The best way to “educate yourself,” for most people at most stages in your life, is to make marginal adjustments in your peer group.
The Gift
The Gift. I loved this movie for 90 minutes and then I hated it so much. There are a couple late plot decisions that totally broke the spell. But, credit is for a spell-binding run up to that point. It’s amazing how much tension Edgerton wrings out of thin air. I liked it.
Mission: Impossible 3
Mission: Impossible 3. Better than I remembered. Hoffman is casually one of the most terrifying villains of the past couple decades. It’s a shame that Keri Russell didn’t have a larger role. Current Mission: Impossible rankings:
- Mission: Impossible
- Mission: Impossible 3
- Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
- Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
- Mission: Impossible 2
It seems the rule of thumb here is that the quality of the MI films is inversely proportional to the length of Tom Cruise’s hair.
My new attitude to travel is to skip the iconic – and I thank my father for that
As I grow older, I hope to become more like my father, who caused much amusement by firmly declining a ride by the White House when we went to Washington DC to visit my in-laws. “It’s the White House,” my mother-in-law said to me. “Anyone would want to go.”
Anyone except my father. Over the years of saying no to other people’s adventures, he has retained his triangularity in a world of round pegs with well-rounded to-do lists. He loved what he loved – the bridges of New York, the Halal street food vendors, the ferry to Staten Island – not because they were iconic but because they pierced his indifference.
My new attitude to travel is to skip the iconic – and I thank my father for that
Why patience really is a virtue
When you take a class with the Harvard University art historian Jennifer Roberts, your first task is always to choose a work of art, then go and look at it, wherever it’s displayed, for three full hours.
Diamonds – Kurt Pio
Diamonds – Kurt Pio. These paintings are awesome.
My creative process begins with: just thinking
My creative process begins with: just thinking. I do a lot of thinking, a lot of pondering. I rarely watch films in airplanes; I just sort of sit there, looking at the ceiling. Day dreaming is the equivalent of doodling; it’s mental doodling.
Composition No. 62 from Rear Window
Composition no. 62 is from Rear Window (1954, dir. Alfred Hitchcock) Cinematography by Robert Burks
I love love love that you can see the reflection of the window through the lens.
Finally, A Non-Embarrassing Classical-Music Scene in a Blockbuster Movie - The New Yorker
The tendency to associate classical music with murderous insanity is a curious neurosis of the American pop-cultural psyche.
Finally, A Non-Embarrassing Classical-Music Scene in a Blockbuster Movie - The New Yorker
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. It’s fun! I wish it were as stylish as some of its predecessors. I wasn’t picking up on a McQuarrie directorial stamp like we saw in the De Palma, Woo, and Abrams movies. Also a little bit disappointed with Hunt this time around. Seems like he was a bit overmatched at times – more like something you saw in the early stages of Edge of Tomorrow, or something out of Indiana Jones. I’m use to a Hunt that’s more ruthlessly (absurdly) competent. But still, really solid, and I love the pace. That Ferguson is Cruise’s equal (superior?), the opera scene is top-notch, the villain is perfect, and it’s nice to see an action movie that doesn’t feel like it needs a built-in romance. Filed under: Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible.