Top Ten “Oh, Come On!” Moments in Sci-Fi Movies

Any science-fiction movie is predicated at least a little on the suspension of disbelief. But then there are points where what we’re presented with so defies logic, physics, or natural human behavior that the mind rebels. At that point, the credibility of an entire movie can be at risk.
For example, early in the new, sci-fi/vampires-rule-the-world [...]

Read More About - Top Ten “Oh, Come On!” Moments in Sci-Fi Movies »

To put it bluntly, the holidays bum me out. I don’t think it really has anything to do with the occasion — y’know, all that stuff about how we instinctively reject the incessant pressure towards merriment and good will (aka Holly Jolly Complex) — I think it’s more physical. The extended darkness and the plummeting [...]

Read More About - Kevin Heffernan on THE SLAMMIN’ SALMON »

So you go into this room at New York’s Museum of Modern Art’s Tim Burton exhibit, and it’s like striking gold: the Jack Skellington figure is there, along with a choice selection of the replacement heads that were used to animate dialogue; there’s the creepy, completely covered baby Penguin wicker stroller from BATMAN RETURNS; you [...]

Read More About - Tim Burton at MoMA »

Richard Curtis had a death in the family. I’d flown in to London to do the interviews for my PIRATE RADIO coverage, and the director was at the top of my list. Some things, though, take precedence over spending fifteen minutes with a dumpy New York journalist, and for Curtis, this had to be one [...]

Read More About - PIRATE RADIO Part 2: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Richard Curtis »

So here’s what I did on my class trip to London: shoot a video featuring people on the street discussing whether they preferred PIRATE RADIO or THE BOAT THAT ROCKED as the title of the latest Richard Curtis film; interview some of the stars of the film itself; and eat British airport pizza. Two of [...]

Read More About - PIRATE RADIO Part 1: Nick Frost, Talulah Riley, Tom Sturridge »

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the poster for TURNING GREEN lies. It showcases Tim Hutton, Colm Meaney, and Allesandro Nivola, but while they’re prominent figures in the film, it ain’t about them. Off in the lower right, with his back turned towards the camera, there’s your protagonist: A teenage boy, [...]

Read More About - Michael Aimette and John G. Hofmann on TURNING GREEN »

So I figured, while I’m in London interviewing some of the people involved with PIRATE RADIO, Richard Curtis’ film about those intrepid souls who in the 60’s brought the UK their daily dose of rock when the BBC was loathe to, why not try a little experiment in whether one dude with a netbook, a [...]

Read More About - (Almost) Live from London: PIRATE RADIO vs. THE BOAT THAT ROCKED »

You wanna talk extreme? Charles Bronson, ne Michael Peterson, has spent thirty-four of his fifty-six years of life in incarceration of one form or another — most of that time has been in solitary confinement. The system has been violent to him, but he’s been violent back, and an anti-authoritarian cult has risen around his [...]

Read More About - Nicolas Winding Refn on BRONSON »

This is the spoiler-free version of the A SERIOUS MAN episode.
To listen to the complete version, and to read the introductory text, watch the trailer and get links to the official website, go to the post marked “SPOILER ALERT!”

Read More About - SPOILER FREE Joel and Ethan Coen on A SERIOUS MAN »

The Coen brothers are at it again. They’ve already sicced existential hit men, lunkheaded convicts, and over-ambitious hula hoop manufacturers on the populace, now they’ve gone and recruited God as chief tormentor. The target this time: Some poor, midwestern schlub who isn’t gonna know what hit him.
A SERIOUS MAN is a comedy, but a comedy [...]

Read More About - Joel and Ethan Coen on A SERIOUS MAN [SPOILER ALERT!] »