July 03, 2009
July 02, 2009
Hollywood's Greatest Year, 1939
This year marks the 70th anniversary of Hollywood's greatest year, 1939.
Accordingly, Turner Classic Movies is celebrating the anniversary this month by showing 39 films released in '39, beginning tonight with a showing of The Wizard of Oz at 8 EDT, followed by a new documentary, 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year.
It's a truism among fans of classic movies that 1939 was the Hollywood cinema's greatest year. But if it has become something of a cliche to say so, it's only because it's so undeniably true.
It's really rather amazing to consider how many classic or transcendentally classic films were released during that annus mirabilis. Among the most highly praised then and in the ensuring years were the following:
Do you prefer Facebook over MySpace? Then you're a racist
According to a story at The Inquisitr, it reflects very poorly on American society that social networkers have been leaving MySpace in droves and flocking to Facebook.
As The Inquisitr story notes, Danah Boyd, a social media researcher for Microsoft and fellow of the Harvard University Berkman Center for Internet and Society, recently delivered the keynote speech during New York’s Democracy forum at Lincoln Center. Boyd said she was disturbed by the possible reasons for mass abandonment of MySpace for the "more cultured" and "less cheesy" social networking site Facebook. The phenomenon apparently exposes a form of digital racism for which America should feel shame.
Continue reading "Do you prefer Facebook over MySpace? Then you're a racist" »
The Toxic Philosophy Behind 'Quirky' Film(s)
Charming, quirky films such as Away We Go aren't always as innocent as they seem, S. T. Karnick writes.
Continue reading "The Toxic Philosophy Behind 'Quirky' Film(s)" »
July 01, 2009
Malden Brought Depth, Moral Responsibility to Movie Roles
Actor Karl Malden, who died today at age 97, was a fine performer who stood for good principles and conveyed a sense of moral responsibility in his performances, S. T. Karnick writes.
Continue reading "Malden Brought Depth, Moral Responsibility to Movie Roles" »
June 30, 2009
Good Themes Overshadowed by Cinematic Flaws in 'Transformers' Sequel
Thematically, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is just as good as its predecessor. Unfortunately, it falls short in other important ways, S. T. Karnick writes.
Continue reading "Good Themes Overshadowed by Cinematic Flaws in 'Transformers' Sequel" »
June 29, 2009
Review: The Stoning of Soraya M
The Stoning of Soraya M. is a "Schindler's List" for a new generation — a film that starkly exposes the brutality of a regime that is almost impossible for the modern Western mind to comprehend, but is true nonetheless. It won't be seen as that, I fear, by the elites in modern American culture. After all, it condemns an immoral Iranian culture and power structure the enlightened President Obama is trying to respectfully engage.
June 28, 2009
Christian Serial Killer TV Episode Surprisingly Fair to Christianity
The most recent episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent presents a serial killer who believes he's doing God's work, yet the story manages to be fair to religion and in fact present a positive view of Christianity, S. T. Karnick writes.
Continue reading "Christian Serial Killer TV Episode Surprisingly Fair to Christianity" »
Little Miss Parenthood
While Away We Go offers some wonderful performances and two leads with real chemistry, it's lacks any real dramatic development. Moreover, in its earnest desire to be this year's Little Miss Sunshine, it passes off quirky individuality as a recipe for successful parenting.
June 27, 2009
June 26, 2009
The Next Next Generation
Fleeing from the beatification of Michael Jackson, I stumbled onto the TV show pilot, Virtuality, on Fox last night. Written by Ronald Moore and Michael Taylor, the show takes numerous Star Trek: The Next Generation staples and turns them on their head. It's certainly not perfect, but if I could be so bold, it's definitely television with more than one brain cell.
June 25, 2009
More Than One Brain Cell: SF Films with Ideas (Part Seven)
The Tragedy of Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson's life was a tragedy, but not a particularly edifying one, S. T. Karnick writes.
Confronting Liberal Snobbery
The other day, I had reason to have e-mail correspondence with the head of the criminal division of the Attorney General's Office of a state that will remain unnamed. Don't worry. I'm not in any legal trouble. I simply had publicly opposed the idea of imposing a 15-cent "fee" on one's Internet-access bill — something that Congress had put a moratorium on with the "Internet Tax Freedom Act," which was recently renewed. The fee is intended to fund a special task force to fight Internet-based crime ... for "the children," of course.
