Some random thoughts after seeing The Social Network: The way the film is structured is particularly impressive. I’m not necessarily referring to how it covers several timeframes and weaves them together seamlessly, nor how the screenplay deals with flashbacks — the Sorkin/Fincher team does a fine job of dodging expectations for an even bigger payoff. … Continue reading
Category Archives: Film
Me @ Volume 1- Afternoon Bites: Book art, Dusted and Fluxblog turn ten, Joyland on Greenpoint, and more
- There Is a Documentary About Linotype. We Think This Is Awesome.
- Afternoon Bites: Carl Wilson’s 2011, Emma Straub makes a mix, Justin Davidson on Philip Glass, and more
- Hillary Jordan’s “When She Woke”: A Discussion
- Afternoon Bites: Steve Erickson talks politics, Mikhail Bulgakov gets unreal, Pam Houston on mentoring, and more
October 2, 2010, Author: , Leave a comment
Posting on the internet about movies about the internet.
Categories: FilmI posted this to Twitter last night, but it’s too good not to cite here as well. The Portland Mercury has a summary of a Q&A with filmmaker and writer Guillermo del Toro, and it’s fantastic — funny and smart and thought-provoking and inspirational, all at once. Such as: He is, unsurprisingly, a big book … Continue reading
Saw the Neil Marshall-directed Centurion at IndieScreen via a Film Comment-curated part of the Northside Festival. (I may have exhausted my quota of descriptive modifiers for the night right there.) The very short version: it’s a good action film. The slightly longer version: It’s a good action film with an unfortunate tendency to throw in … Continue reading
Presently, watching the Knife Party at Niko’s, a short film (in three parts) written by my old friend Theo Travers. Good stuff — a twisty, tense chamber piece that uses its serial aspects well. First part is embedded below (thanks, Vimeo!); the other two can be seen here. KNIFE PARTY AT NIKO’S episode one from … Continue reading
April 14, 2010, Author: , Leave a comment
Tags:: Etgar Keret
Etgar Keret on Film
Categories: Books, FilmTags:: Etgar Keret
Last week, I interviewed the Israeli writer Etgar Keret, with a focus on his work for film. One bit: Has working as a director affected how you have adapted your work for the screen? I usually prefer not to adapt my stories. An adaptation is a reading of a text and a writer’s reading is … Continue reading
February 8, 2010, Author: , Leave a comment
Literary Adaptations, Science Fiction Division
Categories: Books, FilmOne: At io9, an interview with Joh Alan Simon, the writer/director of an upcoming adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s Radio Free Albemuth. (With a Robyn Hitchcock soundtrack, no less.) Two: At Bleeding Cool, Adi Tantimedh discusses the influence of Andrei Tarkovsky’s work on science fiction. While I don’t agree with his take on the Soderbergh … Continue reading
Given that I wasn’t entirely impressed with Crazy Heart‘s take on music journalism, I’m glad to see that the fine people at New York were thinking along similar lines. And thus: this take on music journalists on film, past and present, which is worth a read.
December 18, 2009, Author: , Leave a comment
In Which ‘Crazy Heart’ is Reviewed
Categories: Books, FilmI reviewed the film Crazy Heart for Flavorwire. My thoughts on it were somewhat mixed. Writer-director Cooper — here adapting Thomas Cobb’s novel — introduces the less savory aspects of Blake’s life with a heavy hand. That includes early scenes in which Blake handles a bottle of his own urine and drunkenly fishes his sunglasses … Continue reading
A few years ago, I posted around these parts about the filmmaker Michael Almereyda, who’s made a few films of which I’m pretty fond. What got my attention at the time was his film Happy Here and Now, which brought together low-key science fiction and a pre-Katrina New Orleans. Apparently, he has an adaptation of … Continue reading
September 25, 2009, Author: , Leave a comment
(Some pun on “smash” should go here.)
Categories: Books, FilmLast night, I went to the PPOW Gallery to see a screening of Michael Kimball and Luca Dipierro’s I Will Smash You, a film consisting of short scenes of people smashing objects (or, in one case, smashing a concept) for assorted reasons. In most cases, the smashing functioned for the person performing it on both … Continue reading
September 17, 2009, Author: , Leave a comment
“One of these days, Mrs. Trotsky…”
Categories: Film, PoliticsNew York‘s Vulture blog has posted a recap of memorable lines from Toronto Film Festival entries. One in particular stood out: “You demonic concubine.â€� —The teenage reincarnation of Trotsky (Jay Baruchel), addressing the head of the school board in The Trotsky; screenplay by writer-director Jacob Tierney Right about now might be the time to mention … Continue reading
In the vein of Christopher Orr’s review of 21 based solely on the trailer: note the points of overlap between Brian Lynch’s “How to Survive Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen“ and David Edelstein’s review of the film in question. Also worth a read for Edelstein’s discussion of the careers of Michael Bay and Ridley Scott, … Continue reading
I realize it’s an odd thing to be peeved about a particular detail in a bad review, but: this Scott Foundas review of Away We Go (co-written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida) is one of the most frustrating pieces of criticism by a normally solid critic that I’ve encountered in a long while. Steven … Continue reading
May 20, 2009, Author: , Leave a comment
Artlinks (in abundance): 20 May 2009
Categories: Film, MusicOne: A brutally candid Kevin Smith is interviewed by New York about his recent and upcoming work. I’m glad to hear that Red State is still likely to be made at some point, as I’ve been eager to see it ever since it was announced. Two: Following one honest interview with another: Jeremy Bolen talks … Continue reading
May 20, 2009, Author: , Leave a comment
Tags:: Joe Meno
Reading on Reading: 20 May 2009
Categories: Books, FilmTags:: Joe Meno
For today, links to three interviews with the venerable Joe Meno, whose novel The Great Perhaps is newly available: The Millions, in which the novel’s structure, symbolism, and relationship to the political landscape of 2004 are discussed. What To Wear During an Orange Alert?, in which Chicago, research, and the assembly of the novel are … Continue reading