In the aftermath of Jaws, it’s hard to count the actual number of knock offs and clones made to capitalize on the success of that film. They ranged from big budget wide release films like 1977’s Orca to low budget affairs like 1976’s backwoods effort Grizzly, a movie that featured an actual grizzly bear. Known today for his independent films like Eight Men Out and … Continue reading Hooptober X #6: Alligator
Being Film #3 for Hooptober 2023 Man, there is just something about Dario Argento. Excepting The Five Days (only because I haven’t seen it) his run of films from 1970’s The Bird With the Crystal Plumage up to 1996’s The Stendhal Syndrome (I’m giving a soft pass to 93’s Trauma because I barely remember it) is remarkable, full of style and crazy ideas, with running … Continue reading Hooptober 10.0 – Phenomena (1985)
Being Film #1 for Hooptober 2023 Sometimes suspending your disbelief can be a chore, but sometimes – if the tone is just ridiculous enough – it can be a delight. There was a lot to suspend in Night of the Comet, a sci-fi horror comedy that’s more “Valley Girl survives the Apocalypse” than anything else, but when you have the charm of Kelli Maroney it’s … Continue reading Hooptober 10.0 – Night of the Comet (1984)
When it comes to compiling “Best _ of All Time” lists, I generally find the process more interesting than the final lists themselves. For me personally, I obsess for hours over the internal debates and criteria which only make sense to me. Once those decisions are made, all that is left to do is record it somewhere and throw it into the void of whoever reads it. For the Sight and Sound list, I find it fascinating how the simple passage of ten years along with structural changes result in movies being added, removed, or changed in ranking. Do I have a lot invested in how any particular movie is ranked on the Sight and Sound list? Aside from Seventh Seal, no. Do I think it’s cool that recent movies like Portrait of a Lady on Fire or Moonlight got onto the list? Absolutely. I’ll be absolutely curious how those movies mature in stature for the 2032 list. That’s why I mostly don’t get too hung up on particular rankings, because these “Best _ of All Time” lists don’t establish some kind of eternal metaphysical truth, but ironically mark a very specific moment in time for the people involved.
Continue reading “Lost in the Mail: Jon’s 2022 Sight And Sound Ballot”
Coming up with a Sight and Sound ballot, even one that didn’t get submitted to the actual magazine, presents unique challenges. The only criteria put forth by the venerable magazine is to vote for the greatest films of all time, leaving voters free to interpret that. It opens things up to a wide set of criteria to determine “the greatest films ever made”. Do you try to vote objectively and select films for their perceived importance and influence? Do you select based on personal importance? Do you go based on personal aesthetic? Or do you just think of what films other people will pick and hope yours line up?
Continue reading “Lost in the Mail: Dan’s 2022 Sight And Sound Ballot”
What’s in a list, anyway?
It’s something I’ve struggled with throughout my time as an online writer. But when you’re considering a set list of, as the BFI so brazenly puts it, the greatest films of all time, it becomes apparent that a list – any list – must encompass both a sense of inflexibility as well as transience. That’s what makes the Sight and Sound list so important, both in its cadence (the poll is only held once a decade) and its content. Our first episode of the new year has Jon and I catching up on our blind spots based on the most recent results, and it raised an important point about the nature of the list. Moreso than a canon of the greatest films ever made, it’s a sign o’ the times, to quote another legend who had their pulse on the shape of an art form over multiple decades. The changes in this year’s list reflects a broadening of critics who bring a level of diversity that reveals shifting viewpoints in cinema, and acts to push against the walls of an establishment that has held them back for decades. It’s a welcome shakeup to my mind, and it’s helped me to reconsider my own personal canon and question the biases that informed its creation.
Continue reading “Lost in the Mail: Chris’s 2022 Sight and Sound Ballot”
Cinema Dual (TEST SITE) 