Culture Frame

Movie Log: Time Masters, Crossing Delancey, and EEGA

I beg forgiveness for the occasional unfinished sentence or typo in these weekly columns. If I don't get them out fast, I'll worry over them until they're a monthly column again. And that would be a waste. Just look at this grab bag of

Movie Log: King Kong, Trap, and THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE

King Kong 1976, USA, d. John Guillermin, 2h14m, ** Who's In It: Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange, Charles Grodin File Under: Giving it a chance There are a lot of big movies that I have never seen either because I assumed that they were bad, or that they just were

Movie Log: Sea of Love, Vision Quest, and THE COLOR OF MONEY

Sea of Love 1989, USA, d. Harold Becker, 1h53m, **** Who's In It: Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman, Michael Rooker File Under: 1980s, Erotic Thriller, Harold Becker Al Pacino is a NYC detective on the hunt for a serial killer who seems to be picking male victims through

Reviews

New Features: The Movie Log & CF Essentials

It has been unsustainable for me to continue to write the articles the way I was writing them. Many hours of watching, writing, and collecting information and screenshots for a single movie. The goal of the Movie Log will be to create more content in line with how I actually

BBC Proms

Guide to the BBC Proms 2024

This weekend, the largest classical music festival in the world kicked off at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Now known as the BBC Proms, the festival will last for two months, during which there is at least one concert every day, the majority of which feature full orchestras. The

Eurovision

Eurovision 2024: 10 Tracks You Should Know Before the Finals

Here are some of the most compelling songs and important players from this year's Eurovision Song Contest. I start this survey with a countdown of my personal Top 6, merely because of the flow of variety of styles of song on display this year. The four I have

A Field Guide to the Eurovision Song Contest

On Saturday, May 11th all of Europe will be watching the "Olympics of music", in Malmö, Sweden, along with a growing number of fans in the United States and elsewhere, thanks in part to a Will Ferrell comedy produced for Netflix, and the short-lived "American Song Contest&

SXSW 2024 Report

In the middle of Austin on the first weekend of SXSW, a line forms on a backstreet between two office buildings empty for the weekend. This is the primary access line for the biggest movie venue, the Paramount Theatre, which is completely on the other side of the block. The

CIVIL WAR: Post Meet-Up Comments

Thanks for those of you who came out! We had a lot to discuss afterward, but after digesting I made some connections between the themes of the movie that I thought opened up for me what it was "all about". Mild Spoilers below. I don't talk

Movie Meet-Up: CIVIL WAR (4/21) and Essential April TV

While my monthly movie meet-up is geared towards the best international films that are coming out that I don't want you to miss, I felt there was no more essential movie to experience mid-April than A24's buzzy new war film Civil War. Anyway, writer/director Alex

Field Guide to the Academy Awards 2024

What follows is a list of some of the nominations we will see in the televised Oscar ceremony tonight. I have ranked the nominees in each category based on my personal preference. I hope you find it useful to follow along tonight. My opinion is just my opinion. And the

Rustling Noises in the Attic: STOPMOTION and BRAMAYUGAM

Overview: Stopmotion review **** Bramayugam review ***1/2 TV Picks for March 2024 STOPMOTION UK, d. Robert Morgan, 1h33m, ****, In cinemas now At the best of times, the life of an artist is one of lonely toil and crippling self-doubt. Imagine on top of that you are an independent stop-motion animator,

Short Circuits: Computers in the Movies of the 1980s and 1990s, Part 2

After the early wave of movies depicting personal computers, the later '80s were dominated by anthropomorphic machines, and how they might become sentient. The brief glimpse of the future in The Terminator (1984) depicts in no uncertain terms that the "singularity" will herald the beginning of a

A New Way of Life: THE PROMISED LAND and THE MONK & THE GUN

In the Best International Feature Oscar race, all films nominated by their countries are whittled down to a "shortlist" of twenty, a few months before the final 5 nominees are announced. Today's films were all on the shortlist but did not end up with a nomination.

