Raves Various and Sundry

How I Sort My Favorite Films

This past weekend I had some free time. What do project managers do with free time? Make lists! Specifically, I decided it was time once again for my biennial Favorite Films sort. (you can find posts about the favorite film here). Creating a list of favorite films has been something I’ve been doing since at least the late 80s, but my current method is something I’ve been doing since 2012 and have found easy –and not…

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Site Update

It’s a Blogiversary with Fine Pottery Among the Willows… or Something

Nine years ago today, I relaunched a personal website, something Internet denizens hadn’t seen since the days of Netscape Navigator. Depending on how you mark anniversaries, this will be the pottery or willow anniversary. Not as exciting as the Bronze Anniversary last year, but I guess folks decided that metals could use a break. As with previous versions of this blogiversary post, I’ll be looking at the posts that were popular over the past year…

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Reviews

Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Reviews of Red Envelopes!

The final month is upon us. DVD Netflix is going away. This departure will blow a hole in the movie-watching habits of many of us… and leave us ever more at the mercy of ephemeral licensing deals and capricious streamers, both of which may conspire to leave us without certain perfectly good films that deserve to be seen. As Beth Greenfield notes on Aol.com (yes, the irony of that article’s location is not lost on…

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Producing Raves

Masterful Filmmaker (from the Far Side of the World) Peter Weir receives Lifetime Achievement Oscar

This past Monday, I shared an article about the allure of the film Master and Commander: But Wait, There’s More Title, directed by Peter Weir. This Sunday during the main Oscar ceremony, I learned that said director, now 78, received a special lifetime achievement award last November. And it got to me thinking that, apart from one or two of his films I haven’t seen, all of his films are always in my sort. Peter…

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Various and Sundry

I like Master and Commander and, yes, I’m a dad. Why do you ask?

Thinking of my biennial “Favorite Films” post this past December, it’s clear from last night’s Oscars, I’m not the only one who was bowled over by the bagel that is Everything Everywhere All at Once. It’s definitely due a rewatch… but actually, I’m here to point out a recent article by Gabriella Paiella for GQ about how my top pick, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, was made and is now an…

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Various and Sundry

2022 Additions to the National Film Registry

Given my most recent Favorite Films list, I figured it’d be nice to highlight the National Film Registry, a project by the Library of Congress. Each year, they add titles to the registry, serving as an annual reminder of the work they do and highlighting some films that might have fallen off people’s radar. You can read about this years inductees at the link above, from NPR and Variety, or via this fun video below:

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Various and Sundry

GIFs Out of Balance

Earlier this week, I mentioned doing the sort of my biennial favorite films list. My favorite film for a few years back in the pre-Internet era (well, pre-Netscape Navigator for sticklers) was the experimental, non-narrative film Koyaanisqatsi. Technically a documentary, I suppose, but really more of a visual essay. It uses a variety of slow-motion, time-lapse, and regular speed, but breathtaking, cinematography resulting in a film unlike anything I had seen before. It may also…

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Site Update

It’s a Wool-Gathering Blogiversary!

Seven years ago on this date, I finally got around to relaunching a site on ye olde world wide web, which as anniversaries go is sometimes termed the ‘wool’ or ‘copper’ anniversary. As with previous versions of this blogiversary post, I’ll be looking at the posts that were popular over the past year and other stats worthy of wool-gathering. Star Trek Once again, my posts related to ranking every episode of every Star Trek series…

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Raves Various and Sundry

The Little Prince: Worth a Watch (or Rewatch)

This is one of my rare time-sensitive posts, so bottom-line up front: if you want to watch The Little Prince on Netflix — and my premise is you should — it’s leaving on May 4th, so do it now! Those of you who have read last year’s installment of my Favorite Films list already know I hold this film in high esteem, but I believe the 2015 film version of The Little Prince is one…

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Various and Sundry

“Every [film] has to come to an end, sometime.”

I think L. Frank Baum (the source of the amended quotation above) would understand. Like books, songs, and many other an enjoyable thing: all things come to an end. Thanks to one of my siblings, I have a glorious poster of assorted iconic film endings hanging in my house. Who doesn’t love a really solid ending to a film? Whether it’s funny, poignant, thought-provoking, or applause-inducing, a satisfying ending is what so often makes a…

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