vitagraph, american

trailer tuesday

2012-02-14T06:41:00.002-06:00

this week's entry celebrates the holiday with george mihalka's my bloody valentine (1981).

trailer tuesday

2012-02-07T21:30:00.002-06:00

i know the offerings around here have been few and far between lately. i am really sorry about that. after the difficult start to the new year when i try to sit down and write something lengthy about movies it feels a little ridiculous and trivial. i am working my way back into it and i promise that queue de grâce and everything else will resume in good time. in the meantime, i will at least keep

trailer tuesday

2012-01-31T20:36:00.002-06:00

this week's entry is for jean renoir's magnificent la bête humaine (1938).

trailer tuesday

2012-01-24T18:02:00.006-06:00

this week's entry bends the rules just a little bit. it is a trailer for a live puppet show with film elements so i am going to say it qualifies based on that. it also qualifies in that this feature celebrates the art of the trailer and this one is fantastic, no matter what it's for. ladies and gentlemen, i give you kevin mcturk's the narrative of victor karloch.it will see a film release in 2012

having a field(s) day with starlite cinema

2012-01-22T00:05:00.007-06:00

the january edition of starlite cinema is in the books and it was sorely needed.let me tell you a little about why starlite cinema is so important to me and why i hope everyone can find the time to come out one of these evenings. it has been a difficult beginning to this new year. still in mourning for one friend, yesterday my friends and i lost another one. i keep thinking that someday soon we

buzz off to you too

2012-01-19T19:45:00.003-06:00

here's a little tidbit for you. sometimes the greatest moments in this life are accidental. sometimes you are lucky enough to capture them on film. during the shooting of jim jarmusch's down by law (1986), roberto benigni was supposed to approach tom waits in this scene and say "that's sad and beautiful music". being benigni's first english language film, he misspoke the line as "it's a sad and

trailer tuesday

2012-01-17T15:11:00.002-06:00

in honor of muhammad ali's birthday today, this week's entry is for leon gast's when we were kings (1996).

just give me a decent muriel

2012-01-13T23:38:00.005-06:00

the fine folks over at the muriel awards have been gracious enough to ask me to participate in this year's festivities and i couldn't be more pleased to take part, as some of my favorite web-based film writers contribute their two cents each year. i invariably find out about some great thing i missed via their thoughtful and eclectic ballots. right now i am scrambling like mad to catch up on the

trailer tuesday

2012-01-10T21:50:00.003-06:00

this week's entry is for lee chang-dong's poetry (2010). if you find yourself often bemoaning the dearth of quality roles for women, especially older women, you owe it to yourself to see this.

heroes

2012-01-09T22:19:00.003-06:00

if you are uncompromising and difficult, be grateful every day for the one who understands you.

trailer tuesday

2012-01-03T15:36:00.003-06:00

this week's entry is dedicated to esme and all the friends we share simply because we all believed, at one point or another, that rock and roll would save us. you guys are all i can think about right now. ladies and gentlemen, allan arkush's rock 'n' roll high school (1979).

esme

2012-01-02T21:35:00.003-06:00

early sunday morning, when the new year was just a couple of hours old, our friend esme barrera was tragically, inexplicably murdered in her own home. it is heart-rending. just the idea that my little sister is so sick with grief is too much for me to stand, much less all the other terrible and far-reaching ramifications of this horrible crime. i can't recall another time in my life when so many

happy new year

2011-12-31T00:40:00.003-06:00

well, i was looking back at last year's entry for about this time and i see that things worked out like i thought they might. 2011 felt like a much better year, overall, than 2010, though not necessarily for reasons i expected. the move to cedar park did a lot of things for me. first and foremost, it was a huge relief. the subconscious weight of always worrying about my sister's safety and

trailer tuesday

2011-12-27T11:35:00.002-06:00

the last trailer tuesday of the year offers you one last must-see from 2011, nuri bilge ceylan's once upon a time in anatolia (2011).

