It's Only A Movie

Looking over the just-announced Academy Award nominations, I'm once again struck, as I am every year, by how few of these films I've actually seen. I've seen only two of the nominees for best picture: MILK and FROST/NIXON, both excellent (although, as I stated in a previous post, FROST/NIXON had to... Sign in to see full entry.

Sometimes, you just have to face your fears. And so it was that I finally resolved to face my fear of how I might react in a public place when once again confronted with the cinematic atrocities commited by Ron Howard. Under ordinary circumstances, FROST/NIXON is a film I would have gone to see on... Sign in to see full entry.

If I had to choose, if you put the proverbial gun to my head, I would have to say that this is my favorite film. It's directed by Robert Altman, it's based on a Raymond Chandler/Philip Marlowe novel, it's from that golden age of American film when art ruled; all my favorite things combined. How... Sign in to see full entry.

One of the problems with time is that it tends to mellow out anger. Time passes, memories fade, and we begin to forget how much we were screwed over by a particular person or institution. Our righteous anger is replaced by perspective, and, while this distance is sometimes useful, helping us to see... Sign in to see full entry.

There's a popular misconception that the Academy Awards are somehow synonymous with artistic achievement. This is completely false, and there is ample proof of this in every year's batch of nominees and winners. Do you remember when the mainstream American film industry consisted of films like The... Sign in to see full entry.

One of the benefits (?) of the cold war was that the anxieties provoked by the constant threat of nuclear war sometimes manifested themselves in great cinema. I was reminded of this yesterday when I watched a British film from 1963 called Children Of The Damned. Ian Hendry (whose eyes Michael Caine... Sign in to see full entry.

As I stated in my first post, I tend to only watch older films (usually nothing made later than the seventies), but occasionally I get the urge to see something current. So, a couple of weeks ago, I went to a multiplex, bought the largest portion of popcorn they sold (a refillable tub!), and sat... Sign in to see full entry.

I'm old... not so much in years - no, wait; yes, in years, too - but that's not the point... I have an old soul. I like old movies. There are very few films made today that interest me. The whole aesthetic of modern film just doesn't appeal to me. But every once in while, I get an urge to see... Sign in to see full entry.