Lisztomania Blitzophrenia Aphrodelia
If one takes things at face value, then Ken Russell’s 1975 film Lisztomania is about composer Franz Liszt. Regardless of how one takes things, however, the film is completely unhinged, unabashed, […]
Author Archives: Evil Genius
Best of Bay Area Film — November 2013
New releases, rep picks, double features, film festivals, and movie marathons all demand your popcorn crunching, babysitter funding, brain whittling attention this November. But what if you can only make it to […]
The Visitor is a Turd Cake Full of Turds
It is beyond terrible. And I say this, having just sat through M. Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water, a film which is clearly better than The Visitor because it is at least dreadful in a new and surprising way.
All Is Lost: Get a Good Dose of Anti-Gravity
I’m sorry. I know that means little at this point, but I am. I tried. I think you would all agree that I tried. To be true, to be strong, to be kind, to love, to be right. But I wasn’t. All is Lost.
Mind Control Double Feature #68: Thug Life
Damn it’s good to be a gangster. Unless that means pulling someone’s beating heart out of their chest, because that can get really messy.
Appropriately Unclear: 12 Years a Slave, Ender’s Game, and the Hidden Scrunt
There was one shot in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave that made it all clear for me. A slave stands below the sweep of a tree, he lifts a dented horn […]
How to Touch Gross Things
Wanna see something totally gross?
Mind Control Double Feature #66: Jeff Bridges Feels You Up
That’s okay. Just let it all out. Being emotional isn’t a sign of weakness; on the the contrary, it is a sign of depth and potential award nomination. This is particularly true if you happen to be Jeff Bridges.
24 Hour Party People Get Delusional
’24 Hour Party People.’ This is, I learn, a song by the Happy Mondays, which were in turn an important band in the Manchester music scene of the 1980s and […]
Black Swan Plays with Its Pecker
There are two stunning things about Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 award winner Black Swan. The first is Natalie Portman’s sinewy and strung performance. The second is that people went to see it.
The Slugger’s Wife and Extended Slumps
In the 1970s, Hal Ashby directed your favorite films; Harold & Maude, The Last Detail, Shampoo, and Being There to name a few. In the 1980s, his name topped an unbroken string […]
Captain Phillips Is Not Okay
There is a moment, towards the end of Paul Greengrass’ true-life actioner Captain Phillips, in which the eponymous sailor played by Tom Hanks is simply overcome. The violence and strain have […]
Mind Control Double Feature #64: Deep Thoughts
When you really think about it, thoughts are problematic. I mean: what are they good for? Can you eat them? Will they keep you from chaffing? How many do you […]
The Son of Netflix Queue and A
Hooray and hurrah! It is time to once again see what’s looming on the ol’ Netflix queue. In our inaugural edition of this column, I listed the top 10 occupants […]