yeah, just keep giving this asshole your money

2011-12-23T11:01:00.005-06:00

i always get testy this time of year. i don't really like christmas all that much and i detest new year's eve. on top of that, everywhere i look i am surrounded by trailers for event movies that i must be out of my mind for not being appropriately excited about and banal best of 2011 lists, the one from the american goddamned film institute being one of the most egregious. so, what better time to

trailer tuesday

2011-12-20T06:09:00.002-06:00

this week's entry is the most hotly anticipated clip to come down the digital pike in a while, christopher nolan's the dark knight rises (2012).

season's greetings by starlite

2011-12-18T01:01:00.006-06:00

what to our wondering eyes did appear tonight? starlite cinema series' christmas program, that's what!we had a lot better weather this time around than we did last year. summer can be rough but it certainly is a nice trade off to be able to comfortably do these outdoor shows this late into december. in anticipation of st. nick's arrival, tonight we screened jalmari helander's rare exports: a

a li'l kurosawa

2011-12-14T08:56:00.003-06:00

i see your old king cole and three billy goats gruff and raise you a toshirō mifune! these kids have thrown down the gauntlet with their production of akira kurosawa's seven samurai (1954). your elementary school needs to step its game up.

trailer tuesday

2011-12-13T19:05:00.002-06:00

a gray film for a gray day. this week's entry is for martin ritt's the spy who came in from the cold (1965).

kill me, kate

2011-12-12T19:46:00.007-06:00

one more round of queue de grâce is now history. everyone say so long to kate, our guest programmer for the past week.kate knows all the best people.before i began her list, kate intimated that, in keeping with the holiday theme, this week would be a half naughty/half nice proposition. she also hinted that i would win some sort of magnificent prize if i could correctly guess which on her list

citizen kate: day seven

2011-12-11T13:03:00.007-06:00

holy finish line! it is, mercifully, day seven and we begin the end with more snow-covered bondage gear from tim burton in batman returns (1992).i think out of all the pre-christopher nolan batman entries this one is my favorite, though that's not saying much. i think nicholson's joker was awful, embarrassing even, and everything that followed this in the franchise was more and more ridiculous. i

citizen kate: day six

2011-12-10T13:18:00.012-06:00

day six begins with a double barreled blast of schmaltz with julie anne robinson's the last song (2010).for those of you who don't work in bookstores, and therefore aren't surrounded by more copies of them than you can give away, nicholas sparks has built an empire on writing the same book over and over again: two american eagle outfitters customers fall in love, against all odds, one of them

citizen kate: day five

2011-12-09T11:25:00.010-06:00

yes, virginia, there is a day five and it begins with george seaton's miracle on 34th street (1947).a kindly old gentleman by the name of kris kringle is tapped as a last minute replacement for a tanked-up santa in macy's thanksgiving day parade. he is such a natural fit that he is hired to be the store santa for the holidays. the reason he does such a bang up job? the old nutter actually thinks

citizen kate: day four

2011-12-08T08:22:00.008-06:00

day four begins with an attempt at reconciliation, a film noir peace offering, if only a parody. we begin the proceedings with carl reiner's dead men don't wear plaid (1982).steve martin plays opposite some of the greatest stars of the forties in this, as a philip marlowe/sam spade type gumshoe on a case. what case? doesn't matter. its irrelevance is matched only by its incoherence. it's just a

citizen kate: day three

2011-12-07T08:00:00.011-06:00

as day three dawns, so does a realization. i am in a bad relationship. i find myself staying at work longer than i have to now. i look for something, anything, to do rather than come home. time spent at home now is mostly grim with just enough flashes of what used to be to remind me of how things aren't anymore. i would say it's not you, it's me but that would be a lie. queue, it's definitely you

citizen kate: day two

2011-12-06T20:09:00.011-06:00

day two of the queue is wall-to-wall holiday cheer!actually, that is a filthy lie. beginning the day with gil junger's abc family production, christmas cupid (2010), we have arrived at an all new nadir. this now replaces whatever used to be at the bottom of the list as the single worst thing i have ever had to endure courtesy of the queue. this dreck is a retelling of a christmas carol updated

trailer tuesday

2011-12-06T19:59:00.003-06:00

this week's entry is for lynne ramsay's we need to talk about kevin (2011). it is also a lifeline for me, giving me hope this week that all movies aren't terrible.

