Category Archives: Film

Ain’t No White-Savior Movie

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Max West

Each year, Hollywood trots out an obligatory-film-about-black-transcendence. Last year, it was the forgettable Antebellum Porn flick 12 Years a Slave. This year, it’s Selma. Lo and behold, it turns out that Ava DuVernay, director of Selma, is… drumroll… an angry … Continue reading →

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Holywood 2025

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Max West

Mark Harris has a good piece on “How Hollywood’s toxic (and worsening) addiction to franchises changed movies forever in 2014.” Amidst an ever-expanding menu of ‘universe-formation’ franchising, the future of quality movie-making is looking rather ominous.

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Southpaw

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Max West

I am endlessly fascinated with the philosophies of method acting, particularly when it attests to the supreme dedication an actor will place upon himself towards the service of a role. From DeNiro’s 60-lb weight gain in Raging Bull (1980) to … Continue reading →

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Mike Nichols (1931-2014)

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Max West

In the late director Michael Igor Peschkowsky (aka ‘Mike Nichols’) one can see a succinct distillation of the psychology-of-the-Jew. Tablet Magazine (‘A New Read on Jewish Life’) has an excerpt about Nichols from Abigail Pogrebin’s book Stars of David: Prominent … Continue reading →

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8 Bit Cinema: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Max West

I’m old enough to remember videogames that looked like this. And The Life Aquatic is one of my favorite films of the past 20 years. From the creators of this faux video game: CineFix presents The Life Aquatic with Steve … Continue reading →

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The Simpsons Homage to Kubrick

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Max West
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Ridley Scott & Jack Parsons

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Max West

Ridley Scott will be co-producing an AMC mini-series on the bizarre life of ‘occult rocketeer’ Jack Parsons. Parsons was a rocket scientist and co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, but also had a lifelong, active interest in the occult (think … Continue reading →

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Orson Welles & “The Other Side of the Wind”

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Max West

Big news for Orson Welles fans. The Other Side of the Wind, which was his unfinished last film, which he struggled for years to complete, will eventually see the light of day. While I don’t think it will be a … Continue reading →

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Birdman (2014)

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Max West

I haven’t been this excited for a movie since… I don’t know when. Michael Keaton as ‘Birdman’… a not-altogether-hidden, nor irrelevant nod to Keaton’s Batman… and then a no longer hot commodity, practically disappearing from the big budget movie scene … Continue reading →

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Gone Girl (2014)

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Max West

David Fincher’s films are consistently smart and enjoyable (Panic Room; Zodiac), when not outright brilliant (Se7en; Fight Club). I watched Fincher’s Gone Girl last night, which I might put in the former category, with the caveat of being “enjoyable but … Continue reading →

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