What Steven Soderbergh Doesn’t See
On Saturday I attended Steven Soderbergh’s “State of Cinema” address, part of the San Francisco International Film Festival. I’m a huge Soderbergh fan, consistently impressed by the way he challenges […]
On The Road Ain’t Got No Gas
It’s a bad sign chilling here in lovely Barcelona in the lobby of the Hotel Colon (which I’m told has a different meaning in Spanish, thank heavens), thinking about the […]
A Few Thoughts on A Place Beyond the Pines
A Place Beyond the Pines is not the movie you think it is. It doesn’t star the actors you think it stars, tell the story you expect it to tell, […]
Mind Control Double Feature #40: Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me
You know what’s pretty damn amazing? That’s right: the Sun. Without the Sun, we’d all be well screwed. Frozen little peepcicles being devoured by giant bat-like monsters. Probably. I’m just […]
Spring Breaking Bad: The Shady Consequences of Spring Breakers
I realize that I am a little late to the party. That everyone’s already left for spring break, seen Spring Breakers, gotten mostly naked, highly intoxicated, incarcerated, penetrated, and otherwise violated. […]
The Internship & Grown Ups 2: Go Fuck Yourself
Honestly, we only have ourselves to blame. People talk about the decline of Western civilization and here is the proof. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could be worse than these two films. […]
The Best Opening Credits Sequence of All Time
No charming intros today. Let’s keep it simple. The best opening credits sequence of all time? The Shining. That’s it. You can have your Saul Bass and your James Bond […]
Mind Control Double Feature #39: Your New Insect Overlords
Back when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, my great-grandpappy sat me on his lap and said, “Boy, there’s a time gone come in life, when you just plain ain’t […]
Touch of Evil: It Was Some Kind of A Movie
Touch of Evil is Orson Welles’s best movie. Which is a scandalous thing to say in the movie world. Maybe not scandalous. How about sacriligeous? Citizen Kane is, after all, […]
Nic Cage’s Stolen: The Laziest Film of All Time
Have you seen Nic Cage’s face recently? I mean, really looked at it. The man looks like he’s been making out with a belt sander. Like he would need an extremely […]
Akira: Critical Nuclear Head Meltdown
You are the monster. You are the god. You are the destroyer, the creator, the ripping skein of life torn free and thrashing wild. You are the wind that cleanses and burns and you are only a boy.
On Koyaanisqatsi, Beauty, And Ambiguity
Images from Godfrey Reggio’s 1983 film Koyaanisqatsi are etched into my brain. Nighttime cityscapes at high speed, their streets like veins carrying electrons. Rivers of fog roiling over mountains. A […]
Mind Control Double Feature #38: Cryptozoology
Do me a favor, okay? Just click play on the video below and keep reading. You don’t need to watch it. In fact, you shouldn’t watch it. There are no […]
8 Million Ways to Die: Hal Ashby’s Lost Lifeline
Here at Stand By For Mind Control, we’re big Hal Ashby fans. This is because he was one of the world’s most empathetic directors. His complex characters ride their flaws like […]