One great thing about limited TV access while teaching here at Shared Worlds (Wofford College) in Spartanburg, SC, is that I’m spending my evenings reading and watching movies on Netflix. I’ve decided to go a little esoteric and catch up on some flicks that aren’t exactly Hollywood blockbusters. Case in point, Nicolas Roeg’s Bad Timing, […]
Carlos the Jackal was most famously associated with killings, kidnappings, and hijackings attributed to Palestinian terrorist organizations, but as with many purported idealists—including cold-blooded murderers like Carlos—as the authorities closed in on him and his networks, he became more of a terrorist-for-hire. The ideology became contaminated by his own ego, his need for money and […]
Ecstatic Days is pleased to present guest reviewer Grak-Pha Teekelp’s review of the new Spielberg-Abrams film Super 8. Teekelp is a space alien from a planet about 1,000,000 light years from here, and thus has a unique perspective on the movie. PLEASE NOTE: The review contains spoilers. Super 8 From an “Extra-Terrestrial” Point of View […]
One thing I like about facebook is I have really smart friends who can take a sometimes superficial status message post by moi and turn it into a fascinating discussion. In such cases, you sometimes want to preserve it in a more formal context, like a blog. Case in point, I posted this status recently […]
In an effort to slow down and recharge, Ann and I saw a lot of movies in the theaters, on video, and on demand over the past few weeks, in addition to some TV shows. Here, in no particular order, are thumbnail reviews of a few of them. The last, Bunny and the Bull, you […]
Ann and I watched Monsters last night on On Demand—the theatrical release is in November, I think. Wow. What a surprise. Proper deployment of monsters so it doesn’t get stupid. Nice visual development of the contaminated zone. A minimum of plot holes (there are a couple.) A somewhat complex relationship, with the guy clearly meant […]
Director Ridley Scott talked to MTV about his plans for an Alien prequel that will explain the space jockey. As Scott puts it, “Who the hell was that Space Jockey?’ The guy who was sitting in the chair in the alien vehicle — there was a giant fellow sitting in a seat on what looked […]
Yesterday, while doing our taxes, we followed up Pandorum, Dune, Moon, and Alien with a movie on cable…Tentacles. From 1977, clear rip-off of Jaws. I have a feeling that everyone else already knows about this D-movie, but we were just aghast, watching winters, Huston, and others do their best impression of stink-o-rama. In one scene […]
I’m not going to defend mutation science as applied to Pandorum, but I have to say: if you haven’t seen this film, you should. It’s twisty in the best way, horrific in a way that actually turns out to make sense, and although it uses tropes and ideas you’ve seen in lots of other deep […]
I’ve just posted Nisi Shawl’s piece on Avatar over at Booklifenow. Go check it out. I think she liked it just a tad more than I did.