Stars and stuff on the silver screen.
Well, I guess I am a rather interesting man — refined, intelligent. But that stomach, that stomach! (Baron Cefalù) You never know what caprice will keep you away from a movie, and what whim will draw you in. Even during the last few years, when I’ve finally gotten around to educating …
There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. (Elie Wiesel) I’m not especially familiar with the work of Scott Kurtz. Cursory investigation reveals that his webcomic, PvP, is quite successful, though, which may explain why …
The reason boredom deserves such scrutiny is that it represents pure, undiluted time in all its repetitive, redundant, monotonous splendor. Boredom is your window on the properties of time that one tends to ignore to the likely peril of one’s mental equilibrium. It is your window on time’s infinity. Once this …
Nineteen Eighty-Four is not often thought of as a useful text for illumination of the art of criticism, but like all great writers, Orwell contained multitudes of meaning in his writing, leaving great lessons barely concealed for application to whatever subject needed them. At the book’s very beginning, Winston Smith opens …
Donald Dunn, whose old man named him “Duck” when the both of them were sitting around watching cartoons in their modest house in Memphis, was touring Japan with his old friend the Colonel, backing up Eddie Lee Floyd as they’d done so many times before in the past. After last …
What does a man need – really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in – and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That’s all, in the material sense, and we know it. But we …
Rather than do the predictable, not to mention timely and sensible, thing and write about the season première of Justified, I thought I’d take a different approach. Raylan Givens, the quick-triggered U.S. marshal who is the protagonist of the show, is played by Timothy Olyphant, who also played Seth Bullock, …
Dear geeks, Congratulations! It is my understanding that you have taken over mainstream culture recently, and while this has caused consternation in certain quarters, I am the magnanimous sort, and besides, whenever someone says the words “culture war”, my eyes glaze over like a Honey Baked Ham. It has, however, …
Hey, cats and kittens! My new book, If You Like the Sopranos, is out today! Your local bookstore is just waiting for you to stop by and pick up a copy; you can also order it online from, among other places, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s, and the publisher, Limelight …
Some of the High Hat gang were updating their 100-best-movies list; I haven’t touched mine since the pre-Netflix days, and I’ve seen more movies in the last five years than I did in the 35 years before that. So I figured it was time I did the same. Alas, I …
So, there’s this: And there’s nothing inherently wrong with the argument that big dumb summer blockbusters should be held to different critical standards than art films. The thing is, though, the video short-circuits that argument, calling you a snobby effete hipster jackoff with a funny haircut for daring to equivocate …
Terence Malick’s new film, Treee of Life, has debuted at Cannes, and as is drearily predictable, it’s already causing waves of controversy. Booing, walkouts, endless vitriol, critics and viewers exchanging invective — the only difference between this and his other films is that now people are having the arguments on …
Spring is here, and a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of love. I am not a young man, nor lovable neither, so my fancy once again turns to all that is fraudulent, disinformed, and cozened in the world of criticism. We’ve spoken of this before, and I suppose nothing …
“I understand that about twenty years ago, you were interested in trainspotting.” “Well, what’s that got to do with my bloody music?” Trainspotting turned up in a pile of undiscarded DVDs the other day, and I gave it another whirl. It’s hard to imagine it’s been 15 years since …
And now, Ludic Live’s first-ever reader poll: who’s the greatest femme fatale in film noir?
