Month: June 2004

“A rare opportunity to leave the newsroom…”

They probably mean lead the newsroom. I would hope people have the opportunity to leave it every day. Otherwise, it’s not that great a job offering.

I’ve added 16 new short film reviews to the sidebar, even though two of them aren’t really films at all. That averages out to roughly four films a week since I last updated the sidebar. Does that mean I’m watching too much?

Anyway, while I’m at it, some more movie stuff to share. First, from Roger Ebert’s review of Bad Santa:

Movie critics have been accused of praising weirdo movies because we are bored by movies that seem the same. There is some justice in that. But I didn’t like this movie merely because it was weird and different; I liked it because it makes no compromises and takes no prisoners. And because it is funny.

Next, from Scott Tobias’ review of Spartan:

As a writer known for his distinctively crisp, staccato dialogue, David Mamet naturally gets more credit for the words that do appear on the page than for those that don’t. Yet even the one-word titles for his last two genre thrillers, Heist and Spartan, suggest meticulous refinement, a master butcher’s effort to shave all the fat off the meat and bone. At this rate, Mamet’s next work will simply be called Movie, and it will only exist in theoretical form, like some obscure element at the end of the periodic table.

And lastly from Faith comes this list of “the 1,000 Best Movies Ever Made” according to the New York Times. I’ve seen 206. Does that mean I’m not watching enough?

Is it like a prerequisite of DVD commentaries that, just before someone reveals some element of the plot, they wonder aloud if the viewer has already watched the movie without the commentary? I mean, honestly. Do these people not watch DVDs? I know they’re busy actors, writers, directors, producers, sound technicians, caterers, composers, fluffers, gofers, whatever — but haven’t they heard this observation made a thousand times before on a thousand other discs?

I’m sure there’s some tiny segment of the DVD-watching population that, either through sheer ineptitude or mechanical mishap, does listen to the commentary first without realizing that’s what they’re doing. And I suppose that, by making it clear that yes, this is a commentary track and you probably want to listen to it after you’ve watched the movie the first time, the DVD manufacturers are doing this segment of the population a great service and helping to keep them spoiler-free.

But the rest of us…well, I think we’ve already got this one figured out and don’t really need the reminder. But thanks anyway.