SVS: “Searching for Bobby Fischer”

Last updated on: January 11, 2015 at 3:53 pm By Joseph Susanka

It’s unsettling isn’t it? When you realize there are only so many things you can teach a child and, finally, they are what they are. I’m double-dipping a bit today, because I’ve already recommended in the not-too-distant-past. But it’s worth recommending again, especially if you’re looking for something in the “Whole Family Friday Night Fun” vein: Searching for Bobby Fischer is streaming on AMAZON PRIME. (And, for a reasonable price, available from YOUTUBE and GOOGLE PLAY and ITUNES and VUDU and some others.) After 7-year-old... Read more

A Violinist, a Pianist, and a Composer Walked Into a Bar

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:05 pm By Joseph Susanka

And it was awesome. (Why? What were you expecting me to say?) The violinist is the legendary Yehudi Menuhin; the pianist, the legendary Wilhelm Kempff; the composer, the beyond-legendary Ludwig van Beethoven. The work(s)? Beethoven’s violin sonatas. The complete violin sonatas. “Complete” meaning “in their entirety.” Their glorious and tuneful comprehensiveness. All 4.5+ hours worth. Just…wow. (You’re actually sort of freakin’ me out here, YouTube.) Read more

In which I take my life in my hands…

Last updated on: January 18, 2015 at 3:55 pm By Joseph Susanka

…by recommending a half-dozen films for young kids over at SlowMama. Why is it so risky, you ask? Because a) it’s hard, and b) parents: Few things are as nerve-racking for me as recommending films for young children. The key is knowing your audience, of course — but with youngsters, there are so many variables. …then there’s the fact that recommending films for children isn’t just about the kids and their comfort zone(s) and interest(s): It’s just as important to know about the loves, interests,... Read more

A Special Anniversary for Dodger Fans

Last updated on: January 28, 2015 at 5:48 pm By Joseph Susanka

Yes, I realize this is a day late. But I almost missed it altogether. Thanks to Jon Weisman, though, I didn’t: Ten years ago tonight, Alex Cora stepped into the batters’ box in the bottom of the seventh inning against Matt Clement of the Cubs. You could be excused for thinking that 10 years went by before he stepped out. It was an at-bat for the ages — 14 foul balls, 18 pitches in all. And it ended as dramatically as you... Read more

SSF: “Lady with Long Hair”

Last updated on: January 14, 2015 at 5:20 pm By Joseph Susanka

In the wake of a wonderful Mother’s Day, an animated reminder of the way we children and our lives are woven together with those of our mothers, shaping them and their memories just as deeply as they shape us and ours. Again, lots of wonderfully subtle little touches. Like the way the short uses Grandma’s glasses to highlight her emotions, making great use of the exaggerated magnification. Or the way you so rarely see the top of her hair and... Read more

My Most Anticipated Film of 2015

Last updated on: January 18, 2015 at 3:51 pm By Joseph Susanka

I can’t say for sure, because I change my mind so frequently. But it is entirely possible that my most-keenly-anticipated film for next year is this: It might not be quite true to say that this is the film from next year that I most want to watch personally, even though I am a larger-than-normal Nick Park fan and it is a surprisingly clever collaboration. But I really, really want to watch my boys watch it. They love the TV show;... Read more

Action Movie Kid

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:05 pm By Joseph Susanka

After three days of graduation-related preparations and activities (including taking just under 2,000 pictures), I’m pretty wiped out. Which means these “Action Movie Kid” shorts are even funnier than I’d remembered. That compilation comes from one Daniel Hashimoto, an After Effects artist for DreamWorks, who has acquired quite a reputation of late by posting hilarious little clips of his 3-year-old son, James, performing feats of digitally-enhanced daring-do. In a recent piece for Daily News, Daniel said that “I made them mostly... Read more

SVS: “The Magnificent Seven”

Last updated on: January 9, 2015 at 5:00 pm By Joseph Susanka

Y’all remember that I love Westerns, right? So the fact that I’m recommending one of the greats today — John Sturges’ legendary The Magnificent Seven — should come as a surprise to no one. It’s streaming on AMAZON PRIME. Go thou forth and watch it and have an absolute blast. Fed up with being brutalized and impoverished because of outlaw raids led by a merciless brigand, the besieged citizens of a small Mexican town hire seven American gunslingers to stave off... Read more

Graham Greene’s “The Hint of an Explanation” Offers Much More Than a Hint

Last updated on: January 18, 2015 at 5:26 pm By Joseph Susanka

I sometimes feel pity for that thing. It is so continually finding the right weapon to use against its Enemy and the weapon breaks in its own breast. It sometimes seems to me so… …powerless. In the midst of yesterday’s bizarre and unsettling Harvard Extension School/Satanic Temple story, all I could think about was “Where’d they get a consecrated host?” Blessedly, that seems that particular portion of the story has been withdrawn — “I am writing on behalf of The Satanic Temple... Read more

Unforgettable Cuts: “Clancy’s Theme,” by Bruce Rowland

Last updated on: February 16, 2015 at 9:56 am By Joseph Susanka

The Bruce Rowland-penned score for The Man from Snowy River is fantastic, and a significant factor in the film’s status as A Fast Favorite of the Susanka Seven. Yes, I’m sure the whips and horses and the insane plunge down the cliffside are all part of its charm, as well. But the soundtrack is spectacular. For the boys, the film’s musical appeal is largely tied to “The Chase” — a track for which they clamor with heart-warming regularity. Once it’s playing,... Read more