December 2008
116 posts
“He may be the most natural and least self-conscious screen actor that has ever lived.”
-Pauline Kael
Bank Roles: 25 'I Did It for the Money' Films →
Oscar Watch: Whither Revolutionary Road? →
I am stunned at the stalled motor in the Revolutionary Road awards parade. I thought voters would be licking their chops on this one. Instead, they’ve dug in, hidebound, into the Slumdog Millionaire morass.
One of the 5 Worst Films I've Seen This Decade
Overplayed, underdrawn and unsophisticated. Legacy does not equal resonance. But hey, if you wanna hear the word zipperhead 40 or so times in two hours, dig in!
“‘I desperately want to do something else,’ said Mr. Lawrence, who is...”
– Between Bill Lawrence’s “Cougar Town” and Jennifer Aniston’s proposed Pumas with Elizabeth Banks, the Hot Mom meme is getting a little tired.
UUUUM, I'M SORTA GOING FOR THIS TYPE OF HAIRCUT... →
“Meanwhile, people like Clooney, Damon, Pitt, and Cruise obviously seem concerned...”
– An insightful comment from Snoop over at H.E. on why Will Smith’s legacy is far from safe. At some point I’ll get a chance to write about Tom Cruise’s excellence. It may be a while.
This is the first year of my post-adolescent life...
Philadelphia man shot because family talked during... →
Benjamin Button is not interesting enough to go shooting strangers for.
Marlene Dietrich: “Falling In Love...
WatchTeriyaki Boyz ft. Pharrell & Chris Brown: “Work That”
There is a wonderful inversion here, in that all of the asses are Japanese and thus smaller/flatter. Also, fewer thongs, more leopard print and “working that” is decidedly less frenetic than expected. There is something very 1958 about this video.
“Shots of a ballet body double would be risible except Fincher keeps cutting back...”
– Armond White, still a wonderful prick.
Great Expectations
The Internet’s undulating curve pulled a whopper this time. First, Fincher was making an obscure F. Scott Fitzgerald short story into a full-length with trusty leading man Pitt and Blanchett, who could act her way to the front of a DMV line. Then we were excited. Then Golden Globe noms were announced (meaningless). Then they started smelling Forrest Gump and we started to bail. Then we got...
“I’m a Young Jeezy fan and am quite fond of The Recession, a more...”
– Jody Rosen is a good critic, but this is a scary thing to read. Should we be asking for quieter albums from rappers exploring poverty and violence?
“Anyone with a semblance of over-40 life experience knows that nostalgia sex...”
– Jeff Wells, revealing perhaps a bit too much
Albums I Feel Bad About Leaving Off Pazz & Jop Pt....
Scarface: Emeritus
Albums I Feel Bad About Leaving Off Pazz & Jop Pt....
Be Your Own Pet: Get Awkward
Albums I Feel Bad About Leaving Off Pazz & Jop Pt....
Jamie Lidell: Jim
Jazmine Sullivan ft. Jim Jones: “Bust Your...
The Very Best Film I Saw This Year
Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay
-Robert Frost
WatchGorilla Zoe: “Lost”
“Should you see this movie? Maybe. Whatever. I don’t care.”
– A.O. Scott in his review of Yes Man. Scott wrote two of the year’s best reviews today (along with a hilarious pan of Seven Pounds) just before the whistle.
WatchBusta Rhymes: “I Got Bass” (prod. by Bangladesh)
“A Milli” beats x Chuck D x Busta monotone x Busta yelling = OK!
The Making of Maroon 5's Call and Response: An... →
Young Chris Ryan will not lose.
“I talked to Jeremy on the phone, and he told me that he discovered that he had a...”
– David Mamet
From an email I received this morning:
Relive Groundhog Day all over again and again and again….. No, this is not déja vu!!! Experience what some critics claim to be Bill Murray’s best work ever when Sony Pictures Home Entertainment releases the beloved comedy classic on Blu-ray on January 27, 2009. Exclusive to this Blu-ray release is a “Needle Nose Ned’s Picture-in-Picture” bonus track...
WatchYoung Jeezy: “Who Dat”
The production values in this video are horrendous (CGI helicopters!) but this is my favorite songs off The Recession and it does two things I love: It features loads of semi-famous rap figures (Gorilla Zoe was not busy that day). And every person in the video is doing the same thing I do when when the beat drops, which is flail my arms around with aggression.
