather black sort. "In a fit of pique, they napalmed Cheltenham. Even the police had to sit up and take notice."

Waking Life

Fascinating visuals do their best to inform shaggy dog story. Some great monologues.

Badlands

Beautiful psychopaths are arrested in Wyoming after some killing and some camping.
In flat black, this is the most sinister car ever made.

The Straight Story

At the ragged end of creation, souls as weathered as planets wheel but do not orbit. David Lynch finds reminders of mortality every few miles of the journey, but none so forcefully as in Sissy Spacek's performance. That I just watched Badlands may have had an effect. The only false notes were in a couple of supporting characters (the Deer Woman and the Tractor Mechanics). The sound design by David Lynch is outstanding.

Brain Slug in the Bathroom

Someone left their alien brain slug on the sink in the men's room. They always look bigger on their own.

Brain Slug
Originally uploaded by kyle_beatty.

The Dam Busters

The far superior stable-mate of Squadron 633. Although i am very fond of Squadron 633, it lacks Dam Busters' vitality and clarity. Also no stupid, stupid love story.