Anyway, this public servant took time out of his publicly funded work day to send me a snarky email, lecturing me in a condescending way that I have no idea what I'm talking about. See, I'm not a lawyer. So I don't get it. The 15-cent charge is a "fee" and not a "tax," so it's entirely legal. I didn't go to law school, nor am I a high-powered bureaucrat, so I should not dare to question my liberal puppet masters.
Silly me. Anyway, here's the text of the email I received (with identifying information redacted):
Burton Tackles Alice
Filmmaker Tim Burton is in production on a film based on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.
Burton, director of Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and other successful fantasy films, is using digital manipulation of real-life actors and actresses to recreate the inhabitants of Wonderland, such as the Mad Hatter (Burton regular Johnny Depp), the Red Queen (Helena Bohnam-Carter), the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), the Jabberwock (Christopher Lee, a superb choice), and Tweedledum and Tweedledee (both played by Matt Lucas (Little Britain).
The film has Alice (Mia Wasikowska, Defiance) returning to Wonderland as a teenager.
Given that Burton said he chose Wasikowska because she has a "certain kind of emotional toughness," and putting that together with the director's track record and the use of a significantly older protagonist than in the books, it's likely that this new version of the story will be much darker, disturbing, and grotesque (as opposed to Carroll's charming use of the bizarre) than Carroll's books and the various film and theatrical versions.
Judging by Burton's previous work, the film is also likely to be interesting, inventive, cinematically smart, visually arresting, emotionally affecting, and quite difficult to make much ultimate sense of.
Photos of of some of the characters in the film are available in a Yahoo! article.
June 24, 2009
McMahon's Affability Demonstrated Real Virtues
Television personality Ed McMahon was a celebrity without any real talent, but he did some good with what he had.
Continue reading "McMahon's Affability Demonstrated Real Virtues" »
June 23, 2009
Character Charm Overcomes Comic Anarchy at U.S. Box Office
It will be a good thing if the Sandra Bullock romantic comedy The Proposal continues its box-office success--if Hollywood draws the right conclusions about why it did well.
Continue reading "Character Charm Overcomes Comic Anarchy at U.S. Box Office" »
Despite Ugly Facade, 'Year One' Has Positive Message About Religion
Behind its unpleasant facade of vulgarity and chaos, Year One conveys an interesting and positive message.
Continue reading "Despite Ugly Facade, 'Year One' Has Positive Message About Religion" »
June 21, 2009
It's Not The Mask, Stupid!
Mr. Karnick has already written a wonderful essay on the original Friday the 13th movie with an eye toward the forest path it opened up for subsequent horror films. Well, the reboot of the movie came out this past week on DVD, so I thought it only fitting to examine how the new movie demonstrates just how lost in the woods we really are when it comes to horror.
June 18, 2009
Letterman Apologies Fail to Satisfy Protesters, MSM Battered Again
The intense public reaction against David Letterman's attack on Sarah Palin's family shows an increasingly strong public anger toward the mainstream media.
Continue reading "Letterman Apologies Fail to Satisfy Protesters, MSM Battered Again" »
Why the Letterman-Palin Saga Is Important
The media's continual and increasingly furious and itemperate attacks on all of those who don't agree with them politically are classic bullying tactics common to all authoritarian regimes.
Continue reading "Why the Letterman-Palin Saga Is Important" »
That Only Happens in the Movies . . .
Recent events may have pulled the curtain back on one of Hollywood's favorite bogeymen, the evil corporation. Often portrayed as unscrupulous and unfettered, it seems impossible that such a caricature could be accurate given recent events, notes R. J. MacReady.
More Than One Brain Cell: SF Films with Ideas (Part Six)
June 17, 2009
Criminally Funny: Comic Crime Films (Part Four)
June 16, 2009
Community in Gran Torino
In a DVD commentary Daniel P. Crandall argues that Clint Eastwood’s latest movie, Gran Torino, illustrates how important community is to a fulfilled life.
Criminally Funny: Comic Crime Films (Part Three)
June 15, 2009
Criminally Funny: Comic Crime Films (Part Two)
Criminally Funny: Comic Crime Films (Part One)
June 13, 2009
June 11, 2009
Letterman Sex 'Joke' Exemplifies Socialist Stranglehold on Public Discourse
Recent controversies over sex "jokes" exemplify the valid concern over the loss of decency in public discourse. The real victims are the American public, S. T. Karnick writes.
