Tim Allen?
Help! I woke up 30 minutes ago and I'm stuck in front of the TV watching 2006's THE SHAGGY DOG.
February 19, 2007
March 07, 2006
this year's oscar party
My digital camera broke five or six weeks ago. I've got no photos from the Oscar party I hosted this past Sunday, but Listmaker's got photos galore and a wrap-up of things said. He also gets into the nitty-gritty of the Oscar pool's final standings.
March 04, 2005
oh, those eyebrows
Fifteen minutes ago I started watching SUMMER LOVERS on Showtime OnDemand. This movie is from 1982 and features a studly looking Peter Gallagher and a pre-Splash Daryl Hannah. The song during the opening credits is just begging to be remade by some electro-clash band. I had to pause the movie and jump to the computer because Daryl Hannah's character just said "I used to dream I was a mermaid." How awesome is that?
Added bonus: the continual appearance of 110 film cameras.
UPDATE (five minutes later): Thirty seconds later Daryl has Peter tied up and is dripping hot wax on him. Does it get any better than this????
February 28, 2005
i didn't overthink the voting
last night i hosted an oscar party. if you weren't invited, please accept my apologies. i am very forgetful.
the turnout this year wasn't as high as in years past, but i think that may have worked to my advantage. with twelve of us dropping a few bucks into the prize pool, i passed around ballots and we made our picks for best whatever. somehow, i won. my first year ever! whoo!
(marc flashes his winnings and realizes that perhaps self-portraits aren't the way to celebrate)
jamie and erik spent much of the night (along with amy) keeping track of their scores - all ranking near the bottom of the pack. about halfway through the party it was decided that the loser - the person with the fewest points at the end of the night - would be forced to drink the lone bottle of smirnoff ice that mysteriously appeared in the fridge.
(losing with dignity, erik chugs the premium malt beverage)
February 26, 2005
the movie lists are GREAT
February 25, 2005
another movie list
Bill W. sent his movie list this afternoon. It's now online at http://balgavy.com/movies/movies2004billw.html
calling all film geeks!
a few of the oscar nominated short films are online at salon.com today through midnight. mitch, jim and i saw these recently and if you've got some downtime this afternoon, i suggest waiting through the salon ad and checking out the animated short called RYAN and the live action short called 7:35 IN THE MORNING (7:35 DE LA MANANA). RYAN is the longer of the two and I'm not sure if watching it on a computer monitor will do it justice. Watching it on the big screen was wile - it's got this far out feeling. It's documentary-like, but with really cool animation. 7:35 IN THE MORNING is the film i'm hoping wins the academy award.
calling all ny film geeks!
this week gothamist has been running interviews with various programmers from around the new york film retro & specialty scene.
bruce goldstein - film forum
florence almozini - BAMcinematek
david schwartz - museum of the moving image
laurence kardish - museum of modern art
kent jones - walter reade theater / film society of lincoln center
February 22, 2005
the list of movie lists gets longer
February 18, 2005
two new lists!!!
January 23, 2005
the 2004 movie lists are here
As happens every January, it's time to post the movie lists of 2004!
First up, lists from DAN and MITCH.
My list should be online be the end of the week. If you've got a list, email it to me.
This will be the main entry for commenting on all movie lists.
UPDATED:
2/2 - SUJAN'S LIST
2/18 - CHRIS M.'S LIST
2/18 - AMY W.'S LIST
2/22 - KACI'S LIST
2/22 - DONOVAN'S LIST
2/25 - BILL W.'S LIST
2/26 - JEREMY'S LIST
January 04, 2005
movies 2004 (and more)
as we roll into 2005 (and no, i'm not admitting to having taken any ecstasy on new year's eve. do people even do that drug anymore?), it's time to start thinking about the best films of 2004. like i have for the past five years, i will once again be posting lists of everyone's year end movie comments. there's no need to rush these to me tomorrow...the posting will go on for the next two or three months (generally, i like to have them all posted by oscar time). if you're having a tough time recalling which films were released in 2004, you can check out the movie times: movies of 2004 box office chart.
in the spirit of all this movie talk, check out today's gothamist interview with indieWIRE's eugene hernandez.
don't forget that once the sundance film festival starts, you can check out blogging sundance by jason calacanis, who says he hopes to interview every director at the festival.
if you're in the mood to update your links and read about movies every day, one of the best film blogs to visit is GreenCine Daily.
