How I Feel (Demonstrated by Sigweavie)

This is how I'm feeling today...

The role of Nathaniel will be played Sigourney Weaver and the role of Life is gross oozy mouthbreather alien.

How I wish I felt! TA-DA!

Triumphant Perserverance Through All Unfortunate Hideous Obstacles!
Reducing All Terrifying Obstacles To Self-Flattering Backdrop Ambience!

I seriously don't know what's wrong with me lately but I'm beset by all sorts of obstacles, some of my own doing (eye strain, major time management issues, job(s) stress, fatigue, personal setbacks) perhaps the cinema gods are punishing me for not loving Gravity??? Sigourney Weaver is just always going to be my favorite Distressed Lady in Outer Space Masterpiece. Sorry Sandra B! 

This is not meant as a pity party just a 'have patience' as I work through this and get back to upping the blogging game a bit for Oscar season. If you want to help, share posts on facebook or twitter or comment regularly (trust that it's like fuel for bloggers) or donate to the blog -- see sidebar -- think of it. For the price of a fancy cup of joe each month you could collectively free up all my time for writing and managing the blog. Or keep enjoying it for free but know that that's like letting aliens slobber all of over me. Your call!

"Gravity" and The Limits of A Perfect 10

a version of this review originally appeared in my column at Towleroad.

There's a brief scene in Nicole Holofcener's engaging indie hit ENOUGH SAID that repeats enough times that it could be the chorus if the movie were a song. A massage therapist (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) arrives at the home of a fit male client who lives on the top floor of his building. Every time she arrives he pops out with a killer smile looking down to greet her. He never thinks to help her as she arduously lugs her massage table up the entire steep flight of stairs.  

Excuse the stretch but this is sometimes how it feels to write about movies. Especially the ones that are true lookers that you're still just not that into.

By any definition GRAVITY is the movie of the moment and by some measures it will come to be regarded as The Movie of the Year...

Click to read more ...

Podcast: Best Actor Captain Phillips? Plus Inside Llewyn Davis

For this weekend we have a mini podcast but good things come in small packages.

Katey & Joe attended the Inside Llewyn Davis premiere at the New York Film Festival and tell Nathaniel about it from Garret Hedlund's ponytail, Carey Mulligan doppelgangers, Coen ambience shenanigans and film festival fashions.

All three of us loved Tom Hanks performance in Captain Phillips and Nick joins us, finally, to chat about the Best Actor race. We reference this "no frontrunners" article if you missed it. You can listen at the bottom of the post or download it on iTunes. Join in the conversation in the comments.

[Editor's Note: Because iTunes only hosts the 10 most recent episodes (I'm not sure why that is), the podcasts for this year's films we'll start disappearing after this particular episode so make sure and download them if you haven't yet listened to any episode.]

Inside Captain Phillips, Best Actor

NYFF: A Dog Day of a Documentary in 'The Dog'

NYFF moves into its final week Here's Glenn on The Dog.

Whether you watched Dog Day Afternoon for the first time or the tenth when The Film Experience’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” series featured it one year ago, you can surely attest to it being one helluva movie. I recently caught it on the big screen and, boy, does it slay audiences. It’s always refreshing to see a film go over so well from a genre that looks comparatively tame compared to modern day equivalents. Shots remain unedited for minutes and yet the action and the tension are palpable.

Now, even if you’ve never seen Sidney Lumet’s 1975 masterpiece then it’s still hard to deny that the true life story was seemingly made for movies...

Click to read more ...

Reader Ranking: Smackdown '68

I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying the newly revived Supporting Actress Smackdown feature. So far we've covered 1952 and 1980 and we've added your rankings as part of the determining factor on who wins! The Year of the Month (awkward title!) for October is "1968". Send me your email ballot before October 28th with "1968" as the subject line, ranking only the supporting actress nominees you've seen with a grade from 1 to 5 hearts as we do for each... If you haven't yet seen them get to renting! Some of these are must-sees, I promise, and not just for these nominated women.

We'll be talking about Faces and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter both of which I've never seen. The other three supporting actress nominees are from films I am gaga crazy for so I'm excited to revisit Rosemary's Baby, Rachel Rachel and Funny Girl. Join me!

REQUESTS? What do you think would improve the Smackdown? And any favorites from 1968? I recently revisited 2001: A Space Odyssey and we're always down for The Planet of the Apes (and so is TV's Mad Men) but what else? Last month I ran out of time to talk about extra films for 1980 but that won't stop me from asking again. Which off-Smackdown '68 films are you most interested in? 

poll by twiigs.com