Links for 2007-03-14 [del.icio.us] - Rmail

  • Newsweek Comics: Captain America, 1941-2007
    "Stan Lee and Marvel Comics’s Joe Quesada contemplate Captain America's surprising death." Lee seems slightly bewildered to be asked about the affair and doesn't seem sure of the character's origin...
  • Where Did It All Go Right?: 'Not Going Out' wins Royal Television Society Award
    Yeah! Andrew Collins and Lee Mack's brilliant sitcom gets some of the recognition it deserves.
  • Joss Stone Thank You
    The acknowledgments for the new album are so long they've been posted online instead. To be honest, Joss and I parted company when she said the first 2 albums aren't very good even though they're clearly better than the average new single.
  • Belle de Jour: So much to say, so little space.
    The woman who in the past told us everything, suddenly can't say anything at all.
  • blogjam: Tripe
    Fraser attempts a recipe: "To be quite frank, it’s disgusting. It has the texture of mucus. Or glue. And it tastes like decomposing leek."
  • paidContent.org: Bravo Makes First Media Buy Of Its Own: Acquires TelevisionWithoutPity.com
    Is nothing sacred?
  • filmlog: Caddyshack (1980)
    In general a grimly unamusing and dated comedy whose only light is Bill Murray's grounds keeper. I'm not sure quite why my impression (I laughed once) is so divorced from the critical reaction, but Rodney Dangerfield?!? Really!?!
  • filmlog: Oldboy (2003)
    Fairly horrifying but compulsive revenge thriller which precisely demonstrates how behind the rest of the world Hollywood is in relation to filmmaking technique. What it lacks in narrative focus it more than makes up for in sheer artistry.
  • filmlog: Strangers on a Train (1951)
    Classic bit of Hitchcock from the period before he began to favour character intricacies over plot. What's particularly surprising is the dark humour that reaches through film, particularly in relation to the murder at its centre.
  • filmlog: The Decline of the American Empire (1986)
    It's the French 'Big Chill' with less plot more talk. And what talk! This essays enough promiscuity to fill ten other movies and it's just hilarious. But my favourite moment is the opening shot, a long drawn out push-in through the hallway.
  • filmlog: The Barbarian Invasions (2004)
    Unlike other reunion sequels manages to be its own story without necessarily compromising what went before. Extraordinary performance from Rémy Girard as the cancer victim whose decline broke my heart. Just sublime.
  • filmlog: Full Metal Jacket (1987)
    Repeats many of the problems with Kubrick's films, such as poor structuring leading to a lack of empathy with the characters. The film is best in the opening hour in the training camp; once it reaches Vietnam there's nothing we haven't seen before.
  • filmlog: The Queen (2006)
    Absolutely brilliant film totally deserving of all of its awards -- Michael Sheen was robbed at the Oscars. Interesting to see that the archive footage was researched and collated by Adam Curtis maker of 'The Power of Nightmares' and 'The Trap'.
  • filmlog: Bubble (2006)
    It could be argued that this is playing the same aesthetic games here as with 'The Good German' but its still a very impressive piece of work given that most of the dialogue was improvised and it was almost shot Dogme-style. Rewarding.
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