In 2023, China launched a series of spy balloons over the United States; Silicon Valley Bank failed; King Charles III was coronated; On the way to visit the wreckage of the Titanic, the submersible Titan imploded; The WGA and SAG-AFTRA launched a strike against Hollywood studios; Kevin McCarthy’s brief reign as Speaker of the House ended in… Continue reading Nobody likes it when you’re 23; a look back at 2023
Tag: Wes Anderson
The year the towers fell: A look back at 2001
In 2001, American Online and Time Warner merged; Wikipedia launched; George W. Bush became the 43rd President of the United States; Hijackers crashed America Airlines flight 11 and United Airlines flight 175 into the World Trade Center; Nintendo released the Gamecube; Apple introduced the iPod; Microsoft released the Xbox; Enron declared bankruptcy; Mister Roger’s Neighborhood aired… Continue reading The year the towers fell: A look back at 2001
87th Academy Awards post mortem
Best Supporting Actor J. K. Simmons deserved to win and if he’d been nominated for Best Actor (he’s really a co-lead), he might have still won. Terrence Fletcher was the best performance of the year and will be one of the most talked about and analyzed performances for some time. Best Costume Design The Grand… Continue reading 87th Academy Awards post mortem
Best of the 2000s
The Gleaners and I (2000) Agnes Varda’s beautiful film follows gleaners at work, from people who depend on the practice for survival to hobbyists. She exposes how connected we are and shines a light on our coldness to the needs of others as she pointedly interviews jurists about the seemingly arbitrary French laws which prohibit some forms of… Continue reading Best of the 2000s
Hallelujah, I’m a grand, invisible immigrant
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) A girl goes to the grave of her favorite author and reads a chapter from his memoir. In this excerpt, the author (Tom Wilkinson) recounts a trip he took to the dilapidated Grand Budapest Hotel in 1968 where he (Jude Law) met the owner, Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham) who… Continue reading Hallelujah, I’m a grand, invisible immigrant
The drunken fox is afraid
Drunken Master II (1994) Won Fei-Hung (Jackie Chan) hides ginseng in the suitcase of an employee of the British consulate to avoid paying taxes. This innocent act backfires and Hung is inexplicably involved in a crazy conspiracy to steal a valuable Chinese antique. Chan’s genius was a merger of eastern and western entertainment traditions, combining Chinese… Continue reading The drunken fox is afraid