I’m not sure why they insist on making movie musicals. Especially musicals that are adapted from the Broadway stage. But I really don’t understand why Tim Burton wanted to adapt “Sweeney Todd.” Even in a genre that is essentially ridiculous, “Sweeney Todd” sits on the…
Went today to see “The Great Debaters,” which was directed by and stars Denzel Washington. I can’t remember when I ever admired a bit of movie manipulation more than this.Faint praise, I know. Fact is, the film is well-directed, even though it’s only Washington’s second…
Here’s another Top 10 list. This one comes from the American Film Institute (it’s listed in alphabetical order):“Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead”“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”“Into the Wild”“Juno”“Knocked Up”“Michael Clayton”“No Country for Old Men”“Ratatouille”“The Savages”“There Will Be Blood”
On the Web site metro(spokane), you’ll find a compilation of the opening scenes of Harold Becker’s 1985 movie “Vision Quest.”You’ll also find a Google Maps recreation of the improbable route run by the character Louden Swain (Matthew Modine). As the site says, “it's confusing as…
After two weeks in China, two days in Tokyo, and a number of days spent fighting jet lag, I haven’t had a whole lot of energy to post anything. Especially in China, where I wasn’t interested in drawing attention to my choice of career –…
I sometimes get the strangest letters. Here is one that I read first thing this morning:Hi Dan: Why the amateurish book page in today's (Sunday) paper? Only 4 top best sellers in each category? And to boot so out of date - New York Times…
The New York Times came out with its 100 Notable Books for 2007 list, and, no surprise, Denis Johnson made it. After all, Johnson’s novel, “Tree of Smoke,” won the National Book Award.Missing, though, was Sherman Alexie’s young-adult novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a…
It's funny how much difference a role can make. Javier Bardem, the ultratalented Spanish actor, is so believable in "No Country for Old Men" that I'm still afraid that his character is waiting for me when I get home at night.But then I went to…
While sitting her on a lazy Monday afternoon, doing nothing more than Stumbling while trying to get over a cold, I came across this trailer Web site. It reminded me that I never did see this influential movie. I must Netflix it.
It’s hard for somebody – namely, most of us – to feel sorry for show-biz types who complain about not getting paid.Take the writers who are striking against the corporations that, they say, aren’t paying them extra for using their content online, etc.Hey, sell one…
Blu-ray continues to take the lead in the HD format race. Now if only those Blu-ray machine prices would come down to something reasonable.Below: These are Blu-ray discs, produced by BlueRay Technologies of Spokane.Photo by Brian Plonka, The Spokesman-Review
If you want to get an idea of what life is like for today’s students, take a look at the embed that I just posted below. Thank you, YouTube.
Looks like the Blu-ray/HD DVD battle is heating up. Question: Have you priced the machines you need to play these things? What portion of the public is clamoring for this technology anyway?
We all have our personal fears. Filmmakers know this and find ways to exploit those fears, in the best cases artistically. In the worst cases, the films they foist on us are either just violent and gross or merely boring.Moviefone has been doing a rudown…
This morning, sitting in a too-cold hotel room, I was hit with one of those uncomfortable assaults of reality that seem to lurk in the shadows, waiting to pounce when you least suspect it.I had just discovered the newest book by one of my favorite…
Looks like “Transformers” is doing as much business in DVD as it did in theaters. My colleague Tom Bowers, though, is no fan. He told me he turned it off after 10 minutes.Seems to me he’s the same guy who once ate pizza every day…
For the second weekend in a row, the Spokane/Coeur d'Aene area is being engulfed with movies. Ten, count 'em, 10 new movies are opening in regional theaters.We're heading off this morning to see the 11:05 showing of "Gone Baby Gone" at the downtown AMC Theatres.…
My wife thinks that e-mails are vile. She says they allow people to respond immediately to anything that they want while hiding behind the veil of anonymity.I disagree, mostly. Because at least up to this point, unlike posted letters that have no return address, I’ve…
Anyone who has ever attempted to learn Spanish knows how difficult it can be. Check out the YouTube embed below to find a hilarious take on the process of language acquisition.
What novel begins with the following paragraph:“We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like ‘I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive. . . .’ And suddenly there was…
I stumbled upon a great online comic site. It’s called “Multiplex,” and creator Gordon McAlpin sets the strip in an unnamed city’s multiplex theater. The characters say many things that many of the rest of us may think but never quite know how to articulate.StumbleUpon…
Here’s my quote for the day. I found it in a Los Angeles Times interview with Susan Faludi, author of the forthcoming book “The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America.”In the book, Faludi’s thesis, wrote Times reporter Maria L. La Ganga, is that…
After Britney Spears' disastrous appearance at the MTV Music Video Awards, those groups that make money off the pop, uh, singer started jostling each other in an effort to reach full damage-control mode.Click on the following YouTube embed to see the actual, uh, performance.Those individuals…
I interviewed two writers earlier this week. Both will be giving readings in Spokane next week. I posted edited transcripts of the interview on The Spokesman-Review Book Club page.For Peter Chilson, click here.For Donald Revell, click here.
As someone who was a charter member of the original Youth Culture – meaning those who came of age in the 1960s – I can’t quite face the hypocrisy of being a critic of today’s obsession with all things young.It does get a bit tiring,…
A Dan Webster joint, discussing news, notes and everything about movies.
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