Good Reads That I've Been Reading


Just a few quick suggestions of how to best use your blog-surf time:

1) Over at "Edward Copeland on Film," there are two very good pieces:

-- a smart, deadpan takedown of Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line, which Copeland wrote as part of the "BIZARRO Blog-a-Thon," and which finally answers the question: who is that pretentious piece of work for, anyway?

--a lovely look back (by ECOF contributor Odienator) at one of the best teen comedies of the '80s, the Val Kilmer vehicle Real Genius.

2) Speaking of Copeland: he recently launched an online blogger/critic/academic/fan/etc. poll of the 25 Greatest "non-English language films" of all time. And you can vote! For those of you who long to be part of Oscar committees come February, or who pull out their hair every time the AFI polls come around, here's your shot at making a difference. Even more fun-- check out various bloggers' own lists, justifications and mea culpas for films they chose, and those they haven't seen (three particularly nice lists/posts: Self-Styled Siren's, SLIFR's, and Cinebeats'). And if you can't get enough o' those blog-a-thons, Copeland thoughtfully provides a nice calendar of those coming soon to a computer near you.

3) Speaking of foreign films (and, perhaps, foreign responses): the tireless Jim Emerson has been writing an interesting series of posts about how "old" films and foreign films are received by a variety of audiences, and how critical response itself might sometimes feel a little "old." As always at Scanners, it's a provocative, engaging set of arguments, and the real fun spills over into the comments sections.

4) Nice guy Jonathan Lapper continues a cool series on the Oscars. I only recently discovered Lapper's blog, but it looks like a lot of fun, and I'm a sucker for year-by-year awards analysis. If that doesn't give you a thrill, perhaps you'll enjoy his nice appreciation of Anton Walbrook.

5) And if you're utterly movied out (blasphemer!), mosey over to Salon, where Glenn Greenwald continues to prove his worth with a chilling analysis of potential coup plans in Iraq.

Vaya con Dios, bro!

Comments

Edward Copeland said…
Thanks for the kind word and the shout-out for the survey. We're just a week in without about three weeks of voting left to go and I've already received more than 80 ballots.
Brian Doan said…
Edward,
Cool! I'm glad it's getting a good response-- it's a good idea, and the ballot is really intriguing (lots of films I need to catch up on, alas! (:). But that catching up is also part of the fun, I think. Thanks for running a great site!
Greg said…
I'm a nice guy? Thanks. It's very kind of you to post this. I'm glad you like the series. It can be torturous to do because there's so much more I want to say about certain movies but there just isn't enough space. Also, commenting on 50 to 60 films in one post can tax the memory. I post them at a rate of about two a month because I sometimes re-watch a lot of the movies before I write it. Thanks again.
Brian Doan said…
Jonathan,
Well, I think you're a nice guy (: -- your own blog and the excellent posts on other blogs I've read have always been interesting, thoughtful and supportive. And I really look forward to catching up on all the earlier Oscar posts.

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