Fool's Views (1/16 – 1/31)

Greetings and Happy (Bloody) Valentines Day, kids!

Here’s the back half of January, which wasn’t nearly as madcap as the first, being that we had already knocked out all of the SAG nominees and were left to polish off the remaining unseen features from both Michael Haneke and Wes Anderson (strange bedfellows indeed), as well as revisiting a couple Corman quickies. We also got out to the cinema a couple more times, sharing an evening of conversation with Michael Shannon at DePaul University following a screening of Take Shelter hosted by the peerless Peter Steeves, as well as a midnight screening of the cautionary tale that is Wild Beasts (“This is your brain. This is your brain trampled by zoo animals hopped up on angel dust.”)

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!

TAKE SHELTER (2011) movie review

Take Shelter (2011) (1st viewing) d. Nichols, Jeff

Oil rig worker Michael Shannon starts experiencing horrific visions of an apocalyptic storm to come – is he a prophet or merely going off the deep end? Nichols, who directed his own script, keeps us guessing at all times, injecting Shannon’s schizophrenic mother (Kathy Baker) and a healthy dose of self-doubt into the mix, further complicated by his protagonist’s refusal to confide in an understandably frustrated wife Jessica Chastain. Things come to a head when Shannon begins expanding the backyard tornado shelter, an endeavor that strains not only the family finances, but the understanding of his community. A slow burn to be sure, but Nichols and his star hold our sympathies and attention throughout.

Fool's Views (6/4 – 6/17)

Hey troops,

Saddled as we were here at the Doc’s office with getting a certain show (Inherit the Wind) up on its feet these past couple weeks, there wasn’t much time for viddying (in fact, half of the flicks below were screened via laptop during the hefty hour-plus commute traveling to and from rehearsals). However, in addition to catching up on some recent fare – a mixed bag indeed – we also revisited two underviewed (some might say justifiably so) drive-in horror efforts as well as taking in another virgin viewing from the great Akira Kurosawa, who might end up becoming my director project for the year. Lots of his stuff I still need to see and even more I need to revisit.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!