About a week ago, I noticed that the “hits” on my blog almost doubled overnight, and they have only continued to increase after that. Since I haven’t been speed-dating or indiscriminately publicizing my blog site, this really didn’t make any sense to me. So, after a little further investigation, I discovered that somehow, I really…
Read MoreI finally got around to watching Sidney Lumet’s critically-acclaimed 2007 film Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. Of course, Lumet really is one of the best of American directors, especially adept at manufacturing and sustaining cinematic tension, as is obvious from many of his previous films like 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, The…
Read MoreA few months ago, on the New York Times book-blog Paper Cuts, over 400 people reported what they believed to be their own personal “literary dealbreakers.” In a followup article (“Love Me, Love My Books”), Molly Flatt described the “dealbreaker book” as follows: “This book so deeply resonates with your soul that if a potential…
Read MoreMy friend Christophresh and I were recently discussing Michel Foucault’s eccentric text I, Pierre Riviere… (not the full title, but you should check out the full title), which deals with a multiple-murder case in France in the 19th Century. Although Foucault is listed as the author of the text, he did not so much “author”…
Read MoreLast year’s Academy Award for Best Picture went to the Coen Brothers’ haunting film No Country for Old Men, based on the novel of the same name by (University of Tennessee alum) Cormac McCarthy. In one of the most important scenes– which actually occurs twice–the film’s murderous, mysterious, and thoroughly amoral antagonist, Anton Chigurh (Javier…
Read MoreI’m a pretty big fan of reality television. Or “reality” television. I like to claim that my primary interest in it is as a cultural phenomenon, but I know that’s not completely true. The truth is that I just find it totally fascinating–partially in the same voyeuristic way that everyone else does, but also as…
Read MoreI’m going to say it: The Dark Knight did not impress. Yes, of course, I thought Heath Ledger’s turn as the fledgling Joker was an impressive performance. (And, yes, of course it’s a tragedy that Heath Ledger is no longer with us.) I know I’m going to sound a bit like a broken record here,…
Read MoreIt’s Friday the 13th today, and I am superstitious. I realize of course that superstitions like these are totally irrational fears—but fear is a pretty powerful thing. I’ve heard people argue before that fear can be fun and exhilarating, especially in reference to things like roller coasters or haunted houses, but I think they’re making…
Read MoreI just watched There Will Be Blood (2007), the Paul Thomas Anderson film adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s novel Oil! about a small Texas village that becomes a boomtown in the crude oil rush of the early twentieth century. Daniel Day-Lewis won an Academy Award for his performance as Daniel Plainview, the story’s tortured protagonist, and…
Read MoreIn my last post, I praised the skill and acumen of director Martin Scorcese’s Taxi Driver, which I think is one of his best films. In a rather serendipitous turn of events, I also watched on television that same night the American Film Institute’s 10 Top 10, which listed the top ten films in ten…
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