September 13, 2004
sad sack vs. sad sack
ONE HOUR PHOTO vs. OWNING MAHOWNY. i watched both of these films last week on hbo ondemand. robin williams vs. philip seymour hoffman. "owning mahowny" is a lot more interesting. it's based on the true story of a somewhat dumpy canadian banker in the early 80's who stole millions of dollars to feed his gambling habit. the film is as dark, grim and rough around the edges as "one hour photo" is sparkling, clean and fuji-colored.
September 08, 2004
is this a hoax?
secret movie theatre in paris - HIDDEN IN THE CATACOMBS. very intriguing stuff. the place even had the fake sounds of dogs barking to keep intruders away! (link via boingboing)
August 31, 2004
beyond the traffic light
This summer Coudal Partners has been hosting a blog by a filmmaker named Scott Smith. The blog started out focusing on his experience with Project Greenlight and has evolved into a blog, Pulling Focus, about his work and life experiences. It's full of interesting observations, including this one from a post entitled "Disappointments, Observations & Cognitions":
4) The guy behind the counter at the Best Western West Towne Suites uses an Okidata Printer from the early 80�s to print his receipts. Why?
May 25, 2004
filmmaker admits to reading L Magazine
filmmakers are now considered visual artists. i never knew that was in question. but this interview with a guy who was arrested last year for selling dvd's of his work at union square tells a different story. (link via MIT Technology Review)
May 05, 2004
i always wanted to visit
whenever i traveled from my hometown (fredericksburg, va) to my college town (harrisonburg, va) i'd pass mt. pony, just off route 3. it's a big hill that seems to rise out of nowhere, long before you get to the blue ridge mountains. for decades it was the secret back-up home for the federal reserve. it was there in case nuclear war broke out and the money men in d.c. needed to leave the capital yet stay in charge of the nation's currency. i guess the plan was for them to either helicoptor or drive out of washington and hide out in culpeper, virginia. it's good they had the bunker, even if nuclear war never broke out (i worried about it a lot in the 80's, though). there's not much going on in culpeper but at one time there was a tiny bowling alley about half a mile from mt. pony.
anyway, a report from wired news fills the public in on the new purpose for mt. pony. decommissioned years ago, the facility will now be home to a good portion of the nation's audio & film archives. it seems like a fair amount of the material to be stored there will be the archives donated from rick prelinger. back in the mid-90's i saw a few of the films from his archives at the virginia festival of american film. he's got some really interesting stuff, collecting bits and pieces of film that weren't played in movie theatres but made for other reasons (educational films, training films, etc.).
anyway, check out the article in wired news, especially for the four photographs. it looks like they were taken from an early 90's sales brochure when the goverment was trying to re-purpose the mt. pony property.
May 03, 2004
number one in america
yesterday morning i joined dan and sujan at the multiplex theatre on court st. for the early show of MEAN GIRLS. it's funny. it ranks high among some of the other good teen films from the past ten years (bring it on, can't hardly wait).
February 24, 2004
2003 movie lists (again!)
two new movie lists are now online. jeremy and jim contribute to the crazy movie discussion with interesting and original thoughts on the movies they saw in 2003. and don't forget that comments for movie lists should be made here: http://www.balgavy.com/blog/marcblog/000167.html
UPDATE: dan's sister, amy, sent a movie list. it's now online. check it out.
