course description included Archives: March 2010
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31 March 2010
A Serious Man (2009)
The Coen Brothers’ latest picture, A Serious Man is a movie so steeped in a personal and religious history that it can be a little off putting. It follows Physics professor Larry Gopnik as he encounters some trials in his life: his wife wants to leave him and marry an old friend, Sy; his son [...]
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29 March 2010
Rescue Me: Kansas (2004)
Rescue Me‘s central support system for Tommy Gavin is that of his family, and his wife is drifting away from him, saying he is no longer connected to reality. His children are growing up, etc. The wife wants to move away, to get out of the neighborhood of firefighters, where 9/11 has had a huge [...]
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28 March 2010
Rescue Me: Gay (2004)
Rescue Me‘s theme this week is gayness in all aspects of the firefighters lives. Tommy sees gays everywhere – his cousin’s widow is being a little too intimate with a woman, there’s a “geek” vs. “gay” diatribe about Tommy’s godson, and some hilarious moments with Sean and Mike, the two youngest firefighters in the house, [...]
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27 March 2010
Rescue Me: Guts (2004)
Rescue Me showed up on the queue under the mistaken impression that it was the firefighter show that filmed its headquarters in the Badge Building. Turns out that was a show from 1999 called Third Watch. This, rather, is a post-9/11 acerbic take on firefighters. It isn’t necessarily directly about PTSD, though it’s obvious a [...]
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20 March 2010
Deconstructing Harry (1997)
Woody Allen’s film from 1997 was actually my first. I saw it shortly after it came out on video in high school, and while I thought it was funny, it never fully resonated with me until I was embroiled in literary theory at college (and at that, it came to annoy me: is this really [...]
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14 March 2010
Fishing with John: Dennis Hopper (1991)
The final two episodes of Fishing with John feature Dennis Hopper, and they go together to Thailand in search of a Giant Squid. It must be said the music in Fishing with John is quite excellent, and to be expected given John Lurie’s position with lounging lizards. It becomes apparent that the Giant Squid is [...]
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13 March 2010
Fishing with John: Willem Dafoe (1991)
Willem and John go fishing in Maine. Ice fishing is hard work, and they are very cold in their little ice house out there on the ice. During the day, they eat peanut butter crackers and wait for the fish. They have not planned appropriately, and are very hungry because the fish are not biting. [...]
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11 March 2010
Fishing with John: Matt Dillon (1991)
Matt Dillon’s episode is the worst of the bunch. He doesn’t really fit into the quirky mold of the other adventuring fisherman, and the subsequent conversation between John and Matt is a little awkward. Maybe this awkwardness was intentional, but it works against the flavor of the show and when the narrator bursts out excitedly [...]
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10 March 2010
Berlin Alexanderplatz: The Punishment Begins [Die Strafe beginnt] (1980)
The story of Franz Biberkof, Berlin Alexanderplatz is a fifteen hour film by Rainer Werner Fassbinder based on the novel by Alfred Döblin. I haven’t seen all of it yet, but I hope writing about each section will not only give me the momentum to finish it, but it’ll give some perspective to what I [...]
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9 March 2010
Fishing with John: Tom Waits (1991)
John and Tom go fishing in Jamaica for snapper. There are long periods of waiting before either of the men gets a bite. Tom finally catches a fish. Upon catching the fish, the men discuss catch and release, and Tom decides to put the fish into his pants. It is unclear whether this is what [...]