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The most informative film blogger on the Internet is back… in a new location that seems entirely appropriate.

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Do you agree with NPR’s listeners on the best songs and albums of 2009 so far? (more…)

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Anne and I are savoring the artistic community, the beautiful country, the spicy food, and the literary inspiration here at The Glen Workshop in Santa Fe. And our cats are having a great deal of fun with our generous house-sitter. (more…)

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My commentary on Up addresses specific plot points, so yes… there are spoilers. Let the reader beware.

The article is published at the blog for Image journal here.

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If you visit this blog, you’ve probably read my various raves about the film Munyurangabo.

Well, I’m happy to discover that a much greater authority on movies has added his praise to the rising wave of excitement.

Roger Ebert gives Munyurangabo a full 4-star rave.

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Please put on your seatbelts and helmets: I’m reduced to blathering in the very superlatives that have been beaten senseless and slapped upon lesser albums, and I’m gonna throw them around. (Then, no doubt, I’ll come crawling back to revise this, feeling rather embarrassed at my presumptuous claims and flamboyant outbursts.)

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Joe Henry’s Blood from Stars is a strong candidate for my Favorite Album of the… hmmm, yes, I’ll say it… Decade. Right up there with Bob Dylan’s Love and Theft. It’s as raw and raucous and rowdy and raggedly beautiful as Tom Waits’ Rain Dogs, and as stirring in its reverence for the gospel as anything I’ve heard since Dylan’s Oh Mercy. Listening to it all the way through, I’m exhausted.

And speaking of Dylan: As a lyricist, Henry joins Tom Waits as one of the only American songwriters I know who really deserves comparison to the Master. His metaphors speak to powerfully to me that I’ve come to anticipate his work with the same kind of trembling eagerness that I feel when I earn about new albums from Sam Phillips or Over the Rhine. I don’t like to use the word “masterpiece” anymore, as I don’t think any work of art deserves such a label until we’ve had at least ten years to think it over… but Henry’s last two albums — Tiny Voices and Civilians — strike me as strong candidates for the term.

Yes, Blood from Stars lives up to that cover art, and “Death to the Storm” playing into “All Blues Hail Mary” is a knockout combination. Henry’s assembled an extraordinary band, featuring Mark Ribot (who is all over this, in top form, digging deep into the same magical toolbox that makes the best of his work with Tom Waits so memorable) and the great Jay Bellerose, whose percussion has blessed the last several Sam Phillips albums.

Bono talks about working hard with the band and waiting for those moments when God walks through the room; well, after listening to The Bright Mississippi and Blood from Stars, I think I’ve found one of God’s favorite rooms.

I’ll be saying more about this one eventually, no doubt. I’ve fallen head over heels in love, and I’m running out to buy several dozen roses.

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Okay, here’s my first stab at a list of twenty favorite films of 1999.

(more…)

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As you may know, I keep a frequently updated lists of my favorite films for the years 2000-2009 here. I update those lists as I catch up with titles that I missed, and as my preferences change over time.

I’ve been meaning to work backward and start filling in lists of recommendations for 1990-1999 as well. Currently, I’m musing over the films of 1999 that I’ve seen.

I invite you to join me. Peruse this list (drawn from Wikipedia’s list of ’99 films) and narrow it down to your 10 favorites. You might find it interesting to consider how your own tastes have changed over the years: Is your “10 Favorites of ’99″ list the same today as it was in ’99? Let’s compare.

I’ll post my list as soon as I have time to narrow it down. (more…)

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What do Andy Serkis and Focus on the Family have in common?

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