Zzzzzzzz...

It's been a little sleepy around these parts lately...

...and that's largely because I've been busy working elsewhere, at places that can actually line my pockets. But no worries--the blog will remain (intermittently) active, and in the meantime, you can see what I've been up to at:

SLANT
THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR
SOUTH PHILLY REVIEW
and
FILMMAKER MAGAZINE

New Digs, New Gig!

I'm thrilled and proud to announce that I've recently stepped into a role as Managing Editor of The House Next Door, the official blog of Slant Magazine. It's a terrific gig with a terrific group of guys who've been enormously helpful with both my transition to New York and the advancement of my career (many thanks, as always, Keith and Ed). Since starting the position Oct. 1, I've introduced two new columns: Poster Lab, which dissects posters of buzzworthy films, and Oscar Prospects, which breaks down the Oscar chances of a different film each week. Below are links to the pieces I've done thus far. Please check out The House Next Door regularly to keep up with these articles and many more!

Poster Lab: "A Dangerous Method"

Oscar Prospects: "Carnage"
Poster Lab: "Shame"
Oscar Prospects: "Moneyball"
Poster Lab: "The Iron Lady" and "J. Edgar"
Oscar Prospects: "The Artist"
Poster Lab: "Young Adult"
Oscar Prospects: "The Help"

NYFF Coverage of 'Goodbye First Love'

My final NYFF review for Nathaniel Rogers's The Film Experience was of Mia Hansen Love's deeply felt, if flawed, "Goodbye First Love." I had a hard time settling on a star rating for this one. It inspires both admiration and ambivalence.

Read my review, online now. CLICK HERE!

Directors Making Differences

For the annual Differnce Makers issue of South Philly Review, I compiled a small handful of filmmakers whose work affects things well beyond the cinema. I can see this list being very passionately argued, but there it is.

Th article is now available on the SPR site. CLICK HERE.

NYFF Coverage of 'A Dangerous Method'

My first New York Film Festival review is here! For The Film Experience, I chatted about David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method," that Mortenson-Knightley-Fassbender menage a trois that's been steadily building up buzz.

To read my take, CLICK HERE.

Links: 'Mega' 'Role Models'

My most recent Cinema de Gym posts for Nathaniel Rogers's The Film Experience both covered films I'd never seen before. The first: The Paul Rudd/Seann William Scott/Jane Lynch comedy "Role Models." The second: The Will Ferrell/Brad Pitt/Not-Quite-"Despicable Me" animated flick "Megamind."

Please read on! For "Role Models," CLICK HERE. For "Megamind," CLICK HERE.

Link: Evaluating the Visuals of 'Since Otar Left'

My second piece for Keyframe, the official blog of Fandor.com, is an assessment of the gorgeous and meaningful compositions in Julie Bertuccelli's "Since Otar Left," a 10-year-old Cannes fave that's among the Zeitgeist Films titles newly available on the Fandor site.

Packed with stills, the piece is now available for reading and viewing. CLICK HERE.

Links: 'Sleeping' and 'Waiting'

Amidst settling into my new New York digs (yay!), I finally found some time to post links to my most recent Cinema de Gym columns at Nathaniel Rogers's The Film Experience. Both focusing on romantic comedies, they cover Sandra Bullock's 1990s career-booster "While You Were Sleeping," and the little-seen 2011(?) throwaway "Waiting for Forever."

For the "While You Were Sleeping" article, CLICK HERE.

For the "Waiting for Forever" article, CLICK HERE. 

Minorities, Threads, Rednecks

Catching up with links to my contribtuions to The Film Experience. Most recently, I offered two new Cinema de Gym posts, and pitched in on a red carpet convo with site host Nathaniel and fashion guru Jose Solis.

My newest Cinema de Gym column is on "Minority Report," and how the aughts served as the era of Tom Cruise vanity: GET IT HERE.

Next is the red carpet convo, which primarily dealt with the premiere of "The Help," the film that has everyone and their maid whipping up minority reports of their own (nyuk, nyuk -- forgive all those grammatical snafus there). CLICK HERE for more.

Then there was my Cinema de Gym piece on "Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again," maybe my favorite since starting the column. HERE IT IS.