citizen kate: day one

2011-12-05T19:51:00.014-06:00

queue de grâce kicks off this month with one of my favorite christmas movies, terry gilliam's brazil (1985).it's a bleak dystopia that awaits us, it would seem. sam lowry is there already. he lives in a dark and paranoid world, passing his days as a drab cog in an immense, ugly machine. his only escape comes via his dreams, where he becomes something of an avenging angel, soaring through endless

starlite advisory: you'd better watch out

2011-12-03T14:34:00.006-06:00

prepare for starlite cinema to deck your halls! our december program is going to feature a holiday confection unlike any you've seen before, jalmari helander's rare exports: a christmas tale (2010).a group of finnish reindeer herders find their holiday disturbed, first by ominous, mysterious excavations on their mountain and then even more so by what the excavations have seemed to unleash upon

let it queue, let it queue, let it queue

2011-12-02T23:05:00.006-06:00

queue de grâce returns to ring in the holidays early next week!the rules: for a full week i turn over complete control my netflix streaming queue to one of you kids. during the week, excluding visits to actual theaters and screenings i host, i will only watch what you choose. no other films, no other television, no respite from the cinematic rigors that you have assigned me. i then report in on a

like clockwork

2011-11-30T09:48:00.007-06:00

an overwhelming love of the magic of movies issues forth from martin scorsese's delicately intricate new machine, hugo (2011).adapted from brian selznick's excellent children's book, the invention of hugo cabret, it tells the story of an orphan who secretly lives within the walls of a paris train station. he passes his days surreptitiously performing maintenance on the station's clocks and

trailer tuesday

2011-11-30T01:15:00.002-06:00

blogger wasn't working for me most of the night, so this one is a little late to qualify for tuesday. by way of apology, we will turn things up a notch. this week's entry is for steve mcqueen's shame (2011), which i cannot wait to see.

i'll love you until the end of the world

2011-11-22T22:24:00.012-06:00

if i made lists, i have no doubt that come the end of the year jeff nichols' take shelter (2011) would be on it.in the film, michael shannon play curtis laforche, an everyman living in small town ohio (though it could be anywhere). he is a loving husband, devoted father to a young, hearing-impaired daughter, good friend and solid worker. he is the embodiment of main street, u.s.a. in these

trailer tuesday

2011-11-22T01:23:00.003-06:00

this week's entry is for one of japan's most surreal celluloid fever dreams, teruo ishii's horrors of malformed men (1969).

amen, brother

2011-11-21T10:42:00.001-06:00

once again, david lynch gets to the heart of things.

thankfully, starlite

2011-11-20T00:22:00.006-06:00

our hardy band of cinephiles reconvened this evening for this year's thanksgiving edition of the starlite cinema series.it was an unseasonably warm (as if that exists in central texas anymore) evening for late november so it didn't feel as much like thanksgiving as it might have. the smiths didn't let that slow them down, though, as they made a batch of the best apple cider i have had in my

trailer tuesday

2011-11-15T13:48:00.002-06:00

this week's entry is for my favorite woody allen film, stardust memories (1980).

hello, joe, what do you know?

2011-11-14T23:57:00.004-06:00

so it's time to put another installment of queue de grâce to bed. many thanks to my guest curator, joe turner.look at him there, in his element, slinging books, rocking out. here is the complete list of what joe selected for me this week:the life of reilly (2006)g.i. joe: the rise of cobra (2009)moulin rouge! (2001)crank 2 : high voltage (2009)the secret of kells (2009)oliver! (1968)the three

joe-up: day seven

2011-11-13T22:28:00.008-06:00

and on the seventh day joe rested and let michael caine take over. the first half of our double feature finale is ronald neame's gambit (1966).michael caine and shirley maclaine are in fine form in this nimble and clever caper film. caine is international burglar harry dean and he has formulated a plan to relieve the richest man in the world of a priceless bust. maclaine is nicole chang, the hong