Continue reading "Letterman Sex 'Joke' Exemplifies Socialist Stranglehold on Public Discourse" »
June 10, 2009
The Gone With The Wind of Video Games
After taking Resident Evil 5 to task, I felt it was only fair to explain what I think makes a really good videogame. Balancing intuitive gameplay and a thematically rich story makes The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time a game that truly transcends the medium.
More Than One Brain Cell: SF Films with Ideas (Part Five)
June 09, 2009
Latvian Blondes March for Optimism
Blond women in the Baltic nation of Latvia recently marched through Riga, the nation's capitol, in an effort to raise money for charity, cheer up the nation, and instill optimism in Europe's hardest-hit economy. The event was part of a Blonde Weekend featuring a variety of activities including a golf tournament for blondes.
Latvia is currently suffering the worst recession among all 27 of the EU member states. The nation has yet to establish a strong economic foundation after moving out from under the yoke of the Soviet Union in the 1990s.
Organizers of the event say they hope it will become an annual event. Men around the world agree.
With a weak economy but an abundant supply of comely blonde females, Latvia might do well to publicize the latter as a feature making the nation a good tourist destination for well-heeled males. Spring break in Latvia could become the next big thing.
--S. T. Karnick
June 08, 2009
Farrell's 'Land of the Lost' Ridicules False Scientific Consensus Claims
Land of the Lost is a typically zany and in many ways nonsensical
Will Farrell comedy, but it includes a powerful truth conveyed through satire, S. T. Karnick writes.
Continue reading "Farrell's 'Land of the Lost' Ridicules False Scientific Consensus Claims" »
June 06, 2009
.jpg "Buster (sans trousers) with Stanley Adams (left) and James Flavin")
Nineteen Eighty-four: Failed Prophecy or Just Ahead of Its Time?
June 05, 2009
June 04, 2009
'Up' Success Could Bode Well for Positive Change in Hollywood
The unexpectedly big box-office and critical success of the animated film Up tells a lot about how Hollywood works--and doesn't work.
Continue reading "'Up' Success Could Bode Well for Positive Change in Hollywood" »
Microsoft's 'Natal' System Has Significance Far Beyond Gaming
We are truly entering the era of virtual reality: Microsoft has announced "Natal," a game controller that goes the Wii one better. The player does not have to use any remote controller at all; instead a true motion-tracking system tracks body movements and translates them accurately to the game system.
Matt Peckham of PC World provides interesting details in a recent column, and brings up, without exploring it, the inevitable next question:
Continue reading "Microsoft's 'Natal' System Has Significance Far Beyond Gaming" »
Carradine and 'Kung Fu' Retain Relevance Decades Later
Prolific actor David Carradine, best known for the Kung Fu TV series, the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill, and a series of ads for telephone directories, has been found dead in the closet of his hotel room in Thailand, where he was about to begin participation in a new film.
Preliminary reports have the death as a suicide by hanging.
The circumstances of his death, however, should not be allowed to overshadow his accomplishments as an actor.
Continue reading "Carradine and 'Kung Fu' Retain Relevance Decades Later" »
Recent Articles
- TCM Thrillers (July 6 - 12)
- Hollywood's Greatest Year, 1939
- Do you prefer Facebook over MySpace? Then you're a racist
- The Toxic Philosophy Behind 'Quirky' Film(s)
- Malden Brought Depth, Moral Responsibility to Movie Roles
- Good Themes Overshadowed by Cinematic Flaws in 'Transformers' Sequel
- Review: The Stoning of Soraya M
- Christian Serial Killer TV Episode Surprisingly Fair to Christianity
- Little Miss Parenthood
- TCM Thrillers (June 29 - July 5)
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Movable Type 3.2ysb5-20051201S. T. Karnick's writings on popular culture and other related topics have appeared in numerous publications, including National Review, The Weekly Standard, The National Interest, The American Spectator, Tech Central Station, Orbis, Christianity Today, The American Enterprise, The New York Post, Books and Culture, Insight, The Washington Times, The Washington Examiner, The Indianapolis Star, FrontPage Magazine, Breakpoint, WorldNet Daily, and many others. Please visit this site regularly for an informed perspective on movies, books, music, TV, and other cultural topics.
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