tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214Thu, 09 Oct 2025 21:56:06 +0000moviescriticismchatcomicscriticsblogslazinesslistshorrordc comicsscreening logtvbloggerscomedysuper heroesrpgsflashbloggingbooksgamestop tensci-fiactingm. night shyamalansopranosjackson guiceliteraturemarvel comicsmike baronpoliticsstory gamesthe happening5x5actionjohn byrnelegendslit-ficnascaradaptationsapatowdiscussionfxgeoff johnsgrindhousejohn ostranderlen weinmusicnovelsracingunderratedalan moorecoen brotherscrimecrossover eventdcdirectorsdogsgrant morrisonlinksmovie goingoscarsrob zombiespiessportsthe hills have eyesthe punishertim and erictime out of jointwarwarren ellis30052abc comicsakira kurosawaamazing spider-manartblake edwardsblogathonboard gamesbondbournebrian michael bendisburning wheelbuster keatonchildren of menculturecurb your enthusiasmdan clowesdavid fincherde palmadenny o'neildesigndevil's rejectsdonald westlakeearnhardtfellinigenreheinleinhistoryjeff gordonjohn le carreknocked upkyle bakerlittle miss sunshinemark millarmasters of horrornerd culturenerdnycnew avengersnew york cityno country for old mennoirplastic mansam peckinpahshab-al-hiri roachsitcomsspeed racerstar warsstephen kingsteve dillonsuperbadtalladega nightstarantinothe bourne ultimatumthe godfatherthe pink pantherthe spiritwachowski broswes cravenwilliam wellman1981199219962004200620088 1/2James l Brooksabsolute friendsacademy awardsadult swimal jolsonall-star squadronamerican graffitiandrew sarrisanimal kingdomanimal mananimationarmy of darknessarmy-at-lovearrested develpmentart school confidentialatonementaudiencesaustralian crime moviesauteurismavant gardeavataravengersben templesmithbertrand tavernierbestbiopicsbizblack dahliablack snake moanblack summerblackgasboratbrad meltzerbreachbrickbruce campbellbuffalo billbujalskiburn after readingbusyc.s. lewiscar chasescartcartooningcgichanging your mindcharley bowerschris wareclassicismclint eastwoodcloverfieldcolombianacontroversycrossoversculture of awesomedan slottdarwyn cookedave arnesondave gibbonsdavid thomasday for nightdeja vudogs in the vineyarddouglas sirkdr. whodumadungeons and dragonsegged oneightballelmore leonarderic wareheimespionagef for fakefantasyfatefellfinal destination 2frank millerfrank santorofriendsfunny ha hageorge lucasgilbert hernandezgoodfellasgooglegore vidalgreen lanterngreg ruckagrendelguillermo del torohallelujah i'm a bumhappy-go-luckyhendrickshollywood knightshostelhouse of 100 corpseshustle and flowhwy 115identity crisisidiocracyikiruimprintimusindyinfinite crisisinternetirlj. michael straczynskijack kirbyjacques tatijapanjasonjason aaronjeff carlsonjerry ordwayjim hanley's universejimmie johnsonjobjoe dantejoe statonjohn boltonjohn fordjohn romita jrjohn scalzijohnny tojuan jose rypjudgmentjulius schwartzkeanu reeveskeith giffenkids todaykill billla stradalazylet the right one inlewis milestonelove and rocketslovecraftluc bessonlyricman huntmarc forstermark waidmarv wolfmanmatt wagnermatthias lehmannmax fiumaramethodmichael baymichel gondrymillenniummon onclemonster housemort weisingermovie clubmutual appreciationnarnianash edgertonneal adamsnegativityneil gaimannetflixnew wavenextnextwave agents of hatenicolas cageoeofficeold man's warold school renaissanceolivier megatonomw universeone note wondersorson wellespans labyrinthparkerpatern recognitionpaul austerpaul di filippopaul greengrasspauline kaelpaybackpersonalpimpsplague warplotpodcastspolarispopeyepost-apocalypticpre-codepresidentsprimerprometheapunditrypunisher: war zonequantum of solaceradioreadingrecommendationsred beardremakesrick gearyrick veitchrock and rollron howardroy thomassam raimisearchesseinfeldself reflectionselina's big scoresilentssimpsonsslothslumdog millionairesons and daughterssorcererspionespirit of the centurystan leestanwyckstar trekstarship trooperssteve ditkosteve englehartsteve mcnivensteve weissmansteven spielbergstranger than fictionstreet levelstuart immonensummersupermansword and planettakashi miiketatiterminator 2the beach boysthe beatlesthe bird and the beethe blair witch projectthe boysthe brooklyn folliesthe dark knightthe fatal bulletthe gamethe ghost brigadesthe good shepherdthe hostthe island of dr. moreauthe lady in the waterthe luna brothersthe matrixthe osterman weekendthe phantom menacethe promisethe puffy chairthe queenthe questionthe river's edgethe squarethe tripperthe walking deadthe wicker manthe wirethird way comicstomas alfredsontrack of the cattransformerstriple agenttrue crimeultravacationwar fictionwar gameswatchmenwebserieswes andersonwill eisnerwilliam gibsonwolverinewoody allenwritingwuxiayikesyou can't get there from hereyoutubezodiachttp://foragerblog.