joe-up: day six

2011-11-12T21:45:00.007-06:00

day six kicks off with the bleak, post-apocalyptic drawing room drama from richard stanley, hardware (1990).i kid, a little. the movie opens to find a mysterious masked stranger sifting the sands of a wasteland for scrap to sell. he turns up a mechanized skull and other pieces of a robot and cashes them in. dylan mcdermott (not dermot mulroney) buys a handful of the pieces to take to his

joe-up: day five

2011-11-11T11:12:00.010-06:00

finally! day five doles out some of the glorious black and white that i crave with sidney hayers' burn, witch, burn (1962).and not just any old film but one of my absolute favorite underrated blasts of psychological horror. known in the UK as night of the eagle, this film focuses on norman taylor, a very rational, very logical college professor and his wife tansy, who has been busying herself

joe-up: day four

2011-11-10T11:18:00.009-06:00

day four begins with everyone's favorite x-rated feline, ralph bakshi's fritz the cat (1972).bakshi's first feature film is an adaptation of robert crumb's (who later disavowed himself of the film) influential underground comic. divided into three episodes, it is an occasionally successful satire of certain elements of american culture as the sixties gave way to the seventies. the first episode

joe-up: day three

2011-11-08T23:23:00.007-06:00

it's day three and the joint is lousy with musketeers!in another queue de grâce first, joe has paired a film and its sequel back to back for us today with richard lester's the three musketeers (1973) and his follow-up the four musketeers: milady's revenge (1974). i say follow-up but these films were actually shot all at the same time and when producer alexander salkind discovered they had enough

trailer tuesday

2011-11-08T23:16:00.003-06:00

this week's entry is for jeff nichols' take shelter (2011) featuring vitagraph favorite, michael shannon.

joe-up: day two

2011-11-07T23:03:00.009-06:00

day two finds us rocketing out of the gate with mark neveldine and brian taylor's crank 2: high voltage (2009).or maybe instead of rocketing out of the gate it would be more accurate to describe it as being shot out of an ugly, hateful gun. jason statham plays jason statham, but the characters insist on referring to him as chev chelios, and usually derisively. in fact, a great deal of effort is

joe-up: day one

2011-11-06T18:54:00.009-06:00

queue de grâce lucky number seven kicks off today and we get off to a flying start with frank l. anderson and barry poltermann's the life of reilly (2006).full disclosure: i love charles nelson reilly, so i was predisposed to enjoy this. it is the documenting of the final performance of reilly's one-man show, save it for the stage. it turned out to be the final public performance of reilly's life

cup o' joe

2011-11-02T13:16:00.006-05:00

queue de grâce returns soon after a month off. prepare yourselves.if you've never been around for one of these, here's the way it works: for one solid week i turn over control of my streaming netflix queue to one of you stalwart folks. during that week, aside from visits to actual theaters or screenings i host, i only watch material you select, no other film, no other television. if you didn't

trailer tuesday

2011-11-01T10:25:00.002-05:00

this week's entry takes to the track for jerrold freedman's kansas city bomber (1972).

laying down the law

2011-10-31T19:49:00.015-05:00

a resounding cry of "yes! finally!" went out across the land this week as the criterion collection released a feature-packed edition of erle c. kenton's masterpiece, island of lost souls (1932). this first, and still greatest, adaptation of h.g. wells' the island of doctor moreau has never seen a dvd release until now. for collectors of classic horror cinema this represents a significant gap

happy halloween!

2011-10-31T15:34:00.005-05:00

have fun, be careful and get cauldrons full of candy.

starlite spooktacular

2011-10-30T00:41:00.007-05:00

the starlite cinema series took it all the way up to the witching hour tonight with our halloween spook show.tonight's program was a celebration of the undead, the bloodsucker. we started things off with a pair of animated shorts. first up was alê camargo's highly expressionistic night of the vampire (2006) followed by spike jonze and simon cahn's to die by your side (2011). for those of you that

gelso-mini

2011-10-28T23:20:00.003-05:00

regulars around here know that the laszlo clan is my absolute favorite family that i wasn't born a member of. it seems like something happens every day that makes me love those crazy kids even more. today's exhibit A? my favorite two year-old in the whole wide world is going as gelsomina from la strada (1954) for halloween.i hear her quack is top notch.

