Category > From the Box
I don't know how you guys feel, but politics and obviousness aside, Avatar rocks. And it's also led to a number of shared experiences among people my age who both love it and hate it. Like: two words suddenly dawned on me during that scene when Sam Worthington-Smurf and Zoe Saldana-Smurf are woken by a bulldozer after their alien-copulation: "Fern Gully." It's not like Fern Gully is the only environmentalist movie made, or even the only movie about deforestation. And it's …
While sitting down to write this article, a trailer for the webisode series/eventual-DVD-movie of Circle of Ei8ht came on television, which inspired two thoughts: (1) I hate it when films replace letters with numbers in their titles, especially when the shapes don't even fit. Replacing "o" with "0" is one thing, but Se7en doesn't make any goddamn sense. Neither does 6ixty9ine. And (2) mass producers of food products should not make films.
Back From the Box with New-ish DVDs You may or may not have noticed that I disappeared from the Smile Politely premises sometime around September of this year. A new job and grad school applications have been distracting me from any sort of column-writing duties, though I somehow have managed to watch about thirty films and get way too into fantasy football in the meantime. I'm a little behind on the new releases as a result of all this other …
Despite my dismissive reference last week to a certain teen sensation (the namesake of a certain large, rural, and mountainous state on the west side of this country) and her new film being the only offering on video this week, there are a few releases worth checking out. Irrelevant to impecunious people such as myself, Criterion keeps shoveling out Blu-Rays, this week releasing both Jacques Tati's modernist farce Playtime and Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha (The Shadow Warrior). Playtime is well worth …
This week, anyone interested in an illustrative example of just what we lost with the death of John Hughes can watch the redundant teen film 17 Again, in which a washed-up Friends star is magically transformed into a young up-and-comer who has no idea of the misery, obscurity and addictions awaiting those who peak too early. I must admit I didn't bother watching this Freaky Friday/ 13 Going on 30/ Big/ that one movie with Judge Reinhold re-hash.
The impending release of G.I. Joe, a film surrounded by the noisome stench of box office death-but which nevertheless looks a thousand times better than the giant robot movie-has gotten me thinking: what terrible television program from my childhood haven't they adapted into an overbudgeted Hollywood film yet? Admittedly, I was old enough to catch the 1990s X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons that have sent young men my age and older to the cinemas for the last eight years, but Transformers? …
The San Diego Comic-Con is, for aficionados of comics and popular film, a lot like Disney World. It's a phony, overpriced, overhyped, capitalistic scheme that originated as something (at least imagined to be) organic and beautiful. Comic conventions were once cheap, fan-run events where people could get together and talk about their mutual obsession in all those pieces of media and merchandise that were preventing them from getting laid. Now, as evidenced by SDCC, they're corporate-run, money-guzzling, exploitative excuses for …
New Releases From the Box Watchmen I'm saving the best for last here, so you can assume (and in fact, I'm telling you) that this is the worst. Zack Snyder's follow-up to 300 stays as faithful to the best superhero comic ever written as it can while still retaining virtually none of the book's brilliant but deadly serious self-consciousness. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's 1985 work is a post-modern masterpiece about the atomic age, American imperialism, and, that most important …
Among the few new DVD releases this week was a documentary on one of the Midwest's most popular and most droll author, Garrison Keillor, aptly titled The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes. Keillor has a very recognizable voice that has been in my life for as long as I can remember, from the time he was a nameless boring guy my parents listened to on the radio to today; I now think of him as the "dry" …
Physical copies of filmed media like DVD and Blu Ray are far from dead, but growing services like On Demand and online streaming technology could be signs of what's to come. Netflix and iTunes both rent (and iTunes sells) digital, disc-less copies of films online. As hard drives increase in size and home media becomes more and more consolidated, the pleasure people like me find in a shelf full of cases might be outweighed by the sheer practicality of having …
Most Recent Arts Comments
great. another TGIF documentary.
This movie is a throwback in the best possible way. Such a delight. By the last scene, I was actually grinning ear to ear!
