Culture Snob

Movies

The Best of Bad Choices

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Run like hell: Robert Carlyle in '28 Weeks Later'In the opening of 28 Weeks Later, Don (Robert Carlyle) faces a dilemma: He can leave his wife to die and run like hell on the off chance that he might outrun the “infected,” or he can stay with her and face a gruesome end. He runs like hell, and looks back to see his wife attacked. This is the movie writ small, laying the groundwork for more impossible choices.

Tagged: 28 Weeks Later, Horror, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Politics, Reviews, War, Ways of Watching, Zombies
Miscellany

Tagged: Eight Facts That Reveal Culture Snob’s Essence

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Edward Copeland at Edward Copeland on Film has tagged me, which must mean he doesn’t like me. Join the club, buddy! People who have been tagged are required to reveal eight facts about themselves and to post and obey the following rules, which I’m copying from Edward’s site and to which I’ll add my own anal-retentive commentary, because somebody really needs to revise them for clarity and elegance.

Tagged: Self-Involvement
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Movies

Box Office Power Rankings: June 29-July 1, 2007

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We have our first perfect score in Culture Snob’s Box Office Power Rankings. Pixar’s and Disney’s Ratatouille (directed and co-written by Brad Bird) was certainly expected to top the rankings, but this is a bit of a surprise.
Why? Because to achieve the maximum score of 40, a movie needs to top the box office (in this case, over Live Free Or Die Hard); perform better per-screen than both its “big” competitors (Live Free Or Die Hard again) and limited-release prestige pictures (Sicko); and score better with critics than everything else in the box-office top ten (particularly Sicko and Knocked Up).
That’s a tall order, but the computer-animated rats were up to the task.
Continue reading for the full rankings and the methodology.

Tagged: Box Office, Box Office Power Rankings
Music

Beyond Sacred Steel

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Robert RandolphIn an interview, pedal-steel guitarist Robert Randolph once suggested that somebody would come along and be the instrument’s Jeff Beck or Jimi Hendrix.
When I asked him recently where that put him in the pedal steel’s development, the singer/songwriter/guitarist appeared to backtrack a little. “Somebody has to put me there,” he said of the class of guitar revolutionaries that includes Hendrix. “I wouldn’t put myself there.”
But based on his own criteria, that class is probably where Randolph belongs.

Tagged: Interviews, Robert Randolph
Movies

Box Office Power Rankings: June 22-24, 2007

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My predictive powers have again proved to be less than stellar. (Anxiety over imminent surgery is my excuse.)
Last week, I predicted that a steady Ocean’s Thirteen would displace Knocked Up at the top of Culture Snob’s Box Office Power Rankings.
Not only did that not happen, but 1408 – an adaptation of a Stephen King story – came out of nowhere to tie Knocked Up for the top spot in this week’s rankings. It placed second to Evan Almighty in box office and per-screen average and was shockingly well-received by critics.
I won’t get burned again. This weekend, I’m taking the easy money and saying that Pixar’s Ratatouille will top our rankings, barring stellar notices for Live Free or Die Hard. See how I hedged?
Continue reading for the full rankings and the methodology.

Tagged: Box Office, Box Office Power Rankings
Movies

Killing The Sopranos: Five Minutes with the Finale

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And ... cut! The final shot of 'The Sopranos'Have you calmed down yet? Are you over the orgasmic delight you felt at the way David Chase defied all predictions about the end of his beloved series, The Sopranos? Have you recovered from your rage about ambiguity, a lack of closure, and Journey? Good. Now let’s clear a few things up.

Tagged: Audio, Commentary Tracks, David Chase, Five Minutes, Reviews, Television, The Sopranos, Ways of Watching
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