For Filmspotting's latest poll, they ask which of the provided movie failures you are the biggest cheerleader for. The criteria: “These are movie ‘failures’ that paired well-respected, ‘auteurist’ filmmakers with existing properties—and high expectations—resulting in significant disappointments critically and (usually) at the box office.” Check out the poll for all the options. I’ve only actually … Continue reading A cheerful failure
Category: Film
Media of the moment
An ongoing series on books, movies, and music I’ve encountered recently. Portrait of a Lady on Fire. 🔥 Watchmen (TV show). This whole limited series is something special, but the three-episode stretch of "This Extraordinary Being", "An Almost Religious Awe", and "A God Walks Into Abar" is spectacular. I went into this basically as a … Continue reading Media of the moment
Are You Paying Attention? On ‘The Social Dilemma’ and ‘My Octopus Teacher’
I don't have to go looking for synchronicity because it always finds me. This time it was on Netflix. The other day I watched Netflix's new docu-drama The Social Dilemma (trailer) based on the recommendation from a friend and a lively text thread about its implications. The film's thesis is that social networks are engineered … Continue reading Are You Paying Attention? On ‘The Social Dilemma’ and ‘My Octopus Teacher’
An Iceberg to Remember
One of my favorite books of all time is Walter Lord’s A Night to Remember, a retelling of the Titanic’s demise. I finally got around to watching Roy Ward Baker’s 1958 film adaptation of the book on a beautiful Criterion Blu-ray from the library, and it got me wondering: what about the iceberg? In both … Continue reading An Iceberg to Remember
Ghost Papas: Fatherhood in ‘The Patriot’ and ‘Interstellar’
I recently rewatched The Patriot for the first time in a long while. I was big into this movie as a lad, so rewatching it as a thirtysomething dad was something of an experiment to see how my adolescent tastes hold up. There's good (John Williams' score, Mel Gibson as likeable movie star) and bad … Continue reading Ghost Papas: Fatherhood in ‘The Patriot’ and ‘Interstellar’
Top 10 songs from Disney musicals
A friend of mine recently posted: "Let's stir up some controversy: What are your thoughts on The Lion King?" I replied that a certain song on that soundtrack was a top-5 Disney song, and it wasn't "Circle of Life" or "Hakuna Matata". That inspired me to consider how I would actually rank the best Disney … Continue reading Top 10 songs from Disney musicals
Media of the moment
An ongoing series on books, movies, and music I’ve encountered recently. Songs for Singin' by the Okee Dokee Brothers. My eager anticipation was rewarded with this double-album's worth of characteristically clever, catchy, and joyful tunes. I may have teared up during “Jubilation”. The Last Temptation of Christ. Sure, there are few regrettably '80s moments and … Continue reading Media of the moment
Statues and Star Wars
In an email thread about the controversies surrounding the removal of statues, I suggested we relocate all statues to museums and use the space for parks and Little Free Libraries. But that's destroying history! First Amendment! Statues aren't history, as this Twitter thread by Elle Maruska articulates well: Statues are mythology. Statues are hagiography. If … Continue reading Statues and Star Wars
An ‘Unorthodox’ Harmony
It's good to know that even in quarantine, my old friend synchronicity can still visit me. I watched the Netflix miniseries Unorthodox after reading the review from Vox's Alissa Wilkinson and am so glad I did. Based on the true story of a young ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman fleeing her community in Williamsburg, it's just four … Continue reading An ‘Unorthodox’ Harmony
Obi-What Can I Be
I took the Statistical "Which Character" Personality Quiz from the Open-Source Psychometrics Project, which they describe as a “slightly more scientific but still silly” version of those Buzzfeed “Which Character Are You?” tests I mostly avoid. Here are my top five results, with the percentage of overlap in perceived personality traits: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars … Continue reading Obi-What Can I Be