When improv goes wrong, you get a guy trying to dance with a chair: SCATTERED THOUGHTS ON THE CINEMA OF BELA TARR, Part 1

I am not well-informed enough to be commenting on Art House cinema, and definitely not these two examples, which are more like Art Vatican Cinema. But here goes. MOVIE #1: A horse pulls a wagon through a desolate landscape of leafless trees while wind blows and churning music plays. The rider and a woman put …

Not a Political Post, A Post About Being Political

These days, every asshole who writes a non-political genre book holds court online, letting us all know their political beliefs. These writers often reveal a bumper sticker-level of understanding of issues, and always support the accepted political point of view, defined by their party. Writer supports cutting taxes? You can often correctly predict where he …

Cover Versions: Thoughts Inspired by Reading NEW CTHULU: THE RECENT WEIRD Edited by Paula Guran

With most of the product with his name on it coming out after his premature death, H.P. Lovecraft is clearly the horror genre’s Jimi Hendrix. The proliferation of stories inspired by the life-embracing “Jester of Providence” (as he was known by no one) is another sign that the horror-loving public can't get enough of stories …

Jim Thompson Family Values: THIS WORLD, THEN THE FIREWORKS

Maybe I’m a contrarian. (Am not.) Or maybe some people really don’t care what the masses think. (No one thinks they care what the masses think.) But I'm the only person I know who likes the movies ALIEN 3, THE COUNSELOR, and THIS WORLD, THEN THE FIREWORKS. I first came upon the Jim Thompson story …

Oh No You Di’int BEAT BOBBY FLAY

I don't even watch it anymore, yet I still have some final thoughts on BEAT BOBBY FLAY. The contestants choke up when mentioning a relative, especially if it’s mom, who died before experiencing her lifelong dream of seeing her child cook on a cable channel. Dads get mentioned if they came here at fifteen and …

MY RE-EDUCATION

I've cut the Internet cord more than once. I need to be connected for work but I spend too much time online, mostly arguing or looking up things that add little or nothing to my life. When I find I've spent hours online doing nothing worthwhile, I finish up whatever mailing or research I have …

Forget It, Dave, It’s Brisbane: THE LAST WAVE

CHINATOWN is about the value of water. As life-sustaining drink, in a backyard garden or a drying river bed, the film shows how water gives life, and how without it L.A. as we know it wouldn't exist. In THE LAST WAVE, director Peter Weir shows water as a tool of unseen forces that could wipe …