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November 8, 2005
Film Reviews
While I'm in the film review groove, let me admit that I have no idea whether my reviews are really of any value to anyone. But I truly believe that movies are, for better or worse, the particular art form that will be associated with our age, and I am always looking for new experiences in film. I will certainly entertain reader requests for reviews of specific films. In the coming year I was considering reviews of the following (these were pseudo-randomly drawn from a list of about 500 favorite films I have seen or re-seen in the past 5 or so years):
1. Krzysztof Kieslowski's Red, White and Blue trilogy
2. A reposting, and perhaps with it an editorial re-appraisal, of an old review of Sideways
3. Lost in Translation
4. The Year of Living Dangerously
5. Yi Yi (from Taiwan)
6. Crimes and Misdemeanors
7. The Dreamlife of Angels
8. Look at Me
9. The Motorcycle Diaries, Four Days in September and The Crying Game (I'll make the connection in the review)
10. The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
11. The Ice Storm
12. In the Mood for Love
13. Shattered Glass
14. Short Cuts
15. Shadow of the Vampire
16. Irma Vep
17. The Decline and Fall of the American Empire and The Barbarian Invasions
18. Rushmore and The Royal Tennanbaums
19. The Sweet Hereafter
20. Tampopo
21. The Unbearable Lightness of Being
22. Mostly Martha
23. Looking for Richard
24. Full Metal Jacket (perhaps with a review of the new film Jarhead, based on Anthony Swofford's unforgettable memoir (of the same name) of coming of age in the brutal world of the Marine sniper)
25. The Wedding Banquet
I don't know if I will get through all of these. It works out to about 2 per month. I may make substitutions, if I get good requests. I'm not planning to review any films I disliked, but I may post a few past write ups of stinkers (such as Welcome to Mooseport), if only to provide readers (all 1 of you) with some examples of what I don't like in film.
I also may do some reviews of television. Admittedly, TV these days is a wasteland. But I thought I might begin with one bright spot on the otherwise dismal sit com scene, the unpopular but brilliant Arrested Development. I might also review those old war horses, South Park and The Simpsons. Finally, as the DVDs of its many seasons begin to become available and it settles into a strong and comfortable syndication, I thought I might review what was, in my view, on many levels one of the finest sitcoms of the past 30 years: Frasier.
And let me offer a TV prediction. Coming soon, we will all be treated to a season of Survivor: New Orleans.
Posted by dag at November 8, 2005 7:59 PM
Comments
Survivor: New Orleans. Oy. I'm always impressed at how many movies you see. I never make it to the theatre anymore, and these days, I'm pretty much stuck at home. So many things I'd like to see. Apparently they're making a movie about The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. This should get interesting...
Posted by: The Good Rabbi at November 9, 2005 5:54 PM
My God. The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a fraud. What can they be saying about it?
Posted by: dag at November 9, 2005 7:43 PM
As per my e-mail, I did some digging. Apparently it's not a movie based on the "book" it's a movie ABOUT the book, and how apparently (in the director's opinion) there has been a resurgence of belief that the Jews were somehow responsible for 9/11.
Posted by: The Good Rabbi at November 10, 2005 12:52 AM