happy birthday to me

2011-10-28T00:53:00.000-05:00

you should stop by. it's going to be a great party.

trailer tuesday

2011-10-25T12:52:00.002-05:00

as this is the last trailer tuesday of the halloween season we are going to send things out with a bang. ladies and gentlemen, this week's entry is for david cronenberg's scanners (1981).

look what the cat dragged in

2011-10-20T23:54:00.009-05:00

the criterion collection have outdone themselves this halloween season with a pair of dvds that are absolute musts for fans of classic horror cinema. in this first of two reviews, i want to talk to you folks about their freshly-minted release of kaneto shindō's kuroneko (1968).based on a japanese folk tale called the cat's revenge, this is an evocative and beautifully photographed tale of

trailer tuesday

2011-10-18T15:49:00.002-05:00

halloween festivities in the vitagraph household are never complete without vincent price. this week's entry is for roger corman's the masque of the red death (1964).

trailer tuesday

2011-10-11T15:29:00.002-05:00

trailer tuesday has one question for you this week: who will survive and what will be left of them? ladies and gentlemen, tobe hooper's the texas chain saw massacre (1974)!

BOO de grâce!

2011-10-10T22:05:00.004-05:00

this month sees our first foray into a seasonally themed queue de grâce. my friend corey over at the spectacular optical corporation has seen fit to pick up my ghoulish gauntlet!i have hand-selected a list of some of my favorite cinematic thrills and chills for corey to make his way through this week, a list that includes everything from pre-code mad doctors to rankin/bass clay monsters to

starlite cinema series - halloween spook show

2011-10-08T01:12:00.005-05:00

the return of october means the return of the starlite cinema series halloween spook show!this is always the hardest bill for me to put together. i think about it all year. how do you decide which of your kids is your favorite? i mulled over themes, odd combinations and scoured the dark, musty corners of the internet looking for just the right tricks and treats until i had bats in my belfry. in

the doctor is in

2011-10-05T10:31:00.011-05:00

boris karloff and bela lugosi are obviously indispensable as architects of horror cinema. only one man, though, appears throughout the holy trinity of universal's monster cycle. that man is vitagraph favorite, edward van sloan.eventually becoming one of america's most durable character actors, he appeared in only one silent film, slander (1916), prior to those career-defining roles at universal.

trailer tuesday

2011-10-04T10:32:00.003-05:00

october is here! of course this means all month we will feature trailers to make your blood run cold. we kick things off with the original longform trailer for roman polanski's rosemary's baby (1968).

hidden horrors II: hidden-er

2011-10-01T09:38:00.006-05:00

as october returns so does my warning to look and then look again. hidden horrors abound...sweet dreams.

trailer tuesday

2011-09-27T06:39:00.002-05:00

this week's entry for franco amurri's film proves that even harvey keitel can have monkey trouble (1994).

i suppose that means it's autumn

2011-09-26T11:31:00.005-05:00

because today we say so long to summer. everyone wave goodbye.here are the films she selected for me this week, for posterity's sake:ponette (1996)a little princess (1995)mary and max (2009)peggy sue got married (1986)ladies and gentlemen, the fabulous stains (1982)kicking and screaming (1995)benny & joon (1993)the house of yes (1997)dogtooth (2009)kings of pastry (2009)hoop dreams (1994)the

it happens every summer: day seven

2011-09-25T17:53:00.004-05:00

here we are again, another day seven. we only have two films left, as different as night and day. up first is dev benegal's road, movie (2010).in an effort to get out from under his responsibilities to the family hair oil business, restless twentysomething vishnu seizes upon an opportunity to take a cross-country trip to deliver an ancient truck. it is no normal rickety 1942 chevy, as it turns

big top starlite

2011-09-25T01:08:00.003-05:00

we had a beautiful night tonight for this month's starlite screening. lauren made perfect end-of-summer skewers of grilled fresh pineapple, strawberries and nectarines and our three ring extravaganza started with robert mckimson's looney tunes classic acrobatty bunny (1946), followed by mystery science theater bringing down the tent on the short here comes the circus (1946). our main attraction

