I've been asking myself a lot about how long the super hero phenomenon is going to last, and I've been comparing them to biblical epics in the 1950s-60s. The biblical epic was similarly ubiquitous. Like superhero movies, biblical epics were built on pre-awareness, stars, special effects and bigness. They attracted…

A few notes:

Friday night I went to a lame but mildly interesting talk at a book store with Henry Rollins, Alec MacKaye, and a photographer whose name I don't remember, promoting a book of photos from the DC hardcore scene in 1979. A friend of mine asked me to accomapny him, mostly, I believe, so that he could continue his ongoing…

Thanks, @avclub-24270ec0abe691ec56a22d8dcba82152:disqus! 

Hey, I liked Fargo when I was 10! I also like it now.

Which title had you heard before?
Based on a little internet research, it seems like The Northerners is his best known film, so I might try that one out.

Is anyone here familiar with Alex van Warmerdam's work?

Gah! Looks like someone's been getting their ties from Hermès Jr.

Yeah, I probably should have mentioned that I was 10 when the movie came out, and it was my dad who suggested we go see it. He later bought me the screenplay (which had a pretty cool flipbook in the bottom corner) from Blockbuster Music when it went out of business.

@avclub-a74751295995aad6799bb16021522543:disqus Yes, exactly!

I just watched Red Hook Summer last weekend, and I think it's close to great. The kids' acting is definitely a weakness, and if Lee had had more time to shoot he might have been able to even the tone out a bit.

I agree the show was never cynical enough, or even just realistic enough, to make any significant comment on the American Dream. But over the long haul it certainly wasn't defeatist. For most of the show's run, it was less about the wretched banality of working a boring job with an overly ingratiating boss and more…

I don't think that statement is true at all. Americans are probably less likely to watch their own quiet suffering on TV, though.

I saw it in the theater. With my dad. And it was glorious.

@avclub-3be42d8a3412057f79af152555e39bd4:disqus
Sure, and that's the point I was trying to make parenthetically.

I imagine they might take a similar strategy as they did with A Separation - release it late in the year during prestige-movie season, hoping for an Oscar nomination to carry it along.

That's an interesting idea, that the violence (which Chinese censors have a problem with) neutralizes the cultural critique (which Chinese censors also have a problem with).

Interesting. From what I've heard about this film it seems like it would be pretty difficult to recut into something acceptable to censors. I wonder how they'll handle it.

According to the official censorship guidelines — and I don't know how closely Chinese authorities enforce these (as opposed to being fairly arbitrary in their censorship) — A Touch of Sin would seem to run afoul of at least two of the official 2008 "10 Commandments" of film censorship:

The only Desplechin film I've seen is A Christmas Tale, which I could not get into at all. But I am intrigued by Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy Of A Plains Indian) solely on the basis of its title.