Cinema de Gym Roundup: 'Gump,' 'Knocks,' 'Juno'

Rounding up on my most recent 'Cinema de Gym' postings at Nathaniel Rogers's The Film Experience, I've offered links below to write-ups on "Forrest Gump," "Juno" and "Opportunity Knocks." As you can well imagine, these three very different movies prompted all-over-the-map responses from TFE readers. Always fun to hear what those fine folks have to say.

Follow the links, good reader:

For "Gump," CLICK HERE.
For "Juno," CLICK HERE.
For "Knocks," CLICK HERE.

Sickening!

So the guesting gigs keep on keepin' on at Nathaniel Rogers's The Film Experience, with the regular column and other goodies as well. Continuing with my weekly series Cinema de Gym, I offered a post on "Outbreak," the 1995 sickness flick that Hollywoodized Ebola. I explained my fear of global pandemics as the ultimate film villain (which, as it happens, is perfectly timed with the "Contagion" trailer release). Check out the post HERE.


Pick your poison: Ripley, J.Lo, "Outbreak"

In addition, Nathaniel and I chatted with fellow film and fashion junkie Jose Solis Mayen about the latest in red carpet loveliness (or not-so-loveliness, if your name starts with J. and ends with Lo). Done very on-the-fly, in chat form, these discussions always start to go to my head, making me giddy and giggly like a fool. This one made me lose my motor functions, apparently. READ IT!

Finally I offered a very personal, very offbeat essay on "Aliens" to coincide with Nathaniel's celebration of the action masterpiece's 25th anniversary. It was a super fun piece to whip up, and I was pleased it got a sweet response (kisses and facehuggers to all you lovely TFE readers who had nice things to say about it). Read it for yourself, RIGHT HERE.

QFest Preview 2011

The 17th Philadelphia QFest (nee the Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival) is now underway, its selection of work from 80-plus filmmakers and actors stretching through July 18. The lineup is, as always, a very eclectic mix.

My QFest Preview is now online at SouthPhillyReview.com. CLICK HERE to read it!


And for further reading, have a look at my QFest coverage from 2010 and 2008.

Defending 'Green Lantern'

Extending the coverage of what, for me, will now surely be one of the more unexpectedly unforgettable films of 2011, I've written up an "In Defense of 'Green Lantern'" piece for Slant Magazine's The House Next Door, opting for the title, "Down with the Sickness." The article was published on July 4, birthday of our superhero-loving nation.

This was a very fun essay to tackle, revealing that it's not always terribly easy to stick up for something that, more than anything, appeals to your giddy -- if a bit guilty -- love for whirling, sharply cut fantasy adventures. I'd happily purchase "Green Lantern" to revisit its sensations, blithely whizzing past that which got under so much critical skin.

Read more in the essay! CLICK HERE.

Links of 'Gold' and 'Legend'

I'm really enjoying whipping up my Cinema de Gym column entries for The Film Experience, and the little experiement seems to have turned into a weekly series. I like it best because it allows me to chime in on films I may not get to write about otherwise, what with everything always being about the spankin' new stuff.

The latest installments have been on "Fool's Gold" and "I Am Legend," two movies that align with two trends I've found in my gym's screening catalog: Matthew McConaughey and chiseled vanity (which are basically the same trend, I suppose). The "Fool's Gold" post proved to be a hit with readers, while "I Am Legend"...didn't. Ouch. We'll just pretend everyone's been distracted by holiday weekend plans. (Shhhh.)

Please give these fun little articles a read. "Fool's Gold" is HERE. "I Am Legend" is HERE.

Linking Tony, Mary and Woody

Nathaniel from The Film Experience has generously invited me to take part in a whole host of recent guesting gigs at his site, and I'm lumping them together here in one linky package.

- First, I joined Nathaniel and the great Guy Lodge for a red carpet chat regarding the good, the bad and the...Frances McDormand of Tony Awards fashion. Fun stuff. READ IT HERE.

- Then came my third installment of Cinema de Gym, which took on the sticky subject of "There's Something About Mary," aka The "Hangover" of the 90s. GET IT HERE.

