The Tree of Life is not my favorite Malick film. It is a great experience, and it is saturated with great thoughts about fatherhood, sonship, and the cosmic significance of what happens to us as children. But it lacks the continental vigor that gave birth to Days of Heaven and decades later, The New World, which […]
Chimps, children’s books, horny psychology professors, and shoddy theories in linguistics. It’s a recipe for disaster. The recent documentary Project Nim details the story of researchers attempting to discover whether or not a chimp can learn human language. Chimps, armadillos, aardvarks, and marmokrebs are not going to learn human language anymore than we are going […]
Jeffrey alerted me to the fact that the new cinema scope cover looks like this: This title is quite similar to the tag line that accompanied the launch of Filmwell years ago: Is this a film blog? We were way ahead of the curve there. The […]
According to reasonably reputable sources, this year’s MTV VMAs (the annual Video Music Awards, broadcast live on Sunday night) were watched by over 12 million people. I imagine the majority of viewers tuned in to see what extravagant outfit Lady Gaga would turn up in, and were instead confounded and perhaps exasperated by her lengthy […]
Bob Larson, self-proclaimed prophet and exorcist (who just happens to be the subject of one of my chapters in The Devil Wears Nada), has made it easy for you to discover whether or not you have a demon (as, apparently, it is not self-evident . . . yep, that could be rabies you’re dealing with). […]
In “Trees,” Jesus’ condemnation reenacts itself under a cherry tree, the red fruit hanging in “fistfuls” on a monastery hill.
At times, I think it’s all too tempting to approach The Tree of Life as a primarily esoteric or philosophical exercise. Of course, Terrence Malick doesn’t do much to dissuade that sort of approach, thanks to his existential dialog, non-linear narrative, and abstract-yet-beautiful scenery. As a result, it’s easy to approach Malick’s movie as if […]
With the announcement that Mark Wahlberg and his brothers are opening a burger joint called Wahlburgers, I’m having visions of a new trend in cineplexes around the world. Why not clear the theater lobby air of that yellowish haze that wafts from the popcorn machine and create a comfortable cafe atmosphere where people can relax […]
One of (few) complaints that I hear levied against streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu is that their selections are too small. I hear this most often in the context of Netflix, which is understandable considering that Netflix’s streaming library contains approximately 20,000 titles compared to the 100,000+ titles available on DVD/Blu-ray. However, as Dave Kehr points out in his recent NY Times piece, “Streaming Video’s Emerging Bounty”, there are plenty of hidden gems in those streaming libraries.