true story
Edgar Rice Burroughs lived and wrote in a house approximately two blocks from the house I grew up in. There's a little plaque in front of the house explaining that the creator of Tarzan lived here. It's always been a point of pride for me, even in a hometown that bred more prestigious figures like Ernest…

Well yes, that's exactly my point. They were sets. It doesn't matter if they were built in England or Burbank.

Last Days
Apparently Mr. Evenson and his publisher are not familiar with the works of Gus Van Sant?

Didn't say there was a similarity between the performances. My point is that there is NO rule that an actor must have firsthand, real-life experience with the type of character he/she plays. If there was, then Hopkins and all the others would have to get to killin' before coming on set.

Right, and Anthony Hopkins has never killed or eaten anyone before, yet he still managed to pull off Hannibal Lechter okay.

love it
This is easily my favorite of Kubrick's late-period pictures (which I'll semi-arbitrarily define as everything from Clockwork Orange on). I think dude did most of his best work in the '50s and '60s, but Eyes Wide Shut has such a unique haunting energy. It doesn't feel like any other film I've ever seen, not…

Romance & Cigarettes
I actually thought about 75% of this movie was legitimately good, mainly for the reasons laid out in Ebert's review. But that third-act left turn into weepie territory just did not work. Where did it come from? I'd been digging this gloriously weird and stirring pseudo-musical, and then…

cover
What the hell is going on in that album cover? I would rank album covers with pictures of babies like this:

Throwing my support behind Scott in his gloves-off horsewhipping of the troll above. I guess because he happens to think the show is "crap," then any BARELY, SLIGHTLY positive review of the show must be the result of PAYOLA. Wow. That is sterling logic. Seriously, man, run don't walk to take Scott's advice: go…

gould
Love the Gould, will definitely be checking this out even if it's not that great. It sounds fascinating regardless.

glenn kenny
Hey everybody — that film critic Noel mentioned who's in the Soderbergh movie, Glenn Kenny, is just about the funniest, smartest, most important film blogger on the web. Check out his blog at somecamerunning.typepad.com.

Bah, that last line should read "the music writers seem a lot less comfortable with film."

Miller and SARB, sitting in a tree.

There are no good or bad genres, just good or bad movies. If you dismiss all musicals you're missing out on some of the best cinema ever.

TSA — yeah, true, but come on, that is so low-priority on the list of grievances against South Park. If she'd ever really watched the show, she'd know that it's got way bigger problems.

Yeah, fair point. It's not a huge problem but the glittery happy-gayness of that character really stands out. I guess you could say it's a picture of a healthy gay dude with no child abuse in his background, but that might be rationalizing a lazily-written character. What's his deal, anyway? We get no backstory or…

noel is a bad-ass
Noel, you're a stone badass. I'm with you on this feature—it seemed to bring out the least substantive, most dismissive side of many staffers (although Nathan's anti-poetry story is so beautiful that I might call it poetic).

Actually, just tell me this: Is it better than "Stardust," the other recent Princess Bride wannabe? Cuz I found that movie intolerable.

didn't expect this to get the stamp of approval
Tasha, are you inflating the grade because you're a fantasy nerd, or might this movie be a fun thing for the rest of us? Not that I don't have nerdish tendencies, it's just that they rarely involve Brendan Fraser.

Perfect. I can't stop chuckling.