- Finally, I took part in my second Film Experience podcast, talking "Midnight in Paris," Woody Allen and Oscar rule changes with Nathaniel and the talented Mark Blankenship. HAVE A LISTEN.

Film & Fitness

What do "Bandits" and "Daredevil" have in common? Apart from being two fairly forgettable titles from the early '00s? They're both part of my new experimental series at TheFilmExperience, Cinema de Gym. The idea is, amidst my attempt to get fit, I write about the daily movies that play at my local gym. This is what some of those movies look like:

A fun little theme, no? These are the series's first two installments. You can read about "Bandits" HERE and "Daredevil" HERE. Expect plenty more to come, as I've got a whole queue just begging for commentary. (And yet, the pounds continue to overstay their welcome. I swear there's no popcorn at this gym.)

Link-a-thon: 'Hours,' Parties, Von Trier, Gaga

We don't often do the whole link roundup thing here at YMB, so let's give it a whirl.

Over at TheFilmExperience, I offer a post on "The Hours" for Nathaniel's "May Flowers" series. I looove this movie, and I was pleased with this piece, so I'm glad for the positive reaction from all those lovely TFE readers.

New friends Jason Bellamy and Shelia O'Malley both write up deeply felt articles on a particularly inspiring movie convo had at the home of other new friends, Keith Uhlich and Dan Callahan. I'm very happy to say I was there for the chat, and I'm flattered to have gotten fond mentions in both pieces.

Vulture has a list of the Top 10 Most Controversial Things the never-boring Lars von Trier siad at the Cannes press conference for "Melancholia." And the Huffington Post reports how his statements got him banned from Cannes and lost him a distributor. If this affects my seeing his film I'm going to be plenty pissed.

Lady Gaga releases two new tracks from "Born This Way" -- "Marry the Night" and another sax-infused tune, "Hair." Apparently there are more to come via Farmville? I don't mess around with such things, but I can't stop thinking: Does "Born This Way" have the power to outsell "Thriller?" It seems totally conceivable.

Finally, in an apparent quest to out-garbage Brendan Fraser, the ever-loathsome Kevin James will be starring in this summer's "Zookeeper," a comedy that may well elicit suicidal thoughts. I was just griping about how, given the choice, I won't be wasting my time with clearly-awful dreck, but I may just make an exception here. After all, guy's gotta fill his 10-Worst List.

Podcast: 'Meek's Cutoff,' 'Water for Elepants' and more

This is craziness. With my mad schedule sucking up every nanosecond of my time, and Blogger being down for extensive repairs (wasn't that awful?), I haven't even bothered to post a link to my first-ever podcast!

Last week, I had a fun conference call with Nathaniel Rogers of The Film Experience, Michael Cusumano of Serious Film, and Robert, who does the excellent "Distant Relatives" series at Nathaniel's site. This was a new and terrific experience, and I'm itching to do it again. The four of us chatted about growing up movie-obsessed, sharing film love with our loved ones and two movies I loved and loathed with equal vigor: "Meek's Cutoff" and "Water for Elephants."

The conversation is posted over at The Film Experience. CLICK HERE to give it a listen.

Dishing on 'Savage Beauty'

This was so fun. Yesterday, Nathaniel Rogers (of The Film Experience) and yours truly chatted about the MANY red carpet looks that dazzled papparazzos at the 2011 Costume Institute Gala. Nat grabbed a handful (18) of the abundant stars and unleashed them for critique. Amusement ensued.

<--An emerald-clad Ginnifer Goodwin (see also, below) was among my best-dressed.

Our whole rambling convo is posted over at The Film Experience. CLICK HERE to read it -- the first lengthy red carpet commentary from YMB!

'Scream,' Then and Now

Following the poor performance of "Scream 4," a film I truly and unexpectedly enjoyed, my fond memories of the first installment cut deeper. Over at Slant Magazine's The House Next Door, I share an essay that outlines my personal history with the series, the jolt of the fourquel's shoulder-shrug reception, and how watching it made me feel more than a little -- gulp -- old. I'm especially proud of this piece, and I hope you'll give it a read. CLICK HERE.