it happens every summer: day six

2011-09-24T14:43:00.008-05:00

day six of the queue finds us navigating the perilous terrain of human connection. we start the day with miranda july's me and you and everyone we know (2005).july's directorial debut charts the beginning of a relationship between artist christine, played by july herself, and recently separated shoe salesman, and father of two boys, richard, played by vitagraph favorite john hawkes. starting from

it happens every summer: day five

2011-09-23T09:32:00.007-05:00

day five finds us playing host to a menagerie. we begin with claude nuridsany and marie pérennou's fascinating nature documentary, microcosmos (1996).using specially developed cameras, this filmmaking team explores life among the tiniest denizens of a meadow to astounding effect. the narration is almost non-existent and explanation or analysis is never offered. instead, what you have is sequence

it happens every summer: day four

2011-09-22T00:26:00.008-05:00

during day four we are going to take a look at the nature of competition, with all its ephemeral glories and inevitable broken hearts. we start in france with chris hegedus and d.a. pennebaker's kings of pastry (2009).the setting is the meilleurs ouvriers de france competition. this is the pinnacle of the pastry world. every four years the greatest pastry chefs in the world convene here to

it happens every summer: day three

2011-09-21T14:03:00.007-05:00

day three, an ever-increasing cycle of familial madness, begins with a film that i haven't seen since its original theatrical release, jeremiah chechik's benny & joon (1993).it's the story of benny and joon pearl, a big-hearted, blue-collar guy and his highly functioning mentally ill sister that he has been caring for on his own, with the help of a succession of housekeepers, since they lost

it happens every summer: day two

2011-09-20T20:12:00.008-05:00

day two of the queue begins with a trip back in time with francis ford coppola's peggy sue got married (1986).kathleen turner is peggy sue, a woman for whom divorce seems imminent. she is looking down the barrel of her 25-year high school reunion and the prospect of having to answer question after question about where her husband, and high school sweetheart, is is not particularly appealing.

trailer tuesday

2011-09-20T20:06:00.003-05:00

this week's entry is for michel hazanavicius' bold foray into contemporary silent film, the artist (2011).

it happens every summer: day one

2011-09-19T19:15:00.009-05:00

summer isn't wasting any time with this one. this installment of queue de grâce begins with the devastating body blow that is jacques doillon's ponette (1996).the film opens to find four year-old ponette in a hospital bed, arm in a cast. we soon learn that the cast is a result of a car accident that claimed her mother's life. her father, loving but stalled in the anger phase of his grieving

on my fest behavior

2011-09-15T10:46:00.004-05:00

one of my favorite weeks of the year, fantastic fest, will be upon us in just a few more days, so i thought i would give you guys a rundown of some of the things i am looking forward to most. my schedule is limited, so i am going to stick mainly with discussing things that i am potentially going to get to see.saturday, 9.24.11, is going to be the first day that i get to really attend the

trailer tuesday

2011-09-13T19:51:00.003-05:00

this week's entry is for hideo gosha's three outlaw samurai (1964).as part of the preliminary to fantastic fest, the alamo drafthouse is showing a pair of gosha's beautifully dark samurai films. alas, three outlaw samurai was last night, but you still have the opportunity to see bandits vs. samurai squadron (1978) next monday, 9.19.11, at 7 p.m. i heartily recommend it. it's free if you have any

trailer tuesday

2011-09-06T20:42:00.002-05:00

this week's entry is for clarence brown's the rains came (1939).if only the title were true. for my friends who aren't from this part of the country, central texas is in a bad way right now. record-shattering drought and triple digit temperatures for months at a time have turned the area into a tinderbox. since the beginning of fire season in texas, an area roughly the size of connecticut has

ain't no cure for the summertime queues

2011-09-03T11:13:00.007-05:00

it will soon be upon us again, the sixth installment of queue de grâce will be here in a couple of weeks. the rules are simple: for one solid week i turn over complete control of my netflix streaming queue to one of you folks. during that week, excepting visits to theaters or starlite screenings, i only watch what you selected for me and document my viewing experience here for all. no other

