Monthly Archives: July 2006
The horror. The horror. Movies from the Catalog: Merchant/Ivory
Risking the wrath of fans of superheroes, I’d like to start a dialogue about the films of James Ivory/Ismail Merchant, who had a production company that produced top quality film adaptations of literary works, using Henry James or E.M. Forster as the source material. Ivory and Merchant were also a couple, and Merchant recently died.
This week, I have watched 3 of the films from their catalog, The Europeans, Howard’s End, and Maurice. Read the rest of this entry
Colin Ferrell can’t act. Reflections on The Muppet Show: Season One
I recently purchased The Muppet Show, Season One on DVD. This TV program holds a special place in my psyche, as I’m sure it does in the minds of many people. (The DVD cover proclaims The Muppet Show to be the most popular television show ever. I’m not sure how you verify something like that, but at the height of its popularity, The Muppet Show was seen by an estimated 250 million viewers in 102 countries.) I distinctly remember making sure not to take too long with my evening bath on whatever weeknight it came onâ€â€Âwhich also happened to be bath nightâ€â€Âso that I would be allowed to stay up and watch the weekly 7:30 p.m. episode. I was six. For me, The Muppet Show is the definitive Muppet experience; I’m a bit too old to have seen Fraggle Rock, I don’t recall ever seeing a single episode of Muppets Tonight and I’m proud to say I missed Muppet Babies as well.
Band Spotlight: CSS
This week’s Band Spotlight features CSS, a Brazillian dance band on the Sub Pop label. Read on to learn more about them, in their own words.
Read the rest of this entry
Name These Falsetto Tunes
I’ve spliced together clips of songs to see how many you can all identify. This batch of songs are all tunes that use falsetto vocals. (At least, I think they are—some of these vocalists might just have a high range? Don’t hate me if a couple aren’t actually falsetto.)
I’ll give you a day or two to make your guesses, then I’ll post the answers. There are clips from 15 songs this time around.
Song clips are in the radio.blog: “Name These Falsetto Tunes”
NOTE: You might want to listen and make your guesses before reading the comments, or other people’s guesses might spoil your fun.
UPDATE: I’ll paste the answers in down below. If you haven’t had a chance to make your guesses, don’t click on the “more” link until you have!
Read the rest of this entry
Poll: Best Shyamalan Film?
I think I know which one will win, but I don’t know which will take 2nd.
Read the rest of this entry
Review: Lady in the Water
I haven’t read any reviews of M. Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water yet but my wife tells me it’s getting thrashed. After watching it I can see a couple of reasons why this might be the case. It might be that the critics are offended by Shyamalan’s handling of this movie’s movie critic character and they’re lashing out to get even. Or maybe it’s because the film is full of ridiculous plot contrivances, goofy characters, and throw-away meta silliness that make it really easy to write a negative review. Truth be told, I won’t begrudge anyone their negative opinions of this movie—Shyamalan really has served up a hanging slider that’s just begging to be clobbered—but overall, I liked it despite the glaring flaws. Read the rest of this entry
Cinemasochist poll: Pirate Movies
Now is the time to foist on me your wretched cinematic refuse.
UPDATE: Voting’s over! Looks like I’ll be watching The Pirate Movie. Thanks for nothing, you jerks!
Steve Evans
RJH
Scott B.
John C.
Susan M
Aaron Brown
ninemoons
John Harrison
kulturblogadmin
Kyle M
Brad
KulturBlogGuest
MCQ
Wm
Rebecca
Ivan
Geoff J
btdgreg
Clark Goble
Aaron R.
Tim J
Ben
Marcus
Brad Williams
gibsonbn
