Fred & Cyd - Girl Hunt Ballet

August 30th, 2008 |

If I could have one piece of anatomy from another person rather than my own, I might well choose Cyd Charisse’s legs. I mean, dang.

(This clip from The Band Wagon’s “Girl Hunt Ballet” brought to you by my being unable to stop watching incredible 1950s musical numbers once I start.)

Featured Video: The Broadway Ballet

August 30th, 2008 |

I went to hear John Williams and the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl tonight, and while of course John Williams’ music is awesome and it was great seeing all the clips of Indy and Star Wars and Close Encounters along with the live orchestra, the highlight for me was when Stanley Donen turned up [...]

New on DVD: The Savages and Be Kind Rewind

August 29th, 2008 |

The Savages
Estranged siblings Jon and Wendy Savage (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney) are forced to care for their aging and increasingly senile father when the woman he lives with dies, leaving him without a home. This is not a particularly exciting proposition to anyone involved - both siblings are playwrights (Jon much more successfully [...]

Cinephile Play

August 27th, 2008 |

David Bordwell is always worth reading, but he put up a post a couple of weeks ago that’s highly entertaining as well as informative, about the way cinephiles interact with each other. He starts off separating cinephiles from cinemaniacs - based on his definitions, I’m not sure which category I fit into. I’m going to [...]

Title Track from Jenny Lewis’s New Album

August 27th, 2008 |

Jenny Lewis’ second album, titled Acid Tongue, is due to drop from Warner Bros. on September 20th, and NPR is streaming the title track: click here and scroll down a little. Pitchfork also has the track listing and some tour dates in a post from a month ago, which I missed due to not having [...]

Pet Peeve: Security questions asking for your “favorite”

August 25th, 2008 |

I just signed up to pay my gas bill online, and, like many other sites that have monetary transactions going on, they have a security-question-and-answer in case you forget your password. No problem - I usually choose “first pet’s name” because that’s not particularly easy to track down by someone wanting to impersonate me, like [...]

Featured Video: Troll 2

August 20th, 2008 |

Troll 2 is widely considered one of the worst movies of all time. Also, one of the awesomest. That’s how these things work sometimes. And this is it. In its entirety. I’d click through to watch it fullscreen, if I were you.

Review: Vicky Cristina Barcelona

August 14th, 2008 |

Leaving New York for London with Match Point revitalized Woody Allen’s career in 2005; now he picks up shop again, this time seeking inspiration in Spain. And again, the move does him good, as Vicky Cristina Barcelona evokes, though perhaps does not quite equal, his greatest triumphs. Best friends Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett [...]