Summa This, Summa That
Steven Greydanus is right in saying that the film is (perhaps) a little too eager to please, he's even more right in saying that "I watched pretty much the whole second half of this movie with a smile on my face." Read more
Steven Greydanus is right in saying that the film is (perhaps) a little too eager to please, he's even more right in saying that "I watched pretty much the whole second half of this movie with a smile on my face." Read more
OK, so “shocking” might not be the word everyone would use for something like this, but just stay with me for a minute… Today, as I was poking around on the InterWebs for some music to edit to — Note to Self: Editing to Cling Mansell’s “Death Is The Road To Awe” makes me feel like The Most Epic Editor Ever. Do it as frequently as possible. — when I stumbled (suddenly and entirely without warning) across an official YouTube playlist of the wonderful... Read more
This one’s charming. And bittersweet. And might sting, just a little. (I’m starting to detect a bit of a trend in the shorts I recommend. Lots of “looking back on your youth” stuff; lots of “loneliness, with a hint of past joy” stuff. I’m not sure why, though. I’m happy. Really. And not at all lonely.) An elderly woman living in an abandoned town finds a camera, which becomes a means for her to recreate her past life and remember a... Read more
Today’s Streaming Video Suggestion (SVS) is going to be a bit of an R&R (Recommend-And-Run), because my Fridays keep getting away from me. So…I’m linking to John Ford’s masterful The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance on NETFLIX INSTANT and AMAZON INSTANT($) and YOUTUBE($) and SOME OTHERS($) and calling it a day. A senator (Jimmy Stewart) who became famous for killing the notorious outlaw, Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) returns for the funeral of an old friend (John Wayne) and finally tells the truth about that... Read more
Wow! Just look at that gorgeous …thing! It’s a Glaucus atlanticus (more colorfully known as a sea swallow or blue dragon), and its a small, blue sea slug; “a pelagic aeolid nudibranch; a shell-less gastropod mollusk in the family Glaucidae.” I’m not sure what any of those words mean, really. Especially “nudibranch.” But I can translate for you: It’s awesome. Picking up the animal can result in a painful sting, with symptoms similar to those caused by the Portuguese man o’... Read more
No, no; don’t worry. I’m not talking about any road trip of mine (thankfully). I’m talking about The Biloxi Shuckers, a Minor League baseball team whose recent travels/travails are wonderfully cataloged in this very long, very fantastic piece from ESPN’s David Fleming. Sure, minor league baseball is a strange and nomadic thing, and about as far from life in the Major Leagues as you can get. But these guys just took “nomadic” to a whole new level — a major league level, you... Read more
Filtering out the noise to clearly see what the story needs is a lesson every great filmmaker has learned. As someone greatly intrigued by the role (and importance) of music in movies, I find myself grateful yet again for the legendary John Williams and the (original, of course) Star Wars films. No, I’m not talking about The Auralnauts’ hilarious “Star Wars Without Williams” video, though that’s certainly once of the funniest (and most awkward) two minutes on the InterWebs. Instead, I’m talking about this fantastic video... Read more
I’ve had my eye on this one ever since I saw the trailer that dropped last month. (And I’ve had my eye on its creator, Gints Zilbalodis, ever since I saw his “Followers” short.) Now that it’s here, I’m happy to say that I’m not at all disappointed. Quite the opposite, really. I love everything about this one: the unusual (almost felt-ish) style; the subtle sound-work, especially its shifts between 1st and 3rd person; the clever ways in which it follows the oft-ignored,... Read more
I know today’s claim is going to be a bit of a controversial one, but I’m going to go ahead and make it anyway: Babe is hands-down the best movie that features a bunch of mice singing the teeth-rattling final theme from Camille Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony (by way of Scott Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley) that has ever been made. Best. Ever. There. I said it. And I absolutely stand by that statement, no matter how unpopular. (You are, of course, welcome to offer alternative suggestions... Read more
Another example of one of my favorite pet categories: Artist(s) Performing Their Own Work(s). Only in this case, it’s not words (like most of the things I’ve found). It’s music. Percy Grainger’s, specifically. The crazy Australian composer and pianist. (Note: I say crazy because of his hair…and his tempos. Not because I have any reason to think that he was actually crazy.) Though the break-neck pace at which he takes his own “Country Gardens” (below) makes one wonder. (Here. A comparison.) I’ll... Read more
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