Episode 165 – SOURCE CODE / Death of the Film Critic
In this week’s show Gareth and I discuss in some great detail the new Duncan Jones Sci-Fi Romance Actioner SOURCE CODE as well as mull over the possible Death of the Film Critic.
KICK-ASS and Why I Don’t Like Superhero Movies
Yes, I know it’s been a while since Kick-Ass played the theaters. But I only just caught it on Blu-Ray, and it led me to think long and hard about superhero movies — thoughts I felt worth sharing with you. Here’s why I didn’t like Kick-Ass and why I generally don’t like superhero movies: As [...]
Why Do People Want to Ban This Critic From Rotten Tomatoes?
Am not blogging on the site much these days as most of my time is occupied in producing the show – but I can’t stop myself from mentioning this absurd petition to ban critic Armond White from Rotten Tomatoes: Ban Armond White from Rotten Tomatoes! Armond is a friend of the show – he’s been [...]
'The Room' – Screening at Midnight this Friday and Saturday in Nashville – Is it Right to Laugh at Others Dreams?
Ok, so I couldn’t wait to see ‘The Room’ tonight at The Belcourt right? This bad film to end all bad films is supposed to be a riot, with Midnight audiences across the Country and Europe erupting in peals of laughter at its shoddy writing, one-dimensional acting, multiple plot strands that go nowhere and just [...]
TFT 95 – The Invention of Lying / Zombieland Reconsidered / Wolf
In this week’s episode Gareth and I review the new Ricky Gervais movie ‘The Invention of Lying’, former TFT listener and iTunes reviewer spazzattack3k motivates me to change my thinking regarding ‘Zombieland’ and the Mike Nichols horror-comedy ‘Wolf’ is seen again. Get TFT delivered weekly via iTunes Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe to our blog [...]
TFT 93 – David Thomson Interviewed
In this week’s episode legendary film critic and historian David Thomson is interviewed: Get TFT delivered weekly via iTunes Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe to our blog Follow us on Twitter – – – (Photo at top – cropped from an original by Lucy Gray)
Film and Madness
‘Vertigo’s Mad Passion: But Who is He Trying to Save? Fascinating long article-in-progress at GreenCine Daily by the wonderfully named Simon Augustine on portrayals of the edges of sanity in the movies; particularly provocative on the question of how our own projected desires become intertwined with the cinematic image: “Think about how a film works [...]
Film Criticism as Violence/Film Criticism as Love
Edward Yang’s ‘Yi-Yi’: Taking our picture, and hoping he likes what he sees. I’m grateful to Glenn Kenny and David Poland for their very human, very humble interaction over at The Auteurs (read the comments under Glenn’s main article from the 4th September), reflecting on the negativity that propels so much of what passes for [...]
A Non-Dogmatic Declaration of Intent, Part 1
In light of our three recent posts on ‘2001’ – in which I reflected on how and why I love this movie; we had the pleasure of interviewing the man-ape himself, Mr Dan Richter, and most recently Jett told us about a kind of High School Musical version of the opening titles – listener Kyle [...]
The Film Talk – Part 85 – District 9 / Avatar / Slashfilmcast Interviewed
This Episode: District 9, the Avatar trailer, and, as part of our on-going series on the state of film criticism, an interview with David Chen And Devindra Hardawar of the /Filmcast. Get TFT delivered weekly via iTunes Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe to our blog Follow us on Twitter
The Film Talk – Part 71 – Glenn Kenny
This Episode: Glenn Kenny of somecamerunning and ‘The Girlfriend Experience‘ interviewed. Get TFT delivered weekly via iTunes Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe to our blog Follow us on Twitter – – – (Image at top: Sasha Grey in ‘The Girlfriend Experience)
'The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3' – A Plea
The Good Dr. Higgins is insistent that we review the reboot of ‘The Taking of Pelham One Two Three’, ‘The Taking of Pelham 123′ for this week’s show. Dear Listeners – this prospect fills me with dread. A film obviously made by feeding ‘Swordfish’ and ‘Inside Man’ into Microsoft’s new search engine ‘Bing’ with a [...]
Are Bad Films of Any Value?
‘Terminator Salvation’: an unrecognised masterpiece full of signs/symbols that points towards a new way for cinema? No, I don’t think so. ‘Salvation’ is a film we both roundly denounced on the podcast, (Gareth arguably less so), but the vehemence with which ‘kbm’ puts forwards his comments in this post: Three Questions about ‘Terminator Salvation’ at [...]
The Film Talk – Part 67 – For The Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
Items Mentioned: Nashville Film Festival / For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism Get TFT delivered weekly via iTunes Subscribe to our podcast Subscribe to our blog Follow us on Twitter
Roger Ebert's Death. Mine, too. And, if you don't want to feel left out: Yours as well.
Watch this before reading. Trust me: It will make you feel better. Roger Ebert is more than a writer about film – a good critic realises that understanding any art form requires more than a technical proficiency in explaining cinematography or editing or acting. The best critics know a little bit about everything – or [...]
Sita Sings the Blues
The film with this image as one of its centerpieces is currently available to watch for free at Reel 13. I’ll say it again. The film with this image as one of its centerpieces is available to watch for free at Reel 13. The creator (director, writer, animator, editor, pretty much everything else-er), Nina Paley [...]
The Best Film Ever Made
I was walking at high altitudes in New Mexico yesterday with three friends, and the conversation turned to where it inevitably goes when people know that part of what I do for a living is to watch movies. ‘So, what’s the best film ever made?’ It’s an impossible question, of course – I’m not sure [...]
Gene Siskel – Gone These 10 Years Now
Via The Screengrab comes this lovely reminiscence by Roger Ebert of his foil, and partner of many years, Gene Siskel, who passed away, this day, 10 years ago: Remembering Gene Growing up I watched Sneak Previews religiously; I loved the chemistry between Gene and co-host Roger and I always wished the show was longer – [...]