There are plenty of war movies that do not show one second of fighting or death or blood. There are many feel good war movies. This movie is meant to be inspirational and uplifting. I don’t watch the boondocks because that show is degrading and racist. I…
I think Cameron and scorsese are addicted to the innovations of movies rather than the actual movies themselves. As we saw in Avatar. The look was amazing but the tale was as old as time haha. And as far as Scorsese is concerned he’s made plenty of…
thank gha’al for dan hill
You are right, the Scorsese “vision” of the future is much more horrifying. This actually surprises me because Cameron seems like the MOAR MOAR MOAR TECHNLOGY!!! guy. What does Scorsese even mean “there is no subject matter that can’t absorb 3D?” Yeah a sensitive love story could…
What type of war movie is a “feel good” movie. Look out Hitla, here we come!!!! That doesn’t make them seem as educated men like the Tuskeegee were. Take that Mista Hitla… It was garbage and a the Boondocks creator wrote the script. Have you ever heard…
Speaking of James Cameron…I was going to link this article but decided that the one with Scorsese was much more disheartening: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/specialsections/40th-anniversary/James-Cameron-on-the-Future-of-Cinema.html
This movie is in black and white (although it was shot in color and then postprocessed into B&W), is in a TV-style 4x3 aspect ratio, has nothing in the way of special effects, and nary a sound (beyond the musical score) is heard. Even the frame rate…
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Pamela - Are the roasteries in Seattle as clean as CSR? It always disturbs me a little that it is so clean in there.
Now you will be able to munch on pizza and shrimp cocktails in downtown Urbana (whilst a DJ spins?) after your dissolution of marriage http://www.news-gazette.com/news/business/features/its-your-business/2012-02-05/its-your-business-new-pizza-place-downtown-urban Is this a franchise of a Reno pizza joint, or just a coincidence of name? http://www.blackrockpizza.com
Signs someone is “fishing” for a factual anchor: 1. Starts call to radio with: “I’ve been an Illini fan for (XX) years” or “I’m a diehard fan,” as if somehow that unverifiable claim will justify the 5 minutes of B.S. that follows. 2. Makes reference to KenPom…
That’s what she said.
Black dog and Siam terrace is where I always go after my divorces.
Love CSR. Apart from making my way through the regular roasts in 1/2 pound increments, I also like to pick up some of the little sample packets of the flavored stuff for when the lady and I feel like getting crazy. Sticky Bun is pretty nice.
If you happen to be getting a divorce, or fighting a DUI prosecution, downtown Urbana is a great place to eat.
HUUUUUUGE fan of their Black Velvet roast…It makes up about 75% of my coffee intake. LOL CSR is definitely one of those Champaign institutions that I brag about to people not from here. :-)
We like CSR too! We french press at home and I leave the lid off while it steeps—letting the ground beans bloom. Then, like in your tasting, I scoop off the top layer before pressing. We really need to invest in a burr grinder though, as I…
Confidential? In this state? Hahahahahahahhahahaha
just confirmed: there will be white russians served. the art abides.
big lebowski at the art. mark it, dude.
There’s a great video promo out for “Company” too: http://vimeo.com/36077847
Wow, His Majesty took the time to answer your polite plea. It’s been a while since I spoke fluent arrogance, but allow this attempt at a translation: “I deeply regret the embarrassment…” = I wish we hadn’t got caught and it wasn’t a big deal really. “...and…
I love the Guitars
I had their tea at the Urbana Farmer’s Market when they first started out and it was great! Their tins recently caught my eye at Walnut Street Tea Company and my guests used it all up before I could even try it! Way to go Tiesta, stay…
Im fine with missing ingredients and of course they fixed things what restaurant fights with the customer over things like that anymore. ( the way social media could affect them) My problem is that I am visiting you place of business within the first week of opening.…
Thanks for that, Louis CK.
Your call to stay pissed is precisely why global warming fanatics will fail. Emotion has no place in hard science. The problem with the issue of global warming is that is has been pumped full of emotion and politics, and the science is becoming a by-product. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204301404577171531838421366.html?KEYWORDS=global+warming
Clearly the Postal Officials in favor of this cannot make an economic argument, as this saves the post office $0. What is their rationale?
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Soo is smile politely in the business of editing comments? Interesting. Way to preserve our 1st am.