I saw Chris Nolan’s Inception last night, and while it had some weak points, I enjoyed it. It reminded me a bit of Steven Soderbergh’s interpretation of Solaris.
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Rights
We watched Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story last night. It was what I expected. That’s why I like Michael Moore, I think. He is anti-establishment, iconoclastic, and just doesn’t take shit. This makes him hated by the right and provides a necessary counterpoint to the dominance of the radical right media, like Fox News. [...]
Who Are Those Guys?
The middle of George Roy Hill’s famous Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is essentially an extended chase scene. The authorities — whoever they might be, the US government, the Union Pacific Railroad, or the increasingly powerful banks — have gotten fed up with Butch and Sundance robbing their trains, so they set up the [...]
Gun Fight
When I was a kid, Dad and I used to watch movies together. Our favorites were James Bond flicks, but we also got in the occasional western, like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Silverado. I mean, what American male doesn’t love a good western? What could be more of an archetypical symbol of [...]
Zemeckis’ Beowulf
I couldn’t help but be struck by the interesting re-telling of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, by Robert Zemeckis, Neil Gaiman, and Roger Avary. They kept the basic story intact, but added a twist with Grendel’s mother and more subtle characters. In fact, the theme of fatherhood in the time of heroes was nicely problematized: the [...]
Nobody’s Hero: They Should Have Sent a Poet
To begin this summer’s section of World Literature I, the class and I brainstormed about just what we mean when we call someone a “hero.” As they suggested ideas, I wrote them on the board, and the whole class discussed each trait. We agreed that the idea of a hero changes with the needs of [...]
Beowulf Movie
Via /.: Robert Zemeckis, who directed Forrest Gump, Contact, and Cast Away among others, will film the epic Beowulf. I wonder how this one will compare to Beowulf and Grendel, already in post-production? I have never heard of Sturla Gunnarsson, but I have always like Zemekis’ films, and his writers for this project include Neil [...]