Blog Archives
COLORS 30
In the 1950s and 1960s Dennis Hopper was a young actor appearing in classic films like Rebel Without a Cause, Giant and The Sons of Katie Elder. But by the late 1960s Hopper was tired of directors telling him what to do. He felt like he knew better and he’d prove it if he could [...]
Cinema de la Sandra
Over the October season of horror I was watching lots of classic monsters and murder flicks and my wife and I also binged on old YouTube videos from the various Joe Bob Briggs’ movie series which featured the eponymous Joe Bob presenting films like a 1990s version of classic horror hosts of the 1960s and [...]
Art of Horror
If you read these blog posts for the druggy rockin’ weirdness I’m usually posting you might not know that I’m a film and art critic in real life. I love getting spooky on Insomnia in October, but the other night I found a great opportunity to fold in some of my critical writing as well. [...]
Halloween 40
John Carpenter’s original Halloween film splattered screens forty years ago, and I just got out of a preview screening for the new film with the same name. Carpenter’s original found the him co-writing the script, directing the picture, and writing and performing its iconic synthesizer score. In 1978, Halloween seemed wholly original with its fighting [...]
LOTR: Bakshi VS Jackson
1978 was an amazing year for films — especially horror movies. I’m stoked about posting a whole plethora of monstrous missives in October’s lead-up to Halloween. But tonight I’m in the mood for fantasy and I wanted to share this kick ass mash-up I recently added to my YouTube channel. While you’re likely at least [...]
Experimental Defiance
The Defy Film Festival returns to Studio 615 in East Nashville this weekend. With that in mind I wrote this primer on experimental film for this week’s The Contributor. Pick up a paper from your neighborhood vendor! What we talk about when we talk about experimental film In the most general sense the term “experimental [...]
Watching Harlan Ellison’s Watching
I recently posted about the passing of science fiction pioneer cum pain in the ass, Harlan Ellison. The loss of Ellison has found me going back through lots of written reviews and obits as well as checking out a bunch of videos and recordings on YouTube. One of the things I like best about Harlan [...]
Mano Y Solo
I spent the evening at the media preview for Solo: A Star Wars Story. I’ve seen a few dissenting reviews pointing out that this Han isn’t cynical enough or that this movie lacks a plot with drive. I don’t completely disagree with these criticisms, but I also think this movie was always going to upset [...]
Return to Red Line
In 1998 two legendary directors released World War II films that couldn’t be more different: Stephen Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan is considered a masterpiece of the genre and the film’s arrival was treated like a national event when it first hit theater screens. Audiences hailed the realism of the film’s battle sequences while Spielberg was [...]
First Impressions: Infinity Wars
I just got back from seeing the media preview for AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR in Nashville, TN. It’s a massive cosmic comic book opera. It’s as psychedelic as DOCTOR STRANGE if not more so. It’s also an amazing culmination of stories since the MCU launched with the first IRON MAN film. I suggest you see all [...]
