Oscar Progno (Weekly Links)

I’m a little at sea right now, so a quick version of the week’s links; reviews for the Herald and etc. A bunch of Oscar predictions. Chico & Rita. On KUOW’s”Weekday,” we talk about some great Oscar-winning best songs. Find it archived at kuow.org. What a Feeling! is taking a mid-winter break, it will re-start [...]

Movie Diary 2/20/2012

Yi Yi (Edward Yang, 2000). After seeing this again I had to add a note to my 2000 Ten Best Movies listing, which originally had Yi Yi at #1 but also some equivocation about the rankings. Naw, I think this is a stone-cold #1. The Hitch-Hiker (Alvin Ganzer, 1960). The “Twilight Zone” episode, that is. Wanted another [...]

This Means the Secret World (Weekly Links)

Links to reviews I wrote this week for the Herald, and etc. The Secret World of Arrietty. “Enchanting.” This Means War. “The bromance of a pair of well-groomed American spies.” Thin Ice. “A fitfully compelling Northern comedy-gothic.” Richard Garriott: Man on a Mission. “There are nerds, and then there is Richard Garriott.” On KUOW’s “Weekday,” I [...]

Movie Diary 2/16/2012

Tim And Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie (Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, 2012). Going from short-form to long-form: never easy. Even when you have Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, both inspired here, in support. (full review 3/2) At What a Feeling!, the Eighties-vintage Oscar winners roll out this week, with a review of Gabriel Axel’s Babette’s [...]

Movie Diary 2/15/2012

Rampart (Oren Moverman, 2011). Woody Harrelson in pinwheeling form as a bad cop; he really is good. Harrelson, I mean. (full review 2/24) At What a Feeling!, we’re doing a week of 1980s Oscar winners. Up now is Randa Haines’ Children of a Lesser God, which brought a deserved statuette to Marlee Matlin for best [...]

Movie Diary 2/14/2012

Flowers of Shanghai (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1998). Answering the musical question: Hou stole my heart away? Another look at the best film of 1998, and a hope that maybe a better DVD might appear at some point. I’d forgotten how hypnotic the musical score is, the aural equivalent of all that opium we see smoked. That [...]

Movie Diary 2/13/2012

A Time to Live, a Time to Die (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1986). Revisiting some Asian films for an upcoming talk at the Frye. Superb crystal-clear photography, lots of sunlight, important scenes in the driving rain, every blade of grass in focus. Although the tone tends to be lyrical, the movie doesn’t get away from the real, [...]

Safe Vow (Weekly Links)

Links to reviews I wrote for the Herald, and etc. Pina. “The passion of art, and art-making.” Safe House. “This guy would never cut it in the tightrope world of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, let’s put it that way.” W./E. “Both pretentious and bloodless.” The Vow. “Doesn’t create much beyond the expected scenes of love [...]

Movie Diary 2/8/2012

The Vow (Michael Sucsy, 2012).Channing Tatum’s wife Rachel McAdams has amnesia after a head injury, but only about the years she’s been married to the guy. This takes the phrase “she’s just not that into you” into a new realm; dude, seriously, get a clue. (full review 2/10) At What a Feeling!, one of the [...]

Movie Diary 2/7/2012

Goodbye, South, Goodbye (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1996). A bit more accessible than Hou’s “sadness trilogy,” and a contemporary setting. Three small-time criminals occasionally drop down from Taipei to the south, to pull jobs. Long-take scenes, some building to violence, as people end up scuffling or fighting. One motif: Hou withholds information in an unconventional way, not [...]