‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007 movie, Javier Bardem)
We have recently endured an insufferable procession of godawful movies. They show up here roughly a year after being added to our Netflix queue, so it’s sometimes hard to remember who to blame for muck...
View Article‘The Darjeeling Limited’ (2007 movie, Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson)
There is a style of comedy now in fashion which breaks the long-standing assumption that comedy should be funny. This trend was the subject of a Rolling Stone cover story last September. This new...
View Article‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’ (movie, 2007)
We are all doomed, all facing annihilation at an hour approaching more rapidly than we would like to admit. In the meantime, we seek to communicate our experiences to our fellow living beings. We want...
View Article‘Neil Young: Heart of Gold’ (movie, 2006)
Neil Young: Heart of Gold is not Jonathan Demme‘s first concert documentary. He made the Talking Heads film Stop Making Sense in 1984 and Swimming to Cambodia, which captured a monologue by Spalding...
View ArticleHow to blog: ‘The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging’
Recently, I read and reviewed ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. Now, here’s another book about how to blog. If that work is an introductory handbook to blogging as a...
View Article‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ (Woody Allen movie, 2008)
For a long time, I was a huge fan of Woody Allen‘s movies. Sleeper cracked me up as a young teen. Annie Hall, Manhattan, and Stardust Memories were masterpieces. So were Hannah and Her Sisters and...
View ArticleHow to start a business, for freelance graphic designers
With more people turning to freelance jobs — freelance writing jobs, freelance design jobs, freelance work of all kinds — in the aftermath of the economic crisis, it’s helpful to have some solid advice...
View Article‘A Man Named Pearl’: Pearl Fryar, topiary and film star
We watched a warm and inspiring movie last night. A Man Named Pearl (trailer above) is a 2006 documentary film by Scott Galloway and Brent Pierson centered on one astonishing yard on the outskirts of...
View ArticleSwitching to color laser printer from inkjet printer saved our sanity
We have owned several inkjet printers over the years, and all of them frayed our nerves. The inkjet cartridges are insanely expensive and poorly designed. The ink dries and clogs the jets, meaning that...
View Article‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ (movie, 2009)
We have heard about “The Continuing Mysteries of Stieg Larsson” — his untimely death at age 50 before the publication of his Millennium Trilogy, and his fourth manuscript, so far unpublished and...
View ArticleJeff Bridges movie: ‘Crazy Heart’ (2009)
I knew I wanted to watch Crazy Heart (trailer above) — Jeff Bridges won the Academy Award, it was well-reviewed, Ryan Bingham is in it and sings the theme — but I was also hesitant. It’s about an aging...
View Article‘Public Enemies’ (Johnny Depp, Christian Bale movie, 2009)
Thank goodness for the optional subtitles on DVDs. I am glad I did not try to watch Public Enemies (trailer above) in a theater. I don’t know what sort of accent Christian Bale was trying to emit in...
View Article‘The Kids Are All Right’ (Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo movie 2010)
Many gentle souls still practice the delicate daily art of rapport with their fellow human beings, despite some whose approach to life is aimed more at “winning” some aggressive marketing campaign....
View Article‘Jack Goes Boating’ (Philip Seymour Hoffman movie, 2010)
Jack Goes Boating (trailer above) arrived in our mailbox the other day. Philip Seymour Hoffman both directs (his debut) and stars as Jack, a severely timid and unsophisticated man who works as a limo...
View Article‘I Love You Phillip Morris’ (Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor movie, 2009)
What I Love You Phillip Morris (trailer above) has going for it is a great story. The saga of impostor and con artist Steven Jay Russell is unbelievable, outrageous — it’s beyond your wildest...
View ArticleRyan Gosling movie: ‘Lars and the Real Girl’ (2007)
Imagine if the late comedian Andy Kaufman made a feature film. Picture a movie with an authentic indy drama feel and a sturdy cast — but revolving around a ludicrous predicament which is uncomfortable...
View Article‘Exporting Raymond’: ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ in Russia
Have you ever found yourself in a meeting, attempting to communicate what you know to be a sound and worthy idea, and yet every point you make is blunted and deflected by your collaborators? Perhaps...
View Article‘Road to Nowhere’ (Shannyn Sossamon, Monte Hellman movie, 2010)
If you’re acquainted with any wannabe filmmakers, you may know the agony of listening to people spout movie jargon and watching them direct scenes for films that can never amount to more than an...
View Article‘Argo’ (Ben Affleck movie, Best Picture of 2012)
Many people know something about the Iran hostage crisis, which began when the U.S Embassy in Tehran was stormed by angry Islamists on November 4, 1979. Fifty-two Americans inside it were then held...
View Article‘Bill Cunningham New York’ (photography documentary film, 2010)
People often talk about living life on your own terms, but in Bill Cunningham New York we are shown an example of someone who has actually done it. Photographer Cunningham spends his days on the street...
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