Our articles about the LA-based pop band “Lights Over Paris” have attracted a lot of attention. Read the articles below to see why.
Film
Rian Johnson’s Festival of Fakery: Paper Moon
On this Father’s Day, I present to you a movie about fathers and daughters, starring a real-life father-daughter duo — playing a couple who may or may not be father and daughter, but use this dynamic to con people. Meet Moses Pray and Addie Loggins (Ryan and Tatum O’Neal), the stars of Peter Bogdanovich’s Paper … Continue reading
The Magpie In Me Is Screaming
Oh! Why hello there! Please excuse me as I hit the mute button on VH1′s The Fabulous Life Of… (Heiress edition). Ah, much better. Just you and I and a computer monitor. *turns the lights down low* (F1 on a Mac, something else on a PC) How are you feeling this evening? Oh, good. I’m … Continue reading
Rian Johnson’s Festival of Fakery: The Sting
In his post this week, Dr. Salvatron made a reference to The Brothers Bloom, the second film by Rian Johnson — maker of one of the most successful and creative low-budget indie films in recent memory, Brick. The Brothers Bloom is one of my favorite movies this summer, elevating Johnson’s craft to a level just … Continue reading
Magnificent Obsession: The Influence of Douglas Sirk
Before TV took over the soap opera business, Douglas Sirk owned it in his films. He was the master of melodrama like how Alfred Hitchcock was the master of suspense, making his name felt with a handful of lush, colorful films during the 1950′s. Though Sirk’s films were poorly received by reviewers during his time, … Continue reading
A Short Video – Suggestions Welcome
As some of you may know by now, my computers both kicked the bucket last week. First was the Powerbook that Dr. Echo Bloom gave me last year. Then the following day, the mission critical desktop bit the dust. I haven’t figured out exactly what went wrong with either machine, but I did get my … Continue reading
A Director’s Choices in Two “Good” Movies (Part 2)
Continued from last week’s post on Hsiao-hsien Hou: The question of intent comes up a lot when I watch a film. Whether we finish the movie or walk out, whether we hit the pause button or fast forward, whether we watch the entire thing in one sitting or not — a movie (and by this … Continue reading
A Director’s Choices in Two “Good” Movies (Part 1)
As a filmmaker, I’m always looking for visually interesting, unique, and above all efficient ways to present a scene. This leads me to take long walks around town, taking naps, consuming beer and espresso, and cooking — anything to create a “visual buzz”, which usually comes to me in the moments after exhaustion, grogginess, or … Continue reading
Frozen River
Grab ‘em by the throat and never let ‘em go. It’s legendary director Billy Wilder’s second rule of filmmaking. (The first is: The audience is fickle.) Grabbing the audience by the throat? Not a problem for Hollywood blockbuster films. It’s their specialty. They give us cyborgs and spaceships, secret codes and Megan Fox’s ass. And … Continue reading
The Thin Man
“The murderer is right in this room, sitting at this table. You may serve the fish.” It’s the history of art, but even more so in movies and television: technology, storytelling conventions, and culture all have an instant influence — and are changing all the time. What’s smart and fresh and interesting today might be … Continue reading