Movie Meet-Up: PERFECT DAYS (2/20)

For now, in lieu of screenings, I will invite everyone out to meet-up at a public screening that we can attend together. German director Wim Wenders' (Paris, Texas) new film is representing Japan for Best International Feature at the Oscars. And more importantly, it promises to be a soul-nourishing

The Right to Choose (Death): LISA FRANKENSTEIN and SHE IS CONANN

In theaters this week: Lisa Frankenstein USA, 2024, d. Zelda Williams, 1h41m, **1/2 Lisa Swallows is a quiet high school girl who likes hanging out at an abandoned cemetery since witnessing her mother's brutal axe murder. Her new stepmom - a psych nurse - thinks she belongs

Electric Dreams: Computers in the Movies of the 1980s and 1990s, Part 1

Inspired by the new documentary/video essay by Amanda Kramer, So Unreal, which is still on the festival circuit, this series will look at how the movies of the '80s and '90s depicted computers, virtual reality and artificial intelligence. I was struck by how many of these movies

Hands Across India: Reflections of Politics in Recent Indian Thrillers

On January 20, millions of Indians joined hands in a line reaching hundreds of miles across the state of Kerala in an act of political protest. ✊🏻️❤🔥#dyfikerala #humanchain #kerala pic.twitter.com/oVMOoqLey5 — Pazuzu (@ra5esh) January 20, 2024 A view of the 620 km long human chain happening right now

Culture Frame: On KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and THE ZONE OF INTEREST

Overview: Killers of the Flower Moon - Recommended ***** The Zone of Interest - Recommended ***** What I'm Watching: TV January 2024 Edition Perspectives on Evil: The audacious filmmaking of KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and THE ZONE OF INTEREST Warning: There are mild spoilers for both of these films

This Week: Who Does He Think Is? - THUNIVU and NANPAKAL NERATHU MAYAKKAM

Overview: Thunivu - Recommended, *** Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam - Highly Recommended, **** Thunivu India (Tamil language), 2023, d. H Vinoth, 2h26m, In theaters now A bank heist in Chennai is immaculately planned. 6 heavily armed men will strike the front and the back of the bank at once, placing bombs to prevent

Top 10 Films of 2022

I still haven't seen every notable release of 2022, and an extra-busy December means I'm behind on "awards season" viewing. But, as usual, a lot of releases won't make it to our neck of the woods until as late as February, so

Featured

Screening: Too Cool to Kill

Happy New Year! The holidays were pretty crazy, and I was traveling, so a lot of planned posts have fallen by the wayside. I barely watched any movies last month. I also tried to get a screening going for December, but theater managers and distribution company contacts kept going on

Friday Marathon: Too Much Food

For after Thanksgiving, three movies about what food means to us: BIG NIGHT USA, 1996, d. Campbell Scott & Stanley Tucci, 1h49m, Amazon/iTunes Tony Shaloub and Stanley Tucci play Italian brothers, Primo and Secondo, named as only their ultra-traditional restaurateur father could name them. Their American venture is struggling.

Friday Marathon: Marilyn Monroe

During the week it's hard to find time to watch movies. On Fridays I try to make up for that with a 6-hour deep dive. I hope my destinations might help inspire your own journeys. Don't Bother to Knock USA, 1952, d. Roy Ward Baker, 1h16m,

This Week: Regional Epics of South Asia - PONNIYIN SELVAN, THE LEGEND OF MAULA JATT, and KANTARA

Overview: Ponniyin Selvan: Part One - Recommended The Legend of Maula Jatt - Not Recommended Kantara - Recommended Ponniyin Selvan: Part One India (Tamil language), 2022, d. Mani Ratnam, 2h47m, In theaters now Ponniyin Selvan is a seminal work of Tamil literature. Now collected in 5 volumes and totaling over