Film
Shit just got real – The anatomy of a great fight scene.
A lot of the clips in this post are the climactic scenes of great movies. So, fyi, spoilers ahoy…go watch all these movies you haven’t seen before you read this post!…. I was all set to write a “Top Ten Movie Fight Scene” blog post after rewatching Night and the City (an excellent film despite…
Read MoreNYC Vacation Moviegoing with Bertolucci, Godard, Hutton, and Herzog
Though I found out that the average matinee in New York City is only marginally cheaper than Broadway tickets, I still managed to get a few movies watched during my 9 days in the city. So here is a brief overview of what I saw while I work on finishing up my oft threatened Jock…
Read MoreBerlin Alexanderplatz – Liebe ist tod.
Rainer Werner Fassbinder is one of the greatest film directors the world has ever known. He directed his first feature at 24, and by the time of his death at 37 he had directed over 40 films. I’ve seen a little more than half of these and have yet to see a poor film. Some…
Read MoreThere Will Be Blood – As good as they say.
In a surprising new trend, I’ve been seeing a lot of really great movies at the local mainstream movie theater. By a lot I mean I really liked No Country for Old Men, and after seeing There Will Be Blood this weekend, I’d say it is just as good. I may end up having to…
Read MoreMy Favorite Movies 8 – Excalibur (John Boorman, 1981)
Every time I revisit John Boorman’s Excalibur I enjoy it a bit more. And since I thought it was pretty awesome to begin with, I can’t think of a better indicator that I should probably write a “my favorite movies” post about it! I should probably start by pointing out that the movie can seem…
Read MoreKristmas Movie Watchin’ Kumite!
So, I watched the usual random assortment of movies over my Christmas break. Looking back, I realized that 8 of them naturally fell into pairs, both thematically and in that one was an old standard and the other a movie I’d never seen. Now I know all of you are saying “but Isley, what was…
Read MoreNo Country for Old Men – As good as they say.
I don’t like serial killers. I should be more specific I suppose, I’m sure plenty of serial killers are great people, what I mean is I don’t like reading books, watching movies or otherwise looking into anything related to serial killing. I just don’t have that natural human fascination with the morbid I guess (also…
Read MoreMy Favorite Movies 7 – Five Easy Pieces (Bob Rafelson, 1970)
Five Easy Pieces is a movie about alienation. Of course that is an awfully broad subject, and one that is perennially in fashion for artsy fartsy film directors. What distinguishes Five Easy Pieces from the slew of movies on the subject is the complexity of its portrayal of a fundamental inability to connect. Foundational American…
Read MoreMy third favorite movie in the whole world: Play Time
This series of “my favorite movies in the whole world” is going to get increasingly silly as no one can really say what their 34th favorite movie of all time is, but since we’re only at number three, I’ll probably keep going for at least a few more entries. Play Time is an overwhelming movie.…
Read MoreMy Favorite Movies 6 – Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959)
So there it is, Saturday night, and I’m sitting at home with a Breckenridge double IPA watching a movie (instead of “clubbin” like usual). John Wayne and Dean Martin have just seen the man who shot their friend run into a bar full of men who would like nothing better than to kill them too.…
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