February 03, 2004
more movie lists
in case you missed it, a few more 2003 movie lists have been added. check out lists from sujan, sarah f. & mitch.
my list is in the works. i'm still in shock that the academy nominated CITY OF GOD in so many categories.
send me your movie lists soon! and, comments for movie lists should be made after clicking here.
January 16, 2004
shorts for festivals
it's been years since i've had any sort of brief notion about making a short film. but i still enjoy watching shorts (or at least recording them and hoping they'll be good). thanks to a link from greencine daily (which, by the way, is slowly causing me to become interested in movies again) i ran across an article in filmmaker magazine written mike plante, a sundance film festival shorts programmer, which discusses what makes a good short film. i would love to read a longer piece about the ins and outs of what he's seen but this is a nice way to ease into the notion that this year's sundance film festival is underway.
January 11, 2004
2003 movie lists
it's that time of year again! dan is currently at a theatre watching COLD MOUNTAIN. when he returns, he'll jot down a paragraph or two about the film and sort it into his movie list for 2003. once that's complete, i'll post a link to it from my movie page.
this year i failed to see a lot of important movies. in attempt to know what i've missed and why i should rent it this year, i want to read your list. email your list to me between now and the academy awards and i'll post it online along with everyone else's. if you can't remember everything you saw, check out these two different sources for films released in 2003:
the numbers: movies released in 2003
the movie times: movies of 2003 box office chart
UPDATE: (8:45pm) Dan's List is now online
Also, comments for all movie lists should be made below.
January 04, 2004
things dan has said to me that were annoying at first but on second thought seem helpful and informative
"they're doing an orson wells retrospective at film forum." (sunday 4 jan 2004)
[that's all i have so far, but i'll try to let this list grow as he says more things and i chronicle the last six months of him being my roommate.]
November 11, 2003
marc 2.0
ready to sell your soul to the marketers? give up your personal information here for a free jake 2.0 dvd. i've seen two episodes. i'll bet the two episodes i've seen are the ones on the dvd.
speaking of free dvd's, i picked up a ny post monday morning and got a free 20 minute preview of "master and commander." oooh, swords and ships. that's the hot new genre, isn't it?
September 29, 2003
always rushed
i can't seem to focus on anything this morning. this is becoming a common occurence. it's not even morning anymore. i finally broke down and bought claritin. i hope it will help handle my allergies.
the weekend was spent watching movies. well, four hours of sunday was spent watching movies. 'matchstick men' is like candy for adults. and sometimes candy just isn't very good. but in this case it was good enough. also saw 'school of rock' and it is like cake for kids and adult. and cake is always good. it was like cake with a sugary icing that i couldn't stop eating. that movie is a heck of a lot of fun. and if it doesn't lift your spirits then come talk to me and i will convince you of the miracles of 'school of rock.' the only fault i could find with the movie? it had no flaws. and that, in itself, is a flaw.
also, for those of you tired about my dvr talk, you'll be happy to note that i'll no longer be mentioning too much of it on this page. all dvr talk has been shifted to regarding recording television. that's my new dvr related blog where i get into the details of what i'll be recording during the week ahead. it's still early in the shape of things there. and i haven't fleshed it out with all the writing i'd like to do, but take a peek.
i bought five tablets of claritin for $7.55. ridiculous.
October 04, 2002
assemble your frequent film goer cards
talk about a marketplace. TEN movies open in theatres next week. at an average of 90 minutes each that's 900 minutes of movies! to see all the movies i'd have to contribute at least fifteen hours of my weekend.
what's scheduled to hit screens on friday, october 11th?
TUCK EVERLASTING - with alexis bledel! rory gets all period piece-y.
WHITE OLEANDER - i didn't want to admit it to my roommate when he and i saw the trailer, but i think i kind of want to see this.
BROWN SUGAR - it's got taye diggs and mos def
KNOCKAROUND GUYS - i think all of america knows this has been sitting on the shelf for years
POKEMON 4 EVER - i actually enjoyed this. it took about 24 horus after screening it to stop saying 'celebi' (the name of the new pokemon introduced in the film).
