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The Evolving Word is designed for three purposes: miscellaneous rambling (a token gesture, as there are a million sites designed for this), my creative publishing, and thoughts and news on words -- origins, differences, anomalies, etc.
Enjoy it, or not; comment, or not; but do not ignore it. Or ignore it. Whatever.
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MVFF Part 2
Posted by joel on Tuesday, October 11 @ 01:11 PM PST (1329 reads)
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Last year I made a promise to review every movie that I saw at the Mill Valley Film Festival.
Based on my utter failure to do that, I make no such promises this year.
I do, however, want to share some thoughts about some of the movies I have seen this year.
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That Didn't Last Very Long
Posted by joel on Tuesday, October 19 @ 10:00 PM PST (1636 reads)
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It was just over a week ago when I had idealistic notions that I could separately review each movie that I went and saw at the Mill Valley Film Festival. I jumped right into a review of the 5@5 from two Fridays ago and added a quick review of Friday Night Lights, which I saw outside the fesitval. Then time just went all crazy on me.
I have seen a large number of movies, some long and some short, and I really have no ability to spend time reviewing each one separately. So instead I am going to do quick capsule reviews of each short movie and each feature that I have seen so far. If you have any interest at all in the highs and lows of my MVFF experience, read more and see what I think.
Oh, and some of the short movies that I can't remember and might not have been shown are in the program, so I include them in case I remember them later on...
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Friday Night Lights
Posted by joel on Monday, October 11 @ 10:04 AM PST (1715 reads)
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Since I am trying to write about all of the movies that I see at the Mill Valley Film Festival, I thought that I would write about other films that I am seeing during this time. I really shouldn't be seeing much else, since the Festival takes up so much time, but there are always opportunities for extra entertainment and I take advantage of them when possible.
After the 5@5 on Friday night, my wife and I went to see "Friday Night Lights" with a couple of friends. One of those friends used to play high school football in Texas and so had a particularly keen interest in seeing this movie. While we haven't spoken at length about his experience with football in Texas, or about how it is depicted in this movie, I feel like he was able to identify with many of the basic elements that are covered. His experience, along with the little I know about high school football in Texas, assures me that the excitement and awe at the way football is treated in this movie is genuine. And this is what part of the greatness of this movie is made up of.
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Take These Chains From My Heart
Posted by joel on Sunday, October 10 @ 12:00 AM PST (1615 reads)
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Because literally no one is begging me to do this, and because I enjoy meeting the needs of my own made up audience, I would like to throw up some quick reviews of each film that I see at the Mill Valley Film Festival. As much as anything, it gives me the opportunity to remember all of the movies that I saw. That way, when I am old, feeble and delusional, I will have some way of recalling what a crap-fest "Vern" was, or how powerful "Birthday Boy" was.
Read more to see what I thought about last night's fare.
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11 Days of Movie Bliss
Posted by joel on Wednesday, September 22 @ 09:58 PM PST (1654 reads)
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A good 10 years ago (or more, I really can't remember and don't feel like doing the research), Ontario Mills opened. An outlet mall unlike any before it, it promised to be the hub of shopping activity for the western Inland Empire.
This fact alone explains why I felt the need to move.
That issue unimportant at the moment, alongside the opening of Ontario Mills was a new AMC theater and a new Edwards theater. Literally across the parking lot from each other, one had 30 screens and the other 22. 52 screens of movie nirvana. Until it became clear that not one of those screens would be used for anything unconventional. Every single screen would be used for first-run, wide-release movies, completely shutting out anything independent, anything cutting edge.
So I moved. And now I live in a city that hosts its own international film festival. I went from an area where "culture" meant Krispy Kremes to an area where theater, music and film thrive. While I will discuss the other aspects of living here later, I want to spend a few minutes writing about the Mill Valley Film Festival.
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And The Winner Is ...
Posted by joel on Tuesday, June 10 @ 10:09 PM PST (1895 reads)
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I could join the nerd-herd and rant about Andy Serkis' exclusion from the Academy Award nominations from way back in who cares anymore. I do feel that the Academy will have to wake up one day and realize that human actors are so 20th century (how's that for a worn-out cliche?). However, the whole "should he" or "shouldn't he" have been nominated has been done to death a thousand times in a thousand other places.
I have felt, though, that CG characters have never been quite realistic enough. Until now. No, Yoda didn't convince me. Dobby (is that how you spell it? I never read the Harry Potter books, nor do I care to) is cute, but hardly realistic. Neo fighting a hundred Agent Smiths'? Nice, but where's the true human expression? It is, strangely enough, to be found at the MTV Movie Awards. Read on, stranger, and see what I mean.
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I'll Show You My ''V'' If You Show Me Yours
Posted by joel on Monday, June 09 @ 06:00 PM PST (1675 reads)
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Ahhhh...The glory days of our youth -- running through sprinklers, chasing down the ice cream truck, over-the-line, Fight Club-style beatdowns in the darkened basement of Crazy Bill, the nearly homeless guy down the street. Oh, and having the image of an alien rip his own face off, revealing the reptilian human-eating monstrosity underneath, seared into your brain at the impressionable age of 9 years old.
And now, the chance to relish every bit of that terror once again.
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There's a World Of Movies Out There
Posted by joel on Saturday, May 17 @ 11:50 AM PST (1652 reads)
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I am fascinated by foreign cinema. We are hypnotized into believing that quality movies are solely the product of our beloved Hollywood. The truth, though, is that this is far from the truth. And as many of you will probably nod your heads in agreement, how many of you can name three foreign-produced movies that you have seen in the last year?
The following list represents some of my current favorites in imported cinema.
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Eschewing Popular Opinion
Posted by joel on Monday, April 14 @ 06:26 AM PST (1584 reads)
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In case you were wondering, the definitive list of 50 reasons why Lord of the Rings sucks is available. Clearly, this is a series of movies that require serious reconsideration as cinematic marvels. If you have any other reasons, please post them below.
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