another summer over

2011-09-01T12:09:00.006-05:00

sadly, it is that time of year again - the paramount's summer classics series is coming to an end. it still runs through this sunday but, sadly, i am unable to attend the final weekend. this summer was busier than ever, what with moving to cedar park and the band's tour, so i didn't get to see as much as i normally do, but what i did see was fantastic. once again, here is a poster gallery of

trailer tuesday

2011-08-30T20:52:00.003-05:00

this week's entry is for jiang wen's deft mixture of sly political commentary and enthralling western action, let the bullets fly (2010).

the view from row q - holy bat day!

2011-08-27T21:26:00.004-05:00

110°, a city teetering on the edge, an auditorium filled with super-villains and people who text in the theater. with all hope nearly lost, the paramount theatre puts out the call... and the man responds! today's matinee at the paramount, where the film also premiered forty-five years ago, was the original batman (1966) with none other than the original caped crusader himself, adam west, in

why, it's a major award!

2011-08-26T12:21:00.003-05:00

when i undertook jon merrill's massive list for his installment of queue de grâce he promised me a trophy if i made it all the way through. well, a knock just came at my door... there, in beautifully etched crystal and lowercase, he has immortalized my achievement. i am speechless. thank you, jon.

he's got the look

2011-08-24T10:39:00.005-05:00

taylor lautner apparently has about a 20° list to starboard. if he was a boat you'd have to put him in dry dock. dont' worry, though. he's developed a strategy to combat his problem. easy there, big fella. bella's got you.

trailer tuesday

2011-08-23T10:20:00.003-05:00

this week's entry is for steve james and alex kotlowitz's important new documentary, the interrupters (2011).

there are more broken hearts woven into the fabric of this story than i can count.

starlite under the big top

2011-08-21T01:24:00.006-05:00

last night we held the last starlite cinema of what is officially summer. i hope the next one looks more like this. ok, so maybe snow is out of the question, but give us a break. more than two straight months of triple digit temperatures is ridiculous. when the sun sets for movie time and it's still 95 degrees, and it feels like relief, things have gone too far. we forged bravely on, though,

trailer tuesday

2011-08-16T16:41:00.004-05:00

in celebration of the dog days of summer and pennant chases beginning to heat up, this week's entry is for bennett miller's moneyball (2011). goddamn, i love a good baseball movie. there are no lights like ballpark lights.

shen done him right

2011-08-15T15:28:00.005-05:00

another installment of queue de grâce passes into history. everyone take a moment a bid a fond farewell to our guest programmer for the past week, shen heaton.she provided me with an excellent list, if i do say so myself. here's what i watched this time around, for posterity's sake:when the road bends: tales of a gypsy caravan (2006)gogol bordello non-stop (2008)everything is illuminated (2005)

shen done him wrong: day seven

2011-08-14T13:25:00.007-05:00

here we are again, another week of cinematic exploration nearly over. we ring down the curtain on this installment of queue de grâce with a pair of excellent choices that illustrate, each in their own way, the power and magic of the movies. first up, hayao miyazaki's wondrous ponyo (2008). it is the master japanese animator's most recent full-length feature and the most accessible yet in a long

the view from row q - el tren fantasma

2011-08-13T22:13:00.008-05:00

tonight was a special night at the paramount theatre, probably the first night i circled on the schedule when i received it back in may. they screened one of mexico's most action-packed silent melodramas, gabriel garcía moreno's el tren fantasma (1927). and, as if that weren't enough, michael ramos, leader of the latin lounge outfit charanga cakewalk, premiered a new score of his specifically

shen done him wrong: day six

2011-08-13T11:45:00.010-05:00

day six opens with a second visit to the realm of the spaghetti eastern with takashi miike's sukiyaki western django (2007). miike, one of world cinema's most provocative and prolific filmmakers, never met a genre he didn't like. in this case, i fear he may like the genre too much. two rival factions have set upon a village in search of lost treasure. a mysterious stranger rides into town and

