The Happening is possibly the worst movie I've seen in years, and I'm just desperate to find some inkling of redeeming value in Shyamalan's mess. But I can't. Just a collection of loose thoughts that may help somebody else also trying to justify to themselves their rationale for sitting through this movie: There is the… Continue reading Review of Shyamalan’s “The Happening”
Category: Film
Some notes on the Last Samurai
Some notes on The Last Samurai: first, beware of any work of popular culture that has "Last" in the title. It is usually used to conjure up a mythic past, and it signals a strong nostalgic longing for "the good old days" or "the way things used to be." Any such cultural production is bound… Continue reading Some notes on the Last Samurai
Closer to Reagan
Today I discovered that I am two people away from knowing Jodie Foster, which, technically, because of John Hinckley, Jr., puts me ever closer to Ronald Reagan. A friend in Philadelphia studied for a time under John Douglas, the former FBI profiler who was a consultant for Jonathan Demme's Silence of the Lambs. Douglas gave… Continue reading Closer to Reagan