The Austin Chronicle has an article on an, um, interesting remake of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ You’re not likely to ever see it—it was made by three ten-year-olds from Mississippi—but there’s always the chance it’ll come out on DVD. (And before you write it off as a simple little home movie, bear in mind […]
That’s just my pet snake Reggie
Posted by Ben on August 19, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/thats-just-my-pet-snake-reggie/
Elephant (***1/2)
(2003) dir. Gus Van Sant – w/ Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson, Elias McConnell, Jordan Taylor, Carrie Finklea, Nicole George, Brittany Mountain, etc. Synopsis: In what is essentially a fictionalization of the Columbine school shootings (and school violence more generally), Gus Van Sant explores a day in the life of a school that about […]
Posted by Ben on August 7, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/elephant/
Punch-Drunk Love (****1/2)
(2002) P.T. Anderson – Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Luiz Guzman, & Philip Seymour Hoffman Synopsis: Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) isn’t living a worst-case scenario, but he’s not exactly walking on sunshine. His seven sisters—and the absence of anything else in his life—have him cornered into alternating periods of rabid defensiveness and nervous reticence. He runs […]
Posted by Ben on July 31, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/punch-drunk-love-12/
Clear Concrete, Short Songs, Movie Bunnies, Canadian Cities, Questions, and Flirting Billboards
Listen, Stop & Roll. The World Of Stuart has a neat little project, Big Songs for Little Attention Spans: 100 songs you can download. Not only 100 songs, but 100 short songs; 100 songs that actually fit on one compact disc. Movie Magic. And, from the people who brought you The Shining, reenacted by bunnies […]
Posted by Ben on July 29, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/clear-concrete-short-songs-flirting-billboards-etc/
Depends what you mean by “Best”
The NYT has a list of the 1,000 best movies ever made. So they say. Best of all, though, you don’t need to be registered to see the list. I’n’t that spectacular? (At least, I don’t think you need to be registered to see it. If it turns out you do, lemme know.) Of the […]
Posted by Ben on July 22, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/1000-best-movies/
La Cité des enfants perdus (****)
(City of Lost Children) (1995) dirs. Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet – Ron Perlman, Daniel Emilfork, Judith Vittet, Mireille Mossé, Joseph Lucien, etc., and The City Synopsis: The core story, maybe, is that there’s a mad scientist (of sorts) who, has… well, problems, as mad scientists are wont to have. Unable to dream, said mad […]
Posted by Ben on July 17, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/city-of-lost-children/
Bubba Ho-Tep (***1/2)
(2002) Don Coscarelli – with Bruce Campbell as Elvis, Ossie Davis as JFK, Bob Ivy as Bubba Ho-tep (not that you’d know), Larry Pennell as Kemosabe; also starring Ella Joyce, Heidi Marnhout, and Daniels Roebuck and Schweiger as incompetent Hearse Drivers Synopsis: ‘Bubba Ho-Tep’ finds Elvis resting in a nursing home in Mud Creek, Texas, […]
Posted by Ben on July 11, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/bubba-ho-tep-12/
I’ll see your Mussorgsky and raise you a Handel
Have you ever found yourself wondering what classical and/or operatic music was used in, say, Natural Born Killers?1 Or perhaps Babe, Pig in the City2, or Evil Dead II3? Well, now you can find out, thanks to the all-too-aptly-named “Classical and Opera Music Used in Movies” page. You can browse by movie, composer, etc., and […]
Posted by Ben on July 4, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/movietunes/
Trials of Henry Kissinger (***1/2)
(2002) dir Eugene Jarecki – starring Brian Cox as the Narrator and Henry Kissinger, Christopher Hitchens, Seymour Hersch, William Safire, and a bunch of other people as themselves. Synopsis: Henry Kissinger: wise elder statesman, or war criminal? Or both? These are the basic questions of this documentary, which combines interviews with historical footage, declassified gov’t […]
Posted by Ben on July 3, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/trials-of-henry-kissinger/
Various instances of reportage & commentary on Fahrenheit: 9/11
NYTimes: Michael Moore’s anti-Bush “Fahrenheit 9/11” became the highest-grossing documentary of all time on its first weekend in release, taking in $21.8 million as it packed theaters across the country this weekend. (NYT: “The Political ‘Fahrenheit’ Sets Record at Box Office” by Sharon Waxman [June 28, 2004]) Roger Ebert: Q. In Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11,” […]
Posted by Ben on June 28, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/various-instances-of-reportage-on-fahrenheit-911/