In the Blogosphere – 2012 Year-End Compilation
by HELEN GEIB
Year-end compilation of my monthly blog posts recommendations.
On The Contractor (by Nick Prigge): “And despite the fact the explosion is of the low rent variety found in direct-to-video offerings (which The Contractor was) you can’t help but think, damn, that Wesley Snipes was BORN to walk away from cars blowing up in the background.” (read more)
On Kalicharan: “It’s another film that exemplifies what has come to be my favorite thing about Hindi cinema, which is that it creates a world in which we simultaneously know exactly what is going to happen and have no idea what to expect.” (read more)
BLOGDANOVICH BY PETER BOGDANOVICH
The Bioscope on Hugo and The Artist: “The Artist genuinely speaks with the language of silent film (much as the elephantine Hugo does not), and years from now people will be saying how they went out to discover for themselves that language being expressed again and again.” (read more)
Cinema Romantico on Night of the Comet: “It goes to show just how much can be accomplished with a lower budget, with paying attention to mood and tone – lighting L.A. as if it were the red planet – without resorting to just banging loud chords on the soundtrack over and over and throwing buckets of blood at scripting and/or production problems.” (more)
Review of Warrior at The Cooler: “Warrior’s basic plot will be familiar to anyone who has seen a sports movie – the protagonists enter a big tournament as long-shots and unknowns, hoping to fight their way to the top – but what’s special about Warrior is that it doesn’t ask us to root for victory itself so much as triumph.” (read more)
Some love for the under-appreciated The Rookie in a series on baseball movies at The Cooler
On Pride of the Yankees: “[It] was released in March 1943, less than two years after Gehrig’s death and with two-and-a-half years to go until Japan surrendered to end World War II, and this context is critical to recognizing the film’s intent.” (read more)
Essay on The Long Goodbye as film and adaptation at The Dancing Image
We should all love our jobs so much: Electric Shadows reports that Run Run Shaw has retired: “The 104 year old tycoon is one of the few remaining links to the first generation filmmakers of China.” (read more)
Considering The Heiress at Films Worth Watching
Films Worth Watching on Thieves’ Highway: “Dassin chose to shoot many sections of the film on-site in the markets of San Francisco, giving the film a pulsing authenticity. There is a buzz to those scenes in the markets that just cannot be duplicated on a set.” (more)
From the Front Row spotlights the Criterion DVD/Blu-ray box set “David Lean Directs Noel Coward”
On Irvma Vep: “The actors chosen to play the roles convey the transnational nature of cinema culture and the transcendent nature of passionate creation perfectly.” (read more)
INDIANAPOLIS MUSEUM OF ART BLOG
Keeping Track readers know my winter has been brightened by the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s Technicolor film series. The IMA’s blog got into the action with guest posts on the history of color in the movies and Powell and Pressburger’s lovely A Matter of Life and Death.
An appreciative analysis of The Raid: Redemption at Kung Fu Cinema
J. Hoberman takes a personal view of Haywire
What do all great films have in common? Little Worlds has the answer: Horses.
Little Worlds gives the nod to Ralph Fiennes’ imaginative direction of Coriolanus
LoveHKFilm provides its annual primer to the year’s best: 48th Golden Horse Awards (read more)
LoveHKFilm on McDull: The Pork of Music: “Despite their origin as illustrated children’s books, the McDull films have never been just for kids. The cuddly character designs – that is, Alice Mak’s original designs for McDull and company – appeal to a younger set but the themes and emotions are really for adults.” (more)
The Matinee crosses off John Carpenter’s The Thing on a list of 12 movie blind spots.
MONDO 70: A WIDE WORLD OF CINEMA
On The Shadow in Behind the Mask: “It all leaves you wondering who wouldn’t see this film and feel cheated, and why a studio would so blithely cheat its presumed audience. I can’t help but feel that it boils down to contempt.” (read more)
Movie Classics puts The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935) into context
On No Country for Old Men at Noir of the Week: “Though generally admired by critics, No Country would alienate viewers with its graphic violence, anger more than a few people with its abrupt ending, and forever baffle movie store employees trying to shelve it under a genre header.” (more)
Noir of the Week on the four adaptations of Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not: “In preparations for this weeks Noir of the Week, I watched four of the movies supposedly based on the novel– considered unfilmable by the author. Michael Curtiz-directed The Breaking Point being the best of the bunch.” (more)
On Four Sons at Only the Cinema: “Indeed, though this film takes place primarily in Germany and draws on the influence of Murnau, its affectionate, sentimental depiction of family life amid a tightly knit community is purely Fordian, a precursor to his Irish films like How Green Was My Valley.” (more)
Only the Cinema on A Matter of Life and Death: “Those moodily lit, sensuous closeups connect these two people at a crucial moment, and the unforgettable effect of this scene lingers over the entirety of the film.” (more)
A Person in the Dark on the challenges of “Loving Film With an Open Heart”
On Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap: “The film has an endearing, easygoing vibe throughout, and the only frustrating aspect of the movie is how little time we get to spend with some of these fascinating characters.” (read more)
The Projection Booth revisited The Phantom Menace.
An informative profile of Gene Kelly’s life and career at Shadows and Satin
Silent Volume on Halloween (1978): “But the score—the simple keyboard piece with its insistent rattle, composed by the film’s director, John Carpenter—gives moments like these their promise of carnage.” (more)
Ticker Talks Film on film memorabilia that won’t break the bank: “There are other cheaper memorabilia curios, which might not get you as much credit as say the official replica of the light saber, but nevertheless they help you have a more rounded and diverse collection.” (read more)
Wonders at the Dark supplies some cinematic context for Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
MISCELLANEOUS
A different perspective on top 10 lists from the LA Times: “The year’s most popular movie at the box office, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2,” barely sneaked onto the most pirated [on BitTorrent] movie list at No. 10, having been illegally downloaded 6 million times.” (read more)
Thank you so much for including my write-up on Gene Kelly in your year-end compilation, Helen! You made my night! :o )