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)Blogger390125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-8833568926159939147Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:48:00 +00002011-12-07T03:59:04.002-05:00criticismjohn le carremoviesspiestomas alfredsonThere’s very little movement in Tomas Alfredson’s adaptation of John Le Carré’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Or perhaps I should say there’s lots of very little movements: a woman steps through a doorway, two people catch each others’ eye across a party, someone sights down a rifle, a car window opens a few inches, a man pulls a trigger. Wait - do we see the trigger being pulled or just hear thehttp://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/thoughts-on-tinker-tailor-soldier-spy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-8639892788033801959Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:35:00 +00002012-09-25T18:00:18.273-04:00actioncolombianacriticismcriticsluc bessonolivier megaton Colombiana is a good action movie, but, looking over some of the reviews for it, I think David Edelstein - who doesn't like the movie - does a better job of describing it than most of the critics who did like it. For instance, Christy Lemire gave it a positive review and called it "sexy and silly": Zoe Saldana is sexy in the movie, but I don't think anything about the movie is silly (which is http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/colombiana-megaton-2011.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-6141543992257510084Fri, 12 Aug 2011 10:45:00 +00002011-08-12T06:52:46.810-04:00criticismmoviesnew wavepre-codestanwyckwilliam wellmanSome thoughts after seeing several "pre-code" movies at the Film Forum over the last few weeks: The freedom I see in these movies isn't just in terms of content: their narrative form is freer than that of the movies that came after, as Hollywood's storytelling and genre conventions are still in flux. The two kinds of freedom are intimately related: as the code becomes more strongly enforced, http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/some-thoughts-on-code.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-7605604966188714045Tue, 07 Jun 2011 14:11:00 +00002011-06-07T10:23:13.420-04:00animal kingdomaustralian crime moviesclassicismcriticismmoviesnash edgertonthe squareTwo Australian crime movies, both available on Netflix Watch Instant, both worth seeing. Interesting to watch them together because one is good and the other is excellent, and the reasons for that difference in quality are instructive.ANIMAL KINGDOM (David Michod, 2010) is a solid, serious movie. It's made in what I'd consider to be the contemporary conventional mode for this kind of material: http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/two-australian-crime-movies.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-1369280511455499649Mon, 09 May 2011 21:26:00 +00002011-05-09T17:30:32.413-04:00comedycriticismcriticsJames l Brooksmichel gondrymoviesron howardThree movies that got bad reviews that I more or less liked: The Green Hornet (Michel Gondry, 2011), The Dilemma (Ron Howard, 2011), and (especially) How Do You Know (James L. Brooks, 2010):THE GREEN HORNET: Aside from not having Robert Downey Jr.in it (granted, a big aside from) this is superior to Iron Man in just about every way. Clever action sequences, good chemistry between Rogen and Jay http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/three-movies.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-5313827516772534043Sat, 02 Oct 2010 13:36:00 +00002010-10-02T09:41:01.507-04:00criticismmoviesscreening logwoody allenBack on track...Ditrict 13: Ultimatum (Patrick Alessandrin, 2009) (v) *** - Not as strong as the first District 13, but still quite good: better than any American action movie this side of Crank. The kung-fu choreography is inventive and Luc Besson’s Gallic, un-PC sense of humor is in full effect.Centurion (Neil Marshall, 2010) ** - I agree with Jim Emerson: this is an action movie stripped downhttp://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/screening-log-september-2010.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-2856122042299158426Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:23:00 +00002011-01-26T14:51:51.763-05:00criticismmoviesscreening logI went back to school in May and didn’t have time to see much of anything. But around the middle of June I got into a groove and started catching up with stuff via Netflix Watch Instant and DVRing TCM. I had most of August off, so I even managed to get to the theater to catch some of the big summer movies. But I’m back in school now, and I have no time at all to write this up as a proper http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/screening-log-rest-of-summer-drive-by.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-7673665982598449600Fri, 02 Jul 2010 22:30:00 +00002010-07-02T18:41:58.649-04:00criticismdavid thomasmusicrock and rollthe beach boysthe beatlesDavid Thomas makes the claim that rock music is the voice of American folk culture and, because of that, non-Americans can't make rock music. I'm not sure that I believe him, but I do think he's onto something. It does seem that there is a major - I'd even argue central - feature of American rock that did not travel with the music when it was picked up by British bands. Whether or not this http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/why-all-summer-long-is-better-rock.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-7976451651693367054Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:34:00 +00002010-06-27T08:35:41.524-04:00criticismmoviesscreening logSo - blogging has been light here because I left my job in order to go back to school in May and, as it turns out, school has been more work (and more rewarding work) than the old 9 to 5. Most of these movies I saw in April: a few of them I saw more recently. I'm finding it difficult to put together the 2+ hours necessary to devote to a single movie: I've spent my leisure time (what there is ofhttp://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/screening-log-april-to-late-june-2010.