I can picture Al Swearengen dictating this book to Dan; forcing Dan to actually do all the writing and hen-peck typing.

The Fart Of Seyfried Is A Pain

I’m looking at that pic and wondering if Seyfried farted and tried to blame it on the dog, and the dog’s having none of it.

Her advancing on the towering Randall ‘Tex’ Cobb —
“Give me that baby! I WANT that baby! GIVE ME THAT BABY, YOU WARTHOG FROM HELL!”— is a master class in acting.

Never forget that Holly Hunter is under 5 feet and 90 lbs soaking wet, yet totally commands that scene, and any other she is in.  

LOVE this movie. A couple of thoughts on why it’s so good:

I think today’s movie critics could benefit to be as widely read as Ebert was.

Joe Versus the Volcano is one of my favorite movies, because it’s quirky, off-kilter, scattershot to the point of an actual physical headache, and contains dialogue that makes my soul swoon. Between Moonstruck and Joe Versus the Volcano, Shanley earned my everlasting loyalty.

When Moonstruck was released into theaters I was a very young teen boy who had very definite opinions about life and people that were completely wrong. I remember all too well seeing the trailer for the film and being completely turned off by Nic Cage’s wild haired, wife-beater wearing character. There’s a scene in…

That Ebert quote made me sad. Such an insightful and skilled writer. 

My favorite moment is probably when Cage literally lifts Cher off her feet, and she asks “where are you taking me?” and he shouts (as only Nic Cage can shout), “to the bed!”

This is one of the first movies my wife and I bonded over, so it comprises a significant portion of our shared reference genome. Aside from the delightfully batshit “I LOST MY HAND I LOST MY BRIDE!” monologue, which I’m pretty sure we both can perform by memory, there’s:

Joe vs. The Volcano is also a VERY weird Rom-Com (Brain-cloud) which I believe is also written by Shanley.

I’m having a hard time coming to terms with Nic Cage ever being 21. He certainly doesn’t look 21, or at least not like any 21 year old I’ve ever seen. 

Blue Ruin & Cold in July were both good movies (particularly the former), but neither was really concerned with addiction. A rural neo-noir which does touch somewhat on the intersection of drugs & poverty is Winter’s Bone, which also had a female protagonist (Granik’s feature debut, Down to the Bone, also had those…

Excellent review, particularly this: “It acknowledges that killing will haunt you, maybe ruin you even, while also wondering aloud if there’s some evil so deep and oppressive and destructive it must be met with violence.” There is a lot of Peckinpah in this movie and that boils it down well. There’s a haunting moment…

Remember when Shaw murdered Han?

His work showed an actor with boundless potential. It’s like Heath Ledger, just when he was starting to show us what he could really do, he’s gone.

His death was the epitome of tragic, by virtue of the circumstances alone.

Saaaaaaad

I didn’t mention Twin Peaks because it’s season 3 of a TV series (the words “The Return” appear only in marketing) and wasn’t theatrically released (though it got a one-off screening in NYC and maybe elsewhere).