Russian gentleman: So who is to say what is moral? Sonja: Morality is subjective. Russian gentleman: Subjectivity is objective. Sonja: Moral notions imply attributes to substances which exist only in relational duality. Russian gentleman: Not as an essential extension of…
Category: Movies
Movies, Neglected Cinema
Prince of Darkness is a John Carpenter gem
I have two John Carpenter movies on my Neglected Cinema’s list. Why two Carpenter movies? Primarily because I am a fan of his work, but also because if there is any list of the great modern-era directors that is underrated…
Movies, My Quora answers, Orson Welles
What are the ten best movies of all time?
I'm looking at this question semi-scientifically. When you look at the 10 "best" of anything, you have to look at the characteristics of that "thing" and then find examples where every identified characteristic is exemplary. For movies, I think the…
Movies, Neglected Cinema
The Monkee’s movie HEAD was ahead of its time
“Pleasure – the inevitable byproduct of our civilization… The tragedy of our time, my young friends, is you may get exactly what you want.” When I was pulling together a list of movies to view or revisit as part of…
Movies, Neglected Cinema
New regular series: Neglected Cinema
I love movies, and I’ve always had a specific affinity for movies that aren’t incredibly popular or well known. There’s something about seeing and enjoying an obscure film that makes me happy. It’s like finding a rare gem in a…
Movies, Neglected Cinema, TV
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me blu-ray review
On February 23rd, 1989, Laura Palmer died. And we all heard about it. That’s the date, in the fictional world of Twin Peaks, that the high school homecoming queen met her end… The pivotal event that was the moment that…
Geek, Movies, My Quora answers
What’s the most awesome thing you’ve ever done?
It was at Dragon*Con 2009, a HUGE convention in Atlanta, GA. One of my all-time favorite filmmakers, Terry Gilliam, was there, promoting his (then new) movie The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Terry Gilliam had a panel on Friday afternoon, in a…
Featured Articles, Movies, TV
On pop culture, and drowning in abundance
When is the last time you got legitimately excited about a new movie or TV show? When you had a moment where the idea of seeing the premiere genuinely got your energy level up? If you’re like me, it probably…
Movies, My Quora answers
Why are British detectives and spies depicted as more sophisticated than American detectives and spies, even in American movies?
Why are the British detectives and spies portrayed as more sophisticated than Americans in our movies? Three reasons I can think of. First, the genres and the archetypes of said genres both come from the United Kingdom, in an age…
Geek, Movies, Trek, TV
A feast of riches
He was crestfallen. The actor John DeLancie was standing in front of an auditorium filled with hundreds of people. It was August 2011, at the official Star Trek convention. Best known for his role of Q in Star Trek: the…
Movies
Movies, I watch movies: four mini-reviews
I’ve been spending my copious spare time recently catching up on movies I’ve missed. Here’s some quick thoughts on four of them. Fright Night This remake of the original Roddy McDowell vampire flick was a pleasant surprise. It’s a wafer-thin…
Movies, My Quora answers
What movies do people enjoy watching over and over, and why?
A purely subjective list, obviously… here’s mine. Singin’ in The Rain – The best musical, ever. It is pure happiness in cinematic form. It’ll cure what ails you! The Godfather – The best movie, ever. It’s flawless. Citizen Kane –…
Geek, Movies
Build your own James Bond Car!
I was at a newsstand here in Sydney last week and was surprised to find a really cool magazine, the first issue of a series that allowed you to build a super-detailed 1/8th scale model of the Aston Martin DB5…
Movies
Belated review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes brings needed pathos to the summer blockbuster
I’m an Apeophile. That’s what people call fans of the Planet of the Apes movie series, and it’s a crappy name. It’s worse than “Trekkie” as a descriptive term – that could be considered derogatory by some fans, but at…
Geek, Movies, My Quora answers, Trek, TV
What is about William Shatner that has allowed him to have "four acts" in his Hollywood career when the majority barely have one?
Here's some of the factors that come into play. A key one: Shatner has lived through lean times in the past (post Trek he ended up doing TV commercials for margarine)… And so when the work comes, he grabs it…
Featured Articles, Movies
The absent corpse: How Hollywood is hiding us from death
UPDATE: In the wake of the Aurora killings at a movie theatre showing The Dark Knight Rises, and with so many opinions being propagated around movie violence and it’s potential influence on what happened, I thought it would be appropriate…