there are a ton, and some really good, readable, well-written ones, in addition to the academic type. Strange he'd call this "one of the few" . . .

Nah, Flirting with Disaster is excellent - "You can't catch the wind!"

To be fair, there are several discussions going on in these comments (as in the article), not only one - so there's not only one premise. The dude asked for "best film ever directed by a woman," then specifically qualified it with a mention of Triumph of the Will. There are tons of measures for defining "best" of…

I didn't think you meant gender as the "obvious reason," but I was sort of trying to imply that, for me, that's the main one (in line with the article in question, not in any gender-based quality sense).

different kind of problem . . .

Cool, I'll check it out . . . how "Dowd" is Dowd's writing in it?

Yup, I was just trying to come up with some '70s women directors the other day, came up with Barbara Loden (one film) and Elaine May. I'm sure there are others (there are more in the art cinema and doc. world of course).

Haven't read the Dowd article yet (will do, even if she's not my favorite writer), but I think laying this problem at the foot of the blockbuster - even mostly - lets a lot of the rest of Hollywood off the hook.

I never really know what "essential" means, but I'd agree that it's a great album for showcasing how cracker-jack the band can be even when they're (mostly) far outside their wheelhouse. Agreed on "Land Ho!'s" awesomeness, and I'd probably throw "You Make Me Real," and "Maggie McGill" on the list, too.

Congrats on all that stuff! (In a similar process now myself . . .), sad to see a great poster fade away, though . . .

These comments definitely miss Warren Oats' raging Doors hatred to add a little perspective to the like/don't like . . .

Well, The Kinks were punk before any of them.

History has tended to amplify the Doors' "mystic poet" side, and all the indulgences that led to Morrison's downfall, neither of which are punk. But the band was also pretty anti-establishment, with a ton of "fuck the police" moments. And they skipped out on Woodstock (granted, for reasons that remain shrouded in a…

Yeah, all the adulation prompted Morrison to give in to some of his worst songwriting tendencies, so quite a few of the albums have stuff that you have to be in a proper Doors-fan mood for, but they all have their killer tracks. But Morrison Hotel and LA Woman are pretty fucking awesome beginning to end.

I can see the complaint with "Django," but, for me anyway, "Basterds" is infinitely re-watchable for the many ways all the threads not only eventually come together, but actually sort of riff off each other in the process. It's a pretty clever script . . .

S4 is definitely not my fave, but "Beer Bad" is a way better episode than most give it credit for being.

In terms of the script being "so honest," I think Satyajit Ray's claims about its origins might be more damning than anything Spielberg did to "correct" later prints of the film . . .

Yep, that right there . . .

I don't think all his films are emotionless, either. Some of them really pack a punch in a lot of different ways, but it almost always involves some variation on how emotions are expressed in spite of the films' austere formal approach.

I don't agree with some that Kubrick always lacks emotion (I think the final 20 min or so of Barry Lyndon, for example, are heart wrenching). And I agree completely that sometimes Kubrick's austere form and persnickety attention to detail actually works to create emotional depth in his films that one might not notice…