Where you can find me

It has been quite some time since I posted on here (only a few months short of a year), and, while I'm not even sure if anyone actually reads this site anymore, I just wanted to let you know that I am now keeping track of my movie watching on Letterboxd. You can find my profile here. I am, also, still blogging, and you can find my tumblr here. I might continue to update this blog, as I see fit, and will definitely keep it up for the time being.

Cheers!

Steve McQueen dialogue with Stuart Comer

 A great, and lengthy, discussion with Steve McQueen about his body of work up to 12 Years A Slave.

The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

5 out of 5 Stars

I've seen this before, several times, on DVD and Blu-Ray, but I got a chance to go to a special screening of the film with director Andrew Dominik and Cinematographer Roger Deakins in attendance. They had a fantastic Q&A after the film. This movie is absolutely amazing. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Robocop (2014)

2.5 out of 5 stars.

I'm not against a well made remake, and this one has some great bells and whistles, but it ultimately falls short. The original is still as valid and groundbreaking today as it was almost thirty years ago. This one just feels like a slick, and somewhat forgettable, sci-fi movie.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

2 out of 5 stars

This film had some good action sequences, but the rest of it felt like Branagh was trying to make some penultimate MOVIE, which kind of made everything feel really cliche.

Stewart Schuster's "Alivia"

Alivia from Stewart Schuster on Vimeo.

I realized, looking over the blog, that I never posted my own film! We shot this February of 2013, in Seattle, but because of work, a move, and various complications, it wasn't completed until June of 2013. I'm very happy with how it came out, and it has amassed over two thousand views on Vimeo alone (with very little publicity).

Brian McGinn's "The Record Breaker"

The Record Breaker from Brian McGinn on Vimeo.

Dark Rye's "An Undertaking"

An Undertaking from Dark Rye on Vimeo.

Checking In

Haven't been on here for a while. Sorry about that. Will be updating as time allows. Thanks for stopping by.

My favorites of 2013

This is a list of my favorite films I saw, theatrically, in 2013. These are only films I saw in the theater. The first grouping represents as close to a "top films" list as I probably get with Short Term 12 definitely being my favorite film of the year. It is an amazingly, heartbreakingly beautiful film that is that rare thing that truly touches at a lot of what humanity is deep down, and the needs we all have for love and community. Rust and Bone is another heartbreakingly beautiful film, and is easily one of Marion Cotillard's greatest performances (so far). Mud is writer/director Jeff Nichols' meditation on romantic love, and has been one of THREE performances that Matthew McConaughey knocks out of the park this year (all of which are on this list). Don Jon is a hilarious and strikingly poignant look at sex and relationships, The Place Beyond The Pines is a rare feat of filmmaking that covers multiple generations of family and explores the sins of the father and their consequences for the family. Before Midnight, for those of you who have seen the other two films in the "Before" series, is a romantic, but very real, continuation of one of cinema's great (modern) love stories, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a revelatory film about the very condition of the world, as it stands, right now.

These are just my favorites for the year. Please understand that you may not like everything on this list, and that is perfectly okay. We all like different stuff. 

Short Term 12 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8QxAYxNRgs

Rust and Bone (technically 2012) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg7skcyYolU

Mud - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFBC8ohhVUs

Don Jon - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAhtdVdc3Y4

Upstream Color - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U9KmAlrEXU

The Place Beyond The Pines - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G07pSbHLXgg

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAzGXqJSDJ8

Before Midnight - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euOJkb0U8vE

The Impossible (might be 2012?) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgw394ZKsis

Side Effects - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEQDMFveSbQ

Dallas Buyers Club - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs1kpGNSRVk

12 Years A Slave - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUQNjfhlREk

Only God Forgives - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAgirTtfobk

The Conjuring - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k10ETZ41q5o

The Spectacular Now - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDTBLSkUmYk

Fruitvale Station - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxUJwJfcQaQ

Touchy Feely - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8psIhHWxtJE

Prisoners - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpXfcTF6iVk

Frances Ha - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBn5dgXFMis

World War Z - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md6Dvxdr0AQ

Oblivion - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmIIgE7eSak

A Band Called Death - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDPDm9_nX0o

All Is Lost - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk_R04LfUQU

Nebraska - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT5tqPojMtg

Inside Llewyn Davis - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFphYRyH7wc

American Hustle - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST7a1aK_lG0

Her - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzV6mXIOVl4

The Wolf of Wall Street - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iszwuX1AK6A

The Wolf of Wall Street

4 out of 5 stars

The only reason I'm not giving this movie 5 out of 5 is that the characters are so disgusting, that they make the film hard to enjoy at times. That being said, that basically means that Scorsese was doing his job... Everything else about this film was amazingly well done, as you would expect from a master like Martin Scorsese.

World War Z

3 out of 5 stars.

This ended up being better than I thought it would be, considering the whole reshoot debacle. The only thing that bugged me was the almost super human-ness of the Zombies. Other than that, though, Forster really created a tight and tense thriller.

The Bling Ring

3 1/2 out of 5 Stars.

While the movie is well crafted, and you can definitely see a lot of Sofia's style in it, it still comes off a bit flat, which was a little disappointing. It's worth a watch, but I just feel like anyone could have directed this...

Alexander Carson's "We Refuse To Be Cold"

"WE REFUSE TO BE COLD" (2011) from North Country Cinema on Vimeo.

Things Change, People Change

When this blog started, it was to stay in touch with someone, so I could share my thoughts and opinions on films and television with them, and exercise my ability to analyze other people's work, in the hopes that it would improve my own. It also was supposed to exist as a record of what I thought about the films I was seeing, at the time I was seeing them.

 I'm not going to do that anymore.

 There are enough people talking about movies on the internet, and, to be honest with you, I'm not adding anything to the conversation. Being a critic is a job. People do this for a living, and they do it much better than I do. I've also felt, for a long time, a growing disinterest in dissecting people's efforts. I will still update this blog on what I'm working on, video's from Vimeo and YouTube that I like, filmmaker information, and maybe promote some things that I like. I'm thinking of still keeping a list of everything I see, and maybe just a simple 5 star rating system. That should suffice as a record of what I thought (at the time) about what I've seen.

Man Of Steel

2 1/2 out of 5 stars.

It had some moments, but, ultimately, it felt like plot development had been jettisoned in favor of action sequences (not a surprise, considering it's Zack Snyder).

Mud

5 out of 5 stars.

Perfect. Amazing performances, writing, cinematography, etc. Jeff Nichols hits it out of the park.

Richard Linklater interview by The Hollywood Reporter

Wong Kar Wai's "The Follow"

Vice's "Exploring Mexican Narco Cinema"