THE RULES OF ATTRACTION - van der beek. sossamon. biel. and kate bosworth from blue crush. every bone in my body tells me this is going to be amazing.
SWEPT AWAY - i hear this may be the worst movie of the year. may i suggest another group outing like the one held on my birthday for triple x?
PUNCH DRUNK LOVE - for the highbrow kids in the city. i'm insanely curious.
BELOW - it's hard to go wrong with submarine movies.
THE TRANSPORTER - the television ads for this have been non-stop. will anyone be surprised to wake up at the end of the weekend and find this moving sitting at #1 for the week?
August 30, 2002
my nose is growing
Flak gets it right again with today�s review of BLUE CRUSH.
The movie kind of reminded me of that time in 11th grade Physics class when the teacher brought his surfboard to class. It was a longboard, of course. He was graying and all. He propped it up between two of the fixed desks and proceeded to climb on top of it to demonstrate some sort of balancing act or suspension concept or something. I think he just brought it in because he wanted to prove that he�d been �cool� at some point in his life. We all gathered round and a few of the students in class even got on and pretended to surf. I think. But probably not. Yeah. Life in Physics class never got more exciting than when we broke out the Van Der Graaf generator.
August 17, 2002
a beautiful freddy
somehow my saturday consisted of watching two movies from 2001. early evening was spent watching a powerful performance by russell crowe in "a beautiful mind." i managed to follow that up with an average performance by tom green in "freddy got fingered." my mind has been blown. the tom green movie has left me speechless. i didn't expect to laugh as much as i did. it's amazing that two movies can be so completely different, yet both be so terrible and great at the same time. neither of them was good, but they each had their own merits. i'm now sitting here in shock and afraid of what the rest of the night will bring.
July 22, 2002
do you know anyone who has actually seen 'crank yankers?'
I was cranky through almost all of Sunday. I woke up cranky. I went to brunch cranky.
I watched "Lovely & Amazing" while cranky � and upon exited the theatre I feel like I spilled too much venom about the movie. I had no idea the movie was going to be as depressing as it is. I thought entering the theatre and seeing something light and comical would change my moodiness. I was hoping to go from cranky to something else. Even a post movie shower didn�t change my mood. I went to the park cranky. I threw Frisbee as if I had a chip on my shoulder. I rode the subway cranky. And then at home I spent hours updating my website. Cranky the whole time! Still cranky today, too.
Honestly, I think my crankiness (I�m so trying to overuse this word, �cranky�) was gone by the time I ate crispy M&M�s at the park. Chocolate and crisped rice can cure anything.
July 17, 2002
because it�s never too early to make the announcement
My birthday coincides with the release of the new Vin Diesel film, XXX. This year�s bithday celebration will incorporate this event. Instead of watching an episode of Suvivor or just celebrating at the local bar, I�m inviting all my friends to join me in making the trip to some gigantic mid-town movie theatre to watch the film on Friday night. I can already taste the popcorn. More details in early August.
July 08, 2002
a not so subtle list
The list of movies I want to see during the rest of the summer is taking shape. I'm curious about Christina Ricci in PUMPKIN. I'm definitely seeing ME WITHOUT YOU. And then for my birthday, the big movie to see is XXX. I do enjoy mixing art with action.
June 13, 2002
t.w.p.
i just spent the majority of my thursday evening watching "the wedding planner." i enjoyed it as much as i thought i would. this is one of those movies i'd always hoped to catch on a bus or on a plane. it's friendly and huggable in that "i'm not going to get too close kind of way."
May 20, 2002
at my most uninteresting
i sit at the computer with '120 minutes' in the background. it's been an uneventful, but refreshing weekend. i saw a few movies (thoughts on those coming soon). i am guilty of watching the first 30 minutes of 'sweet november' on cable. but that's not all. i also watched the first hour of "america's sweethearts." when people talk about wanting to watch bad movies, i'm down with that. but why can't i make it to the end of them?