Andy Whitman on U2's "Really Good Non-Reinvention"
Josh Hurst hosts a U2 love-in. Meanwhile, at artsandfaith.com, Andy Whitman of Paste, who is working on his review of the new album, lets this slip:
Don't believe the hype. This is not U2's best album, but it is a really good non-reinvention. I think "Magnificent" is the best U2 worship song since "Gloria," and that "Unknown Caller" is in the Top 10 of greatest U2 songs ever.
An Enemy of Serious Film Criticism?
Here's Brett McCracken on Movieguide's ongoing campaigns of preposterous "film criticism."
Earlier, Mark Moring's post at CT... in which the comments became lively, especially when Movieguide's Tom Snyder showed up to call Moring's post "a silly article" without sufficiently answering any of the problems exposed.
Buddy Miller Update
Statement Regarding Buddy's Health
Following his show in Baltimore last Thursday evening, Buddy Miller was not feeling well. After consulting doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital, tests revealed some heart blockage. It was determined that surgery was needed right away. He is now resting and recovering and expected to be released from hospital shortly. Buddy and his family would like to thank all for their well wishes and prayers.If you'd like to send wishes to Buddy you can send them to:
PO Box 120479, Nashville, TN 37212
Farewell to New Yorker Films
Man oh man, do I have a case of the Monday morning blues.
More bad news for Americans who love to see great cinematic art.
Founded in 1965 by Dan Talbot, New Yorker has a legendary legacy, boasting a long-standing track record in international film distribution, bringing a staggering number of international auteurs to this country’s movie theaters over more than four decades. The company’s crucial role in establishing a lasting film culture in this country cannot be underestimated. A New York Times profile in 1987, marking a 14-week salute to the company at New York’s Public Theater, listed an illustrious roster of filmmakers whose films were released by the company: Ackerman, Bertolucci, Bresson, Chabrol, Fassbinder, Fellini, Godard, Herzog, Kieslowski, Malle, Rohmer, Rossellini, Sembene, Wenders, Schlondorff, and many others.
I'd like to thank the Academy. For inspiring me to watch something else.
Tonight, every seat in my living room was full of movie fans.
We had good food, good drinks, and an amazing chocolate-raspberry pie.
But you know what we didn't do?
Buddy Miller's Emergency Surgery
Thanks to Josh Hurst for the news. It sounds like we should all say a prayer for Buddy Miller, and I'm sure we should pray for Julie too.
Evidently, he's recovering from a heart attack and emergency surgery.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090221/TUNEIN02/90221022/1005/ENTERTAINMENT
Your Oscar Speech
Tonight, the millions who tune in to the Oscars will hear dozens of short speeches.
A few people who have been blessed with incredible opportunities to do what they do best will go to the microphone, blink back tears, and thank the people who helped them do their work. While the Oscar winners will get the attention, their pictures plastered all over the news for the next 48 hours as if this statuette is actual confirmation that they are the best, the acceptance speeches will indicate, for a few fleeting moments, that it really isn't about one glamorous celebrity. It's about a creative community who made something good happen. It's about a team effort that enabled them to contribute in a way that earned the appreciation of Hollywood. (For whatever that's worth.)
It's my favorite thing about the Oscars. I won't be tuning in tonight. (I'm hosting a Boycott the Oscars party for dozens of moviegoers who would rather watch WALL-E, Shotgun Stories, The Dark Knight, Flight of the Red Balloon, and other films that actually deserve high honors. I don't think I've ever seen the Academy blow it as badly as they did this year.)
I love to hear people give thanks to other people in public. I love it so much that I think I'll host a little Oscar Speech party right here.
The spotlight is now on YOU.
Think back over 2008, or the past couple of months in 2009.
Think about the opportunities and blessings you enjoyed. Then think about all of the people who were involved in making that happen.
