Monthly Archives: September 2014

Begin Again

27 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by in Films

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

Music can change the world because it can change people. Because people suck.

by Thom Yee

Begin Again images courtesy of The Weinstein Company

Begin Again images courtesy of The Weinstein Company

Ask any artist, any real artist, about what they do, why they do it, or who they think they are, and you’ll probably either get an intentionally pithy, almost rehearsed and ultimately empty answer or some vague construct built equally on furtive musings and deliberate concealment. More often than not, artists don’t know who they are or what they’re doing, and least of all what they want, and if they do, it’s usually more as the result of what others have said about them than any genuine self-reflection.

In general, I think it’s a falsehood for anyone seeking true self-expression to really know what’s going on, and the best most artists can ever hope for is to access and then continue finding that space where the images, notes and words just keep flowing like a force from on high, barely conscious of the material bursting forth, as they try to record, shape, and ultimately contain it all.

Continue reading →

Chef

20 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by in Films

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

After this you should probably get something real to eat

by Thom Yee

Chef images courtesy of Open Road Films

Chef images courtesy of Open Road Films

The cult of celebrity chefs may be one of the more peculiar developments of the early 21st century, but it’s a celebrity that’s at least a lot more earned than many of the other celebrities that have risen and fallen over that same time. Rather than trading explicitly in their looks, notoriety or leaked nudes, the celebrity chef must use his implicitly earned skills, often developed over years of a culinary schooling several times more difficult and demanding than your common business or dental schools (though who am I to talk, all I ever learned in school is how to write things down I hope make me seem thoughtful or clever).

However, it’s also true that the chefs for whom celebrity has come most naturally tend to be those who combine some level of photogenic intangibles and an unpredicted twist (e.g., they act crazy and wear sunglasses on the back of their head or… maybe they yell a lot), but there’s also a warmth in their tone and methods, an invitation to a world that’s not so far from our own that lets us all know that these are people often worth respecting, doing something much more worth watching.

Continue reading →

Snowpiercer

13 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by in Films

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

I am a hat, you are a shoe. I belong on the head, you belong on the foot. Know your place. Keep your place. Be a shoe.

by Thom Yee

Snowpiercer images courtesy of RADiUS-TWC

Snowpiercer images courtesy of RADiUS-TWC

One summer movie you probably didn’t see or even contemplate over the last few months is Snowpiercer. For its North American theatrical release, the film opened in a grand total of eight locations, followed by a slightly wider release to 150 mostly art house theatres the next week, and straight to video-on-demand services the week after that. All of which suggests a real piece of crap, but It’s also a piece that broke box office records in South Korea during its initial release in the summer of 2013, and has gone on to earn $100 million worldwide. A sci-fi actioner starring Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton and John Hurt — in what’s kind of an odd mirroring of Only Lovers Left Alive, another art house movie I reviewed recently, only swap out Captain America for Loki — you might ask what happened given its overseas pedigree and potential mainstream appeal. Surely if there had been any concerted effort at all to market the movie, some people would have seen it. Perhaps so, but as with all things that sound stupid in show business, the answer comes down to yet more Hollywood Upstairs Accounting. Continue reading →

Ghostbusters II

06 Saturday Sep 2014

Posted by in Films

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

We’re back!  And with booty ghosts!

by Thom Yee

Ghostbusters II images courtesy of Columbia Pictures

Ghostbusters II images courtesy of Columbia Pictures

It was thirty years ago that Ghostbusters was released on an unsuspecting populace, and the world was never the same. Because the world is never the same. Frankly speaking and if nothing else, we change results just by measuring them, so of course the world was never the same. The film, both a critical and commercial success, rocketed Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis to superstardom, while earning two Academy Award nominations, a top thirty rank on the American Film Institute’s list of best comedies, and launched an entire industry of cartoons, toys, and various other cultural minutiae.

But, while this year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the original film’s release, with all the commensurate screenings still available in your area, what a lot of people have forgotten is that this thirtieth anniversary is also the twenty-fifth anniversary of Ghostbusters II. Continue reading →