Category: Film
-
Southern Depravity
The Boatman’s Daughter, by Andy Davidson The book was billed as horror fiction. Now I may be picking nits, but It isn’t. Horror connotes what goes on in the mind based on external situation, events, or conditions. To give you examples: horror is largely an unknowing. What’s in the dark? When will I die? Will…
-
Sometimes Good Writing Isn’t Enough
The Fisherman, by John Langhan Two things: First, the evolution of the novel is changing again, cyclically. At its beginning, it was something of a written version of oral storytelling, but with the author speaking often to “dear reader.” Then modernism fell on us, in which the novel became a bit like poetry, i.e., the…
-
Kudzu as Killer
Blackwood, by Michael Farris Smith This book is a dandy of Southern fiction; for this reader, it’s good to be immersed in a book again set in a locale I can identify with. As such, I can attest to how true Smith’s book is to the South buried within me. More on the book, but…
-
Morality in Psycho-Drama
The Last Castle – A Movie Saturday night has been a regular movie night for me since COVID-19 hit and downtown or mall theaters closed. This is a 2001-issue movie starring Robert Redford, as an army general who was sent to prison for a decision made in a moment of bad judgment. His foil is…
-
The Singular Imperative of Art
I shared a version of the below this morning with a poet friend, and thought it best to expand on it in a more general sense, so buckle up; you may very well find this a bit disturbing. Many think art is as device some use to massage their egos. This world is full of…
-
The Hunter – The Movie I seem drawn to movies inspired by novels of the same name. Largely novels I haven’t (yet) read. The Hunter is one of these. I won’t go into a great bit of detail on the story line; you can read that here. Willem Dafoe, who is one of my favorite…
-
Honeydripper – The Movie Bless John Sayles! The man should have a basketful of Oscars for the movies he’s made. This one certainly deserves one. Honeydripper is the name of a Black bar and music joint in 1950s rural Alabama – apparently Wetumpka, if you watch closely enough (today a town with an art colony,…
-
Just Like Rolling Stones
Nomadland – – the movie Saturday night before Memorial Day – movie time! I try to watch the recognized movies, realizing they’re the ones with the cinematic political crowd behind them – further recognizing there are many brave and adventurous movies out there without the $$$ to have their art recognized. But in any category…
-
Gerbert’s Book
I’ve been told I don’t toot my own horn enough, so today’s post will be an opening scene from last year’s release, Gerbert’s Book. To set the scene, Zosimus is an old friend and confidant of the now deceased Gerbert, who rose to the Papacy just before the first millennium ended. Rumor has it that…
-
Balancing Science and Religion
Meanwhile, there’s this movie… Angels and Demons – – The Movie I had never seen this 2009 movie before – – haven’t read the book, nor The DaVinci Code. But now I’ve seen both movies. Tom Hanks has slowly positioned himself at the front of the pack of male movie stars, and this movie didn’t…