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Boston Massacre
The challenge in becoming a well-respected director is being able to deliver the same level of artistic cinema while remaining fresh enough to be interesting. Woody Allen gained critical praise (including mine) for his 2005 film Match Point, a departure from the Manhattan settings of his most well-known romantic comedies. That same praise is now being lavished upon Martin Scorcese, who uprooted his history of crime drama and moved it from New York to Boston and Italians to Irishmen for his new film The Departed. But it’s not new digs that make Scorcese so successful here. His last two films have been loaded up with Academy-luring bombast and have been less about Martin than Oscar. Freed from the self importance of Gangs of New York and The Aviator, though, Scorcese returns to what he knows and his audience loves. -
Restock the Funny on Aisle Three
The comedy juggernaut known as Dane Cook has picked up considerable steam over the past two years, and while I consider myself a fan of his incredible stand-up, I can’t claim that I know exactly why. His ventures into film, with the exception of a bit part as the Waffler in Mystery Men, have been largely mediocre. In his most recent effort, Employee of the Month, Cook plays Zack, a slacker working at a warehouse superstore who ups his productivity when a pretty new cashier (Jessica Simpson) with a supposed history of sleeping with the employee of the month transfers to his store. The movie’s biggest problem comes from the fact that, in a setting with oversized packages of hygiene products and cheese, the only thing that doesn’t come in bulk is laughter. -
Of Boys and Men
Whenever the Dallas Cowboys come to town, Eagles fans work themselves into such a frenzy that the national media is enticed to throw out their favorite generalization of the Philly sports fan: “they throw snowballs at Santa Claus.” Indeed, with the ‘Boys scheduled to play at the Linc yesterday and former Eagle Terrell Owens headlining the Dallas roster, Big Media had a field day all of last week, painting the Philadelphia sports fan as a brutish vandal, a miscreant spotting the great tradition of fans around the nation. Even Deadspin got into the game, dedicating their weekly “Cultural Oddsmaker” column to putting a betting interest into what brand of fan would be most likely to be tossed. Who knew that it would take a former Cowboys quarterback, among the most celebrated to put on the uniform and the leader of the most hated Cowboys teams until they started printing #81 jerseys, to finally give Philly fans some slack? -
We Are Nihilists, Phil. We Believe in Nothing.
Welcome to Hanoi, Vietnam. Home to more than three million people, Hanoi is located in the northern half of Vietnam. Translation: don’t expect an overly friendly welcome, especially if you’re American and you walk around town wearing fatigues. That’s also frowned upon in Lower Merion, especially when you have a bushy beard and a plastic revolver in your car, but that’s another story for another day. Hanoi is capital of unified Vietnam and the oldest capital city in Southeast Asia. More to the point, it was the third pit stop…in a racearoundtheworld. -
So LOST Without You
As I said yesterday, I was immeasurably excited in the hours leading up to last night’s season premier of LOST. The season two finale gave some of the answers that we were desperately seeking (namely, that entering the numbers into that computer actually did something) and left enough in the air to leave fans drooling for more. The first episode of season three set the table for what should be a fascinating, satisfying season, but the show itself left a lot to be desired. My quick thoughts after the jump (obvious spoiler alert); I encourage everyone to share their thoughts in the comments.
Archive: October, 2006