Great Movies
TV/Streaming
You Gotta Keep Your Eyes Open: An Appreciation of Matinee
A review and appreciation of Joe Dante's Matinee, on Special Edition Blu-ray this week.
A review and appreciation of Joe Dante's Matinee, on Special Edition Blu-ray this week.
Sheila writes: Author John le Carré wrote a gorgeous and painful reminiscence of Philip Seymour Hoffman in the New York Times. Le Carre wrote, in part: "... His intuition was luminous from the instant you met him. So was his intelligence. A lot of actors act intelligent, but Philip was the real thing: a shining, artistic polymath with an intelligence that came at you like a pair of headlights and enveloped you from the moment he grabbed your hand, put a huge arm round your neck and shoved a cheek against yours; or if the mood took him, hugged you to him like a big, pudgy schoolboy, then stood and beamed at you while he took stock of the effect."
Scott Jordan Harris muses on the awful pleasures of the lowest-grossing film of 2012.
Marie writes: Intrepid club member Sandy Khan has sent us the following awesome find, courtesy of a pal in Belgium who'd first shared it with her. "Got Muck?" was filmed by diver Khaled Sultani (Emirates Diving Association's (EDA) in the Lembeh Strait, off the island coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Camera: Sony Cx550 using Light & Motion housing and sola lights. Song: "man with the movie camera" by cinematic orchestra.
Marie writes: While writer Brian Selznick was doing research for his book "The Invention of Hugo Cabret", he discovered the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia had a very old automaton in their collection. And although it wasn't one of machines owned by Georges Melies, it was remarkably similar and with a history akin to the one he'd created for the automaton in The Invention of Hugo Cabret...
From the Grand Poobah and Mrs. Poobah:Seasons Greetings Everyone! (click to enlarge)
View image Franchising disenchantment.
(This essay on "Fight Club" was originally published in 1999. I'm re-posting it now in preparation for a coming piece...)
by Jim Emerson
"A fascist rhapsody!" — David Denby, The New Yorker
Ooof!
"Morally repugnant! Socially irresponsible!" — Anita M. Busch, The Hollywood Reporter
Ugh!
"Deeply misogynistic!" — Susan Stark, The Detroit News
Orgh!
"Macho porn!" — Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun-Times
Ouch!
Don't expect to see any of the above quotes in movie ads for "Fight Club" (although, come to think of it, if Fox did decide to use 'em, it would certainly be in keeping with the gleefully subversive, anti-consumerist spirit of this major studio movie). "Fight Club," a brutally funny and provocative satire directed by David Fincher ("Seven"), may have scored a late-round box office victory in its first weekend, but it also received a vicious pummeling from a number of (mostly mainstream) critics. While some reviewers praised the film as "an apocalyptic comedy of rage" (Jay Carr, "Boston Globe") and "an uncompromising American classic" (Peter Travers, "Rolling Stone"), those who felt less enthusiastic about the picture didn't just dislike it — they loathed it, reviled it, demonized it.
UPDATED 10/16: Here are brief reviews of all the Chicago Film Festival movies we have seen, in alphabetical order, written by Bill Stamets and Roger Ebert. More will be added as we view them. For a full CIFF schedule, go to www.chicagofilmfestival.com or call (312) 332-FILM.
The hugely popular Chicago Outdoor Film Festival, held Tuesday evenings in Grant Park, will salute major stars in its 5th annual season.
