April 2009
24 posts
“Buffy” season 2 (1997-98) quickly introduces a host of new characters, like an unexpectedly successful show whose budget got a boost.
“Spooks” (2002, UK) invites obvious comparisons to “24” (2001, USA) for subject matter, visual style, and release post-9/11.
building on an uncomplicated gimmick,”Knowing” overreaches. grasping for godhead, it collapses under it’s own weight in act 3.
we thought the small town movie theater near @HearthHill was showing an uncommonly sophisticated first run film. think again…
this evening we began watching the first season (2002) of the BBC’s “Spooks” (aka “MI-5”).
“Burden of Dreams” (1982) suggests more parallels between “Fitzcarraldo” and “Apocalypse Now”, doesn’t it, @Ellyn32?
“Fitzcarraldo” (1982) feels like the white suited, light hearted counterpart to the olive drab dark heart of “Apocalypse Now” (1979).
Billy Bob Thornton’s “Slingblade” (1996) is a simple tale perfectly told, trimmed in graceful, unpretentious photography.
watching “Slingblade” for the first time since it came out.
Hitchcock’s generation taught audiences to consider character psychology. today, kid’s shows have more plausible psychological development.
had we seen Hitchcock’s earliest films first, we might never have watched the later works (which inspired us to see them all).
watched “Slingblade” for the first time since it came out.
“Transsiberian” (2008) puts a contemporary thriller on the traditional train, tripping an ordinary couple into dark adventure.
“Missing” (1982) lacks the courage of its protagonists, the conviction of its devils, the drama of its subject or a feeling for the times.
Alfred Hitchcock’s “Marnie” (1964) is a rustic way station on the rutted road to the modern pop-psychological thriller.
season 1 of “Buffy” does not spur us to watch the next episode, postehaste, the way (for example) season 1 of “Lost” did.
(ooops, omitted one keyword from previous “Buffy” post. reposting now, with the word “not”, as intended.)
“What I am selling is a long prison term, to a client who has no genuine use for the product.” - Paul Attanasio
we’ve begun watching an old favorite, “Homicide: Life on the Street” (1993), from the beginning.
season 1 of “Buffy” does spur us to watch the next episode, postehaste, the way (for example) that “Lost” does.
5 episodes into season 1, “Buffy” has established the core characters and motifs that will sustain it for seasons to come.
remembering when a PowerMac G4 500MHz was sweet iron for an Avid editor (as per @MYKLbiz). hell, remembering when AVR4 was amazing.
something about the low-rent music and stunts in early “Buffy” action sequences makes us think of “Charlie’s Angels”.
we’ve begun watching “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” season 1.