This is your chance. Thank them. In public. I don't have Oscar's audience of a bazillion viewers in the audience worldwide, but I do get, oh, between 1,500 - 2,500 readers a day... so that's a decent audience for you. If the spotlight fell on you, and you had 30 - 60 seconds to thank people in your life for parts they played in 2008, who would you thank?
It's okay if you cry. We'll cheer anyway.
Make a quick list of four, five, ten people to whom you are grateful. Post your personal "speech." Then contact the friends, family, colleagues, and others who you thanked. Give them this link. Let them know you mentioned their name in the spotlight.
I'm going to make a list of my own. If I receive 10 responses in the comments below, I'll post it. Since we're all here, let's make something memorable out of it.
Gratitude. It does a body good.
And congratulations to everybody involved. Especially the Director.
Your First Impressions of U2's New Album
While I'm waiting until March 3 so I can have my little U2 album-unwrapping ritual, I'd love to hear from you.
Now that there's a way to hear the album early legally and with the band's blessing, what do you think of it?
(You did see this news about today's MySpace release, didn't you?)
Here's David Fricke's 5-star review in Rolling Stone, for whatever that's worth.
Oscar predictions... With a Twist
Here are a few of my Oscar predictions, just for the fun of it.
Note: These guesses are almost completely divorced from what I think *should* win this year. I won't bother with a full line of predictions because, frankly, I really don't care. The Academy blew it so badly this year, I don't want to guarantee a couple of hours of disgruntled snarling on Sunday night.
So we're having some folks over to watch WALL-E and Shotgun Stories.
In fact, if you want to see a handful of films that I think you'll find more satisfying than the Oscar nominees, here you go: "Oscar Do-Overs" - a piece I turned in at SPU today.
But okay, here are my handful of predictions. And yet, in almost every case, I'm going to recommend something that the predicted winner did earlier in their career that was much better than what's getting all the attention this year.
UPDATE: Christianity Today Critiques Movieguide's "Hollywood Stimulus Plan"
In a display of uncharacteristically poor judgment, The Wall Street Journal has published the "Report to the Industry" by Movieguide's Ted Baehr and Tom Snyder.
Did the editors there actually read the flimsy claims being made?
Film enthusiasts and critics everywhere, Christian and otherwise, went... huh?!
Mark Moring at Christianity Today has posted a response today,
but not before these had appeared: Dan Savage, Jim Emerson, and Glenn Kenny.
Granted, some of those mainstream critics are just going to use this as another excuse to bash Christians. But if Christians keep putting nonsense like this out as our response to culture, I say we deserve the ridicule. If we want to participate meaningfully in the arena of art and culture, we've got to speak more truthfully, more accurately, more thoughtfully, than many of those voices that have been representing "a Christian perspective on movies" to the rest of the culture.
NOTE: If you are glad CTMovies decided to address the Baehr/Snyder article, please let them know by posting a comment on that blog post or writing a letter to the editor. That might help them cope with the lashing they're sure to take for daring to question Movieguide.
It's a challenge to respond to such incompetence with the necessary reproval and yet to show grace. We must speak the truth, and sometimes that calls for strong language. But we are also called to speak the truth in love. We need to hold each other to high standards, and not stoop to the level of cheap shots that the rest of pop culture tends to take. (That's why I posted this, after seeing the widespread celebrity mockery spreading onto Christian pop-culture websites without any pause to question its propriety.)
(Earlier: Testimonies from folks who used to work at Movieguide were included in one of my reader-response posts a few months back.)
What bothers me most about the focus of Baehr and Snyder is they are trying to encourage cleaner, more family-friendly fare by baiting Hollywood with money, by focusing on the box office, as if the box office has ever had anything to do with excellence.
Since when does "What Audiences Want" point to what is good, excellent, honorable, and worthy of praise?
If I based my diet on what food sells best, I'd be dead in a week.
UPDATE: Screenwriter/playwright/former-Movieguide-employee Sean Gaffney responds to the article by Ted Baehr and Tom Snyder that run in The Wall Street Journal.