By Mike Flesher, December 2008
In today’s Hollywood, actors are protected and pampered to such an extent that we are shocked to hear that an actor has performed his or her own stunts. This seems most evident in the sterile attempts at physical humor in today’s comedies, and I regret that we will probably never return to the glory days of the silent and early sound eras. Read the rest of this entry »
By Phil Wegner, November 2008
One of the more pathetic spectacles this election year summer has been the far right’s consternation over Disney Pixar’s latest computer animated spectacle, WALL-E.
National Review blogger, Greg Pollowitz, effectively encapsulates this hysteria when he writes, “I saw WALL-E with my 5 year old on Saturday night. Read the rest of this entry »
By Daniel Halal, October 2008
Halloween is a time to dress up, go out and have a good time. It’s one of two holidays when you can play pranks on your friends and get away with it. Although I fully support that, it’s expected that our local video stores’ entire horror sections will virtually be checked out until Halloween night. Here are some less popular (but probably a little more fun) picks to consider this Halloween. Read the rest of this entry »
By Phil Wegner, September 2008
One recent anniversary that has been largely ignored by the mainstream U.S. media has been that of the events in France now referred to, as with 9/11 here, as simply Mai 68. This was a moment when it briefly appeared as if a first world government would fall at the hands of a rebellion led by students, workers and youth.
By Roger Beebe, September 2008
Flex Lives!
FLEX, the Florida Experimental Film/Video Festival, returns from its programming recess (after its stellar 10-week Cinema under the Stars summer series) with what looks to be an interesting oddity. They’ll be hosting an “Experimental Karaoke” night at Common Grounds on Sept. 9.
By Maximiliano Benitez, August 2008
On Aug. 12, HBO will release the DVD of the fifth and final season of The Wire, a fictional television drama about the criminal cases investigated by a unit of the Baltimore police department. Viewers and critics alike often refer to The Wire as “the best television show ever produced.”
By Roger Beebe, July 2008
The Hollywood Blockbuster has become such a part of our culture that we now take it for almost a natural phenomenon like gravity or ATM fees. But there was a time not so long ago that the word “blockbuster” referred to something very different.
By Roger Beebe, June 2008
I get nervous when I start to sing the praises of any corporation (like, oh, the Mac that I can’t live without now), but there are cases where such praise is due. For cinephiles, one corporation that tends to have due praise heaped upon it is Criterion.
By Roger Beebe, May 2008
This summer Gainesville will play host to an incredibly exciting slate of outdoor screenings, thanks to a renewed collaboration between FLEX, the Florida Experimental Film/Video Festival, and the City’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs.
By Roger Beebe, April 2008
Now that the traumatic memory of Daniel Day Lewis’s Broadway pirate outfit has faded from memory (but really, two hoop earrings? and that floppy ‘do? really?), it might be time to reflect back on the year in film and to see just what it is that we can learn from the 2008 Oscars.
