Ernest And Celestine: Of Mice And Bears
In the late ‘50s, a Belgian invented smurfs. Things have only gotten stranger over there ever since.
Category Archives: Active Observation
The Grand Budapest Hotel: Wes Anderson’s Latest Hand-Knitted Picture Show
The Grand Budapest Hotel is not set in Hungary. It’s set in the imaginary European Republic of Zubrowka. More exactly, it’s set in the little dollhouse of Wes Anderson’s head.
Particle Fever, Or: Hey Everybody! Physics Is Awesome!
In which the thrill of finding a new subatomic particle is made manifest. It’s Pi day, folks. Let’s talk about physics. And then maybe eat some pie.
The Wind Rises, And Miyazaki Drifts Away
Hayao Miyazaki’s final film (so he says), The Wind Rises, is a fitting close to his career. It feels ephemeral. It blows by soft as a summer breeze. It’s the […]
The Rocket: Fusion and Fallout in Laos
Picture a slice of chocolate cake sprinkled with crushed peanuts, chili flakes, bean sprouts, whole shrimp, and a nice glaze made from nam pla.
Visitors: Godfrey Reggio And Philip Glass Have Returned To Trip You Out
Godfrey Reggio’s latest film (documentary?) (experiment?), Visitors, is something of a continuation of his Qatsi trilogy, but not so much that it earns a Hopi title. It is the Qatsiless Qatsi.
Harold Ramis: He Was The Ball
I was a lucky child. Where I grew up, in Palo Alto, we had The New Varsity Theater, a rep movie house that showed double and triple bills covering the […]
Big Sky Film Festival Wrap-Up: Two Docs You Need To See
In the book Introduction To Documentary, author Bill Nichols makes a bold statement: all movies are documentaries. From here he cleaves the mass into two big categories: documentaries of wish […]
Cutting Humor: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre on First Viewing
There is nothing quite so funny as an uncoordinated fat man wearing a Mrs. Howell mask chasing a screaming blonde around the yard while he’s wielding a raised chainsaw.
Fighting The Rumble Fish
You want to talk odd kettles of fish, colorful Siamese fighting fish, even, you should take a look at Rumble Fish.
Revenge of The Nerds: The Uplifting ‘80s Antidote To Animal House
In which we look more deeply into Revenge of The Nerds than one would think advisable.
A Field In England: Circular 17th Century Psychedelia
Somewhere in England, during the English Civil War, on the far side of a hedgerow, in a field, three soldiers and an alchemist’s assistant leave the battle in search of an alehouse.
The Congress: Robin In Wacky-Land
Tell me there’s a new independent movie that’s half live-action, half animation, abrim with social commentary, and based on a story by funny/brilliant Polish science fiction author Stanislaw Lem, and I am going to see that movie
The Lego Movie: Like a Ton of Bricks
From the headlines it seems that The Lego Movie is going over like a ton of bricks. Assuming that you love bricks, which you probably do if you’re curious about The Lego Movie.