For the discussion of film
Old school modernity with Ozu Yasujirō. Available in Canada, The United States, and maybe other places. Approximately 85 minutes. Horino Tetsuo, Taichiro Saiki, Kumada, and Shimazaki are college boys. Tetsuo, Shimazaki, and Kumada are part of a male cheerleading squad … Continue reading WTF ASIA 61: Where Now Are The Dreams of Youth (1932)
Thirty years ago, Michael Keaton first reared his immovable neck and plummy lips in Tim Burton’s Batman movie. It would launch the genre that we are still living through to today: turning kid’s properties into cool and edgy things for … Continue reading Avocado Weekly Movie Thread (6/18)
Welcome to my weekly discussion of the animated films of the Walt Disney Studio. I’m proceeding mostly chronologically. We’ve done all the animated films, so we’re doing the live-action films The title comes from a quote from Walt, “I never … Continue reading Building Entertainment: The Animated Films of the Walt Disney Studio. Live-action Edition. The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
Sticks and Stones follows a squabbling gay couple who throw a party at their Fire Island beach house. The guests are a mix of hippies, divas and clowns who sing, chatter and hook up. The half improvised film had a … Continue reading LGBT Movies: Sticks and Stones (1970)
Fiction has an inherent self-contained quality. Characters are meant to be people, with lives, interests, failings, but we only see a snapshot of their character. Sometimes it shines through in little moments, sometimes it is revealed in ways that affects … Continue reading Movie Reviews: Columbus (2017)
It’s a tricky situation. People say they want original films but they often turn their noses up at them at the box office, discovering them later on streaming after hearing some good word of mouth. So the studios lean into … Continue reading Box Office: June 14-16
Do you remember the first time you saw a happy gay film? Mine was 1978’s La Cage Aux Folles. You may have seen the remake (1996’s The Birdcage) or the musical… but have you seen the sequels? In honor of … Continue reading LGBT Movies: The La Cage Aux Folles Trilogy
In Which We’re the Middle Children of History I usually never approach these articles with trepidation or pause. They’re pieces to reflect on a specific era of filmmaking by reconsidering hits, highlighting underseen pictures, and looking at junk for purpose. … Continue reading Millennial Malaise 22: Fight Club
The Shafts protect the world from the scum of the universe during Late Night television this weekend. But will enough people care? Continue reading Box Office Oracle — 6/14/2019-6/16/2019
The real education begins long before school starts. Available online. Approximately 134 minutes. Laltu and Mitali are parents of Rishi…nicknamed Gogol. Because local government schools in India are worse than that news story about Texas textbooks, Rishi’s parents are … Continue reading WTF ASIA 60: Ramdhanu (2014)
Today’s prompt: What’s your favorite spoof/parody? The newest Shaft movie comes out this weekend (bringing in Sam Jackson and Richard Roundtree one more time), which brings to mind the greatest tribute to the blaxsplotation genre ever. Black Dynamite was directed … Continue reading Avocado Weekly Movie Thread (6/11)
Welcome to my weekly discussion of the animated films of the Walt Disney Studio. I’m proceeding mostly chronologically. We’ve done all the animated ones so we have moved on to the live-action films. The title comes from a quote from … Continue reading Building Entertainment: The Animated Films of the Walt Disney Studio. Live-action Edition. The Gnome-mobile
Doug, a popular upperclassman, takes Peter, a shy freshman, under his wing at the University of Toronto. Will they fall in love or is their romance only in Doug’s head? 22 year old director/co-writer David Secter kept things just ambiguous … Continue reading LGBT Movies: Winter Kept Us Warm (1965)
While the weekend performed better than it did a year ago, the box office had two films at the top that should have done a lot better than they did. The Secret Life of Pets 2 took too long to get … Continue reading Box Office: June 7-9
Welcome to Public Domain Theater, your home for the wonderful world of films that have (in the United States, at least) fallen into the public domain, and are free for everyone to see! We are back, everyone! And we have a … Continue reading Public Domain Theater: Charlie Chaplin Shorts
(Note: this review was previously posted on Letterboxd. Here is a version for the Avocado, with pictures included.) Earlier this week, I watched Irving Lerner’s masterful noir Murder by Contract. It’s one of those movies that could have just been … Continue reading Review: I Spent a Dollar to See Dark Phoenix and That Was Still Too Much
In Which I’m Not Lazy, I Just Don’t Care Way back in my piece about Reality Bites I took aim at the conceited antagonism that film had to the idea of selling out. That the existential horror of work life … Continue reading Millennial Malaise 21: Office Space
Do you like small towns? Do you have fond memories of the 1980s? Do you have a fascination for depraved serial killers? Do you crave police brutality? Do you dream of military dictatorship? Well, I have a movie for you. … Continue reading WTF ASIA 59: Memories of Murder (2003)
So in Gone With the Wind (80 years old this year), there’s a scene where Scarlett O’Hara embraces her long time friend Ashley. Ashley’s sister happen to walk in on them. She really, really hates Scarlett (she thinks of her … Continue reading Avocado Weekly Movie Thread (6/4)
Welcome to my weekly discussion of the animated films of the Walt Disney Studio. I’m proceeding mostly chronologically. We are moving on to live-action and partially animated films. The title comes from a quote from Walt, “I never called my … Continue reading Building Entertainment: The Animated Films of the Walt Disney Studio. Live-Action Edition. That Darn Cat!
Querelle, a handsome sailor, visits a port town to explore his sexuality. There he commits a murder, betrays his friends and has lots of sex. Writer/Director Rainer Werner Fassbinder was experimenting with style. The pornographic story is performed by deadpan … Continue reading LGBT Movies: Querelle (1982)
