Before going into straight review territory on this blog, I used to spend a lot more of my time making lists; I blame Buzzfeed for taking the joy out of the format. But recently, while I was reading Ben Lindbergh’s recent post at The Ringer about whether or not a movie should be remade, I… Read More Remakes I’m Asking For
Dir. Wim Wenders. Starring Bruno Ganz, Peter Falk, Solveig Dommartin I haven’t been to Berlin in nearly ten years now, and the Berlin that Wenders and company depict here is a vastly different one than I saw. For one thing, the Wall still stands; one scene, as if to emphasize the non-reality of the actors… Read More Wings of Desire (1987)
Dir. Alejandro G. Inarritu. Starring Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone The star of Birdman is Emmanuel Lubezski, the cinematographer who at this writing has won three consecutive Oscars for Best Cinematography in three seriously stylish films: Gravity, Birdman, and The Revenant. Technically speaking, this is one of the most remarkable films of the decade. Edits are hidden so that… Read More Birdman (2014)
Dir. Robert Altman. Starring Tim Robbins, Annie Ross, Julianne Moore Pesticides are being dropped on Los Angeles,and God defend the right. Julianne Moore’s character is safely inside at a concert (with Alex Trebek!), but there’s a similar motif to what you find in Safe a couple years later. Sherri (Madeleine Stowe) yells at her husband,… Read More Short Cuts (1993)
Dir. Ingmar Bergman. Starring Harriet Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Liv Ullmann Cries and Whispers is planted in a middle ground between the theatrical and the cinematic. As a play, it works for the uncanny focus on its primary characters, the rapidly understandable emotions each character holds back, the dramatic moments of pain, the rich setting in absolutely… Read More Cries and Whispers (1972)
Dir. Charles Sturridge. Starring Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Jonathan Coy (My thoughts on the preceding episode are here.) Anthony Blanche can’t hide his revulsion when he thinks of Kurt (Coy), the German ex-soldier who is something between Sebastian’s ward and his pet. Anthony, who has acclimated to ’20s London in a way that he never… Read More Brideshead Revisited S1E7, “The Unseen Hook”
Welcome to the minute-by-minute podcast devoted to The Incredibles, the 2004 Disney-Pixar film about a family with superpowers. Tim is a high school teacher living in the Southeast. His online writings are mostly about movies and can be found here, at Seeing Things Secondhand. Matt is a grad student and teacher based in the Great… Read More Jawn Voyage – The Incredibles, Minute by Minute
Dir. Charles Sturridge. Starring Diana Quick, Charles Keating, Jeremy Irons (My thoughts on the preceding episode are here.) “Julia” signifies a shift in focus for Brideshead Revisited, equal parts palate cleanser and the seeds of a reboot. Less than ten minutes into episode, Charles intones, “It is time to speak of Julia” in a way… Read More Brideshead Revisited S1E6, “Julia”
Dir. Andrea Arnold. Starring Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Griffiths Most of Mia’s (Jarvis) conversation, at least before Conor (Fassbender) shows up, is Hobbesian: “nasty, brutish, and short.” She has a flair for profanity, and while her vocabulary and speech appear to be pretty limited outside that one sphere, within it she’s practically a prodigy.… Read More Fish Tank (2009)
Dir. Andrzej Wajda. Starring Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyzewska, Adam Pawlikowski Even when he’s literally lighting a guy on fire with rounds from his submachine gun (which is one heck of a visual touch), Maciek (Cybulski) doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who kills to survive. He lolls around on grassy hills outside chapels, or… Read More Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
Seeing Things Secondhand 