Arts & Culture
Oscar season
I’m always interested in learning who and what wins the Oscars, but I probably won’t be watching much of the televised ceremony, again, this year (March 12). That’s a reflection of my indifference toward the […]
Film
Arts & Culture
‘Fundamental cinema’
A few weeks back, I walked out of a Portland movie house feeling I’d just witnessed something truly extraordinary—Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO. This beautifully unhurried account of a donkey’s epic journey through bits and pieces of […]
Arts & Culture
The year on screens
As the world crumbles, and us with it, there may be little consolation in hearing that there was much, maybe too much, to be grateful for in the year’s movies. But consolation—whether large or small—is […]
Arts & Culture
White Lotus, westerns, windmills
I was late getting fully started on The White Lotus (HBO Max), but upon hearing that the start of Season 2 had a reference to Chico State in it, I went directly into that season […]
Arts & Culture
‘If he kills you, I’ll kill him’
Dead for a Dollar is the new western (now streaming on Amazon and Apple TV) from veteran action director Walter Hill (Hard Times, The Driver, Streets of Fire, Southern Comfort, as well as noteworthy westerns […]
Arts & Culture
Earthly delights
A question: The very best movies of the 21st Century, so far, are mostly TV series—The Sopranos, Deadwood, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Top of the Lake, Longmire, Better Call Saul, Bosch, 1883, etc. Yes, no, […]
Arts & Culture
Infinity mirrors
In 1996, French auteur Olivier Assayas made a feature film called Irma Vep with a cat-suited Maggie Cheung starring in the title role. It was a comic drama about the making of a “remake” of […]
Arts & Culture
Midsummer streaming
The Old Man series (FX network, streaming on Hulu) has Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, Alia Shawkat and Amy Brenneman in a scaldingly convoluted espionage thriller that speaks of, if not to, the Byzantine geopolitical warfare […]
Arts & Culture
Ghosts of the west
It was gratifying, but not entirely surprising, to discover—somewhat belatedly—that 1883, the 10-episode “prequel” to the Yellowstone series, is a richly engaging movie experience. Its 10 one-hour-long episodes follow the travails of a westward-bound wagon […]
Arts & Culture
Lens on history
Over the last couple of months, the film I’ve found most deeply appealing is Navalny, the richly engaging documentary about the high-profile Russian dissident who barely survived an apparent state-sponsored poisoning and, after an extended […]
Arts & Culture
What’s that sound?
A few days ago, I went to the movies—in a theater. First time in more than two years, and it was also a special occasion in that it involved seeing Memoria, a new film by […]
Arts & Culture
Beyond the Academy
I’m OK with CODA getting the Best Picture Oscar even though I think The Power of the Dog, Drive My Car and Licorice Pizza are the best of the nominated films. After all, Oscar does […]
Arts & Culture
New world cinema
Notes from my “stream-and-dream” ledger for the past month: When the home-made sex video of a schoolteacher (Katia Parscariu) gets exposed on the Internet, tabloid scandal and cultural controversy erupt. The scandal-mongering spills over into […]
Arts & Culture
Film overflow
Once again, the first weeks of the new year are yielding up a good many films that, if streamed just a little bit sooner, might have been included in my musings on last year’s best […]
Arts & Culture
Open arthouse
When the global pandemic arrived in Chico, Pageant Theatre owner Miles Montalbano figured it would pass by quickly. He and his 2020 crew were looking forward to celebrating the Pageant’s 40th anniversary in March. “We […]