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-3992946864753736326Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:38:00 +00002010-04-27T16:00:31.100-04:00designgamesrpgsstreet level(At this point, this game is a broken rip-off, but I thought I'd get it out there. I have to playtest, but my suspicion is that I've seriously overdesigned here and that there's not much room for actually playing anything.)Street LevelStreet Level is a game about people who put on super-hero costumes and go out and try to protect their communities from various dangers. It is inspired by:-the "http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/street-level.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-4122798699905769132Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:19:00 +00002010-04-16T10:22:56.233-04:00andrew sarriscartooningcomicscriticismlistsInspired by this comments thread:The PantheonWinsor McCayGeorge HerrimanE.C. SegarFrank KingHarold GrayChester GouldRoy CraneWalt KellyJules FeifferHarvey KurtzmanCarl BarksCharles SchulzJack KirbyR. CrumbThe Far Side of ParadiseGeorge McManusHal FosterCrockett JohnsonMilt CaniffBill MauldinWill EisnerJack ColeJohn StanleyOtto Binder*Saul SteinbergBernie KrigsteinSteve DitkoLeonard StarrGarry http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/american-comics-after-andrew-sarris.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-7467862703425750601Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:49:00 +00002011-01-26T14:54:21.131-05:00criticismjohn fordmoviesscreening logTwo Rode Together (John Ford, 1961) (v) ** - The kind of a movie die hard auteurists are likely to overvalue: a good-but-not-great that happens to be very interesting to think about in terms of how it relates to other movies - other John Ford movies (mainly The Searchers), other westerns (the Anthony Mann movies where Jimmy Stewart plays an amoral anti-hero).Midnight (Mitchell Leisen, 1939) (v) *http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/screening-log-march-2010.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-4836821795082954497Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:22:00 +00002010-03-15T15:23:52.156-04:00criticismmoviesscreening logNote: This one is late and anemic, but March's should be a doozy.The Damned United (Tom Hooper, 2009) (v) * - Sheen, Broadbent, Spall, and Meaney are all very fine. The movie itself, though, is the kind where every beat is played exactly as you'd expect.Hunger (Steve McQueen, 2008) (v) ***13 Rue Madeleine (Henry Hathaway, 1947) (v) **Bright Star (Jane Campion, 2009) (v) *** - A surprise.Killshot http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/screening-log-february-2010.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-6965519043294136084Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:16:00 +00002010-03-05T10:20:39.076-05:00listsmoviesscreening logtop tenI'm putting the finishing touches on my February Screening Log, but since I've now been doing these for just over a year I thought it would be a good time to share my "Top 20" list for 2009 NYC releases, which serves as a shorthand for "my year in (new) movies".I've enjoyed putting together these monthly screening logs. For one thing, "monthly" is just about the only kind of blogging schedule I'mhttp://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-year-in-movies.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-2135663583711050959Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:06:00 +00002010-02-12T12:09:01.925-05:00comicsdc comicsgeoff johnssupermanOne of the things I liked the most about Geoff Johns' run on Action Comics was the commonsensical, kitchen-sink approach to what I call "the Mythos". Johns' stories all grew out of earlier Superman stories, but there was something agreeably laid back about the way that, say, "Last Son" (co-written by Richard Donner) riffed on the Superman movies and "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes" http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/superman-secret-origin-1-4.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-1305327101019890820Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:12:00 +00002010-02-04T10:14:23.196-05:00criticismmoviesscreening logApocalypto (Mel Gibson, 2006) (v) (r) **** - Mel Gibson's best movie and, I think, one of the key action movies of the aughts, if only because it bucked so many of the decade's trends.Wanted (Timur Bekmambetov, 2008) (v)Pandorum (Christian Alvart, 2009) (v) * - Effective, if derivative, videogame inspired sci-fi horror flick. Marks the first time I have liked Ben Foster in anything.The Final http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/screening-log-january-2010.