Have you heard of Townes van Zandt? Many people haven’t, yet in this documentary the likes of Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle and Willie Nelson claim that van Zandt may well have been the greatest songwriter America has known. He was also one of the most self-destructive songwriters America has known (and there’s quite some competition there!).

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The career of Tori Amos is an interesting one. I got acquainted with her music about six years ago. She even got me back to tickling the ivories myself. Her music in the beginning of her solo career is whimsical, spontaneous and melodic. Her current work is a bit more smooth and mainstream. Her music videos are not commonly known and are not shown very regularly on MTV. In 1998 a VHS tape appeared with all of her music videos. Now this video has been re-released as Fade to Red, with new videos added. It is an amazing collection and Amos’ music videos are quite extraordinary. However, this new collection is incomplete, which is hard to accept for fans.
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In the Company of Men is an ironic title because most people, especially women, would not want the company of these men. Two white-collar workers, frustrated by their failures with women, devise a vengeful plan to find the loneliest woman at the office, lavish her with attention and romance, then cruelly dump her. Although difficult to watch in its depravity, the film is admirable in its execution and boldness.
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With movies based on the concept of time-travel, the audience is required to suspend their disbelief. Movies regarding time-travel, whether it’s Back To The Future, The Jacket or Donnie Darko will have holes in the plot if over thought and analyzed. Frequency is no exception, however it does put a new spin on the sci-fi time-traveling genre.
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I had no idea which movie the local ’sneak preview’ was going to be last night, but I knew right from the start I was going to like this. This movie starts out with a powerful monologue by Clive Owen, and the opening titles had names like Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster and Willem Dafoe. Oh and Spike Lee. It had been a while since I’d seen one of his movies, and since this was clearly going to be a crime movie, I knew I was in for an interesting evening.

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James Dean only made three films. A lot of people think that’s it, forgetting that Dean did a lot of TV work before his major motion picture successes. The role of Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause is one of the most interesting parts the actor has played. Although his acting in it is pretty decent, the major excellence of this film lies in its director, Nicholas Ray and the truly remarkable and clever screenplay by Stewart Stern.
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This latest piece of Hollywood satire from director, Jason Reitman is a star packed and hysterically funny indictment of lobbyists in general and the Tobacco Industry lobbyists in particular. Actor, Aaron Eckhart stars as the morally elastic lobbyist, Nick Naylor who begins by announcing that he is the most hated man in America.
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While this film’s original release date was scheduled for November of 2005, and co-incided with the story rhyme, Warners pushed it up to March of 2006, and here we are: an interesting film which asks questions and proposes about an anti-hero with shades of gray, but on the whole I still feel empty when I’m leaving the theatre.
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Being thoroughly intrigued by the work of David Lynch, an obsession that started after seeing his latest film Mulholland Dr. some years ago, alongside the childhood memories of Twin Peaks, I decided to (re)watch all of his films. In this series I will discuss his films, hopefully inviting the reader to give his or her own comments and ideas. Lynch’s films can hardly be categorized or interpreted in just one way. Eventually ending up with his new film, Inland Empire, that will get its premiere in May at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, I hope to engage you all in the wonderful frantic world of an extraordinary visionary.
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Strangely, Lynch’s very first film, Eraserhead, was the last one for me to see. I saw it last night and I am gravely shocked. In fact, I slept dreadfully. This is, by far, one of the most disturbing and weird films I have ever seen. It left me with a humongous sense of aversion. And I frickin’ loved it. Lynch filmed his first long feature over a time span of five years. This implied sets torn down and rebuilt and Jack Nance, who plays the lead, having the same haircut for five years. In fact, in some scenes Nance’s character leaves a room and enters another one 18 months older.
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