shen done him wrong: day five

2011-08-12T11:35:00.014-05:00

day five begins with a case of mistaken identity, as shen may have confused me with someone who enjoys danny kaye. up first, henry koster's the inspector general (1949). danny kaye plays an illiterate gypsy traveling with a medicine show. while wandering a village they are visiting, he is mistaken for a horse thief and thrown in jail. the corrupt city officials then mistake him for the inspector

shen done him wrong: day four

2011-08-11T09:19:00.012-05:00

day four dawns on the colorado territory, for good or ill, with trey parker's cannibal! the musical (1993). it is parker's musical "comedy" treatment of alfred packer's story. packer led an expedition from utah hoping to find gold in breckenridge, colorado. an inexperienced guide, he got his party lost and snowbound. food ran out and, according to packer, while he was out scouting, one of the

starlite, with a hitch

2011-08-10T23:33:00.005-05:00

the starlite cinema series returns to austin on saturday, 8.20.11! we return from a lovely engagement in virginia just in time to celebrate alfred hitchcock's birthday. in honor of the master of suspense's 112th we are going to be screening what is probably my favorite, and most underrated, of his films, rope (1948). two school chums, proponents of the nietzschean concept of the superman,

shen done him wrong: day three

2011-08-10T14:00:00.006-05:00

day three feels like a free day. this may be the most straight fun i've had in any single day in the short, but illustrious, history of queue de grâce. first up, a party that i would have given my right arm to be invited to, robert moore's murder by death (1976). i can understand if the appeal of this one is a little limited, but if you're a fan of classic detective fiction and its cinematic

trailer tuesday

2011-08-10T13:02:00.003-05:00

this week's entry is for sam peckinpah's bring me the head of alfredo garcia (1974). they just don't make 'em like warren oates anymore.

shen done him wrong: day two

2011-08-09T10:47:00.007-05:00

day two was a bit of a mixed bag, with a batch of flawed films with varying degrees of silver lining. we start with the runt of the litter, rob reiner's north (1994). everyone's favorite goggle-eyed tear factory makes his second appearance this week as the titular prodigy, north. he is a textbook overachiever but he gains no satisfaction from being a renaissance boy, as he feels neglected by his

shen done him wrong: day one

2011-08-08T13:06:00.014-05:00

the fifth installment of queue de grâce kicks off in fine style with a trio of films to appease your gypsy soul. and i mean actual gypsies, not bullshit texas singer-songwriters who refer to themselves as such because they can't hold down a job and sleep on a succession of boyfriends'/girlfriends' couches. i've got news for you clowns: that doesn't make you a gypsy, that makes you a bum. here to

trailer tuesday

2011-08-03T11:59:00.003-05:00

once again, i am a day behind. this intermittent access to the internet business will soon be remedied, though. come next week, all will be right in my e-world. this week's entry is for one of my most hotly anticipated cinematic events of this summer, kaneto shindō's kuroneko (1968)!this beautiful bit of madness is at the paramount theatre on thursday and friday this week as part of a

once more into the breach

2011-08-02T18:15:00.006-05:00

it is almost that time again. the fifth installment of queue de grâce draws near.if you haven't been around to witness one of these before, here is how it works: for one straight week i turn over complete control of my netflix streaming queue to one of you fine citizens. during that week, except for visits to actual theaters, i exclusively watch content curated by one of you guys and report back

summer tour - mobile

2011-07-29T09:18:00.006-05:00

sunrise today finds us in mobile, alabama, the gulf city that is the home to the oldest mardi gras celebration in the united states. in 1703, french settlers held the new world's first mardi gras party at the old mobile site and the revelry has continued, disturbed only by the civil war, for more than three hundred years now. through the centuries, a firmly entrenched segregation has resulted in

trailer tuesday: summer tour - greenville

2011-07-27T23:54:00.004-05:00

ok, so it's wednesday. sorry about that. being on the road, it's easy to lose track of that sort of thing. we played a lovely poolside show this evening in greenville, south carolina with our friend, alexa woodward. the atmosphere was loose, the pool was inviting and inside, you couldn't make your way through the joint without stepping on someone's dancing shoes. this week's entry goes out to all