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-7616606185630439940Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:11:00 +00002010-01-15T16:23:04.892-05:00comicscriticismjason aaronmarvel comicssteve dillonthe punisherI have to admit that I like the bizarre naming conventions of mainstream super-hero comics that Tom Spurgeon makes fun of. "Punishermax" isn't as gloriously, needlessly confusing and baroque as, say, Final Crisis Aftermath Dance, but there's still something off about it. For one thing, shouldn't the "Max" Punisher title be the one where he's running around as a Frankenstein monster killing http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/punishermax-1-3-by-jason-aaron-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-6242682827694139076Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:48:00 +00002010-01-11T15:31:13.232-05:00criticismmoviesscreening log(500) Days of Summer (Marc Webb, 2009) (v) * - You know how sometimes people complain that film critics can't enjoy movies because they watch too many of them? In general, I think that's a bogus complaint, but, here, specifically, I think that I would probably have enjoyed this movie a lot more had I not spent the last year catching up with Hong Sang-soo's very clear-eyed relationship movies and http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/screening-log-december-2009-and-early.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-4272571588976463919Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:19:00 +00002009-12-01T10:20:07.036-05:00criticismscreening logThe Limits of Control (Jim Jarmusch, 2009) (v) *** - Trippy.Platform (Jia Zhang Ke, 2000) (v) **** - Time still changes everything.House of Bamboo (Sam Fuller, 1955) (v) *** - Location, location, location.The Box (Richard Kelly, 2009) *** - I.e., Richard Kelly's Eyes Wide Shut.The Roaring Twenties (Raoul Walsh, 1939) (v) (r) **** - Time changes everything.The Plow That Broke the Plains (Pare http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/screening-log-november.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-1708832306929938970Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:05:00 +00002009-11-11T10:07:33.475-05:00bloggingI started another blog for short, slightly more estoric posts on film criticism and related matters. I'm keeping my informal, off the cuff screening log entries here, though.http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/another-blog.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-3030418466884692975Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:51:00 +00002009-11-06T15:52:50.853-05:00criticismmoviesscreening logPredator (John McTiernan, tktk) (v) (r) ** - Truly, a strange movie: the sci-fi actioner that pares itself down as it goes along, so that the last act - far from being an fx-extravaganza - is a nearly naked Schwarzenegger playing boy scout in the jungle.X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Gavin Hood, 2009) (v) * - I really like the second string Marvel movies, especially when I catch them on cable TV: theyhttp://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/screening-log-halloween-weekend.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-4616559748730849428Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:10:00 +00002009-10-30T17:43:09.863-04:00criticismlistsmoviesscreening logJerichow (Christian Petzold, 2008) (v) *** - An exploration of the nuances and biases of viewer identification, in stripped-down B-movie drag. It would all be a bit too clinical, academic, and even pedantic, if it weren't for Himli Sözer's performance, which gives the movie an emotional depth to match its intellectual ambitions.Still Walking (Hirokazu Koreeda, 2008) (v) *** - If I had more free http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/screening-log-october.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-3130998043199829325Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:39:00 +00002009-10-06T09:46:42.397-04:00criticismmoviesscreening logPolice, Adjective (Corneliu Porumboiu, 2009) ***Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray, 1954) (v) (r) ***** - Did I say On Dangerous Ground was my favorite Nicholas Ray movie? I hadn't seen this in years, and the image quality of the VHS tape I had first seen it on really did not do it justice. Also: most of the discussion of this movie talks up its unconventionality (less sympathetic viewers might phrase http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/screening-log-september.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-6235813614289434182Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:49:00 +00002009-09-09T19:43:23.973-04:00listsmoviestop tenI feel that I'm finally caught up enough with my movie-watching that I can throw out an interim "best list" that (a) doesn't have any filler and (b) took some thought/reflection about what didn't make the cut.1. Two Lovers (James Gray)2. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)3. Pontypool (Bruce McDonald)4. Duplicity (Tony Gilroy)5. Summer Hours (Olivier Assayas)6. Liverpool (Lisandro Alonso)7. http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/top-9-as-of-9909.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10506214.post-7312661174346651179Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:25:00 +00002009-09-02T16:40:05.459-04:00criticismmoviesscreening logHalloween 2 (Rob Zombie, 2009) * - This is the first Rob Zombie movie where I haven't been shaking in anger, fear, or disgust when I left the theatre. In other words, a bit of a disappointment. Though many of his strengths are on display - the worlds in his movies feel lived in, there's a weight there that most Hollywood filmmaking (and I'm not just talking about horror/genre filmmaking) lacks http://foragerblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/screening-log-late-august.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Jon Hastings)3