May Movie Preview 2013

E: When did May becomes the best summer movie month?  Because the popcorn epics you long to see?  They’re in May. Those hot documentaries you want to see to impress your hipster friends?  They’re all in May.  The sequels?  May.  May May May May May.

M: Well, given that Star Wars opened in May in 1977, I think it’s been a while.

E: Yes, but it’s not just one movie.  It’s at least one every weekend, for five weekends in a row.  It’s awesome.

M: As for the “hot documentaries,” as you well know I have little interest in seeing anything to impress any hipsters, friend or foe. I’ll see the documentary if it’s interesting to me.

C: Yeah, hot documentaries seems like a contradiction in terms. And there are some good movies coming in June too. But May is starting off with a bang!

Castle Review: “The Lives of Others”

C: Episode 5×19, “The Lives of Others”, might not have had anything to do with the remarkable German film of the same name, but it was — to put it mildly — inspired by the movies. To be specific, Hitchcock movies.

E: To be more specific, one of my favorite movies ever — Hitchcock’s Rear Window, the Jimmy Stewart/Grace Kelly masterpiece about a photo-journalist laid up with a leg in a cast, who becomes a little too entranced with lives of his neighbors.

M: His neighbor Raymond “Perry Mason” Burr, no less. And where Hitchcock is one of my all time favorites, I was ecstatic at what they chose for the show’s 100th episode. Let’s get to it!

Oscar 2013 Postmortem: Who Won, and How I Did

E: I have to tell you, I feel pretty damn great about that.  Especially after the nominations proved so fiendishly difficult, I’m feeling pretty satisfied.  And exhausted, because I was too excited to sleep last night – but mostly just happy.  I was a bit dubious about Seth McFarlane, but in the end, I thought he was pretty terrific.  Oh, sure, his monologue went on to long, but the song and dance numbers were fantastic (Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum!  Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Daniel Radcliffe!  Alex Wong! the L.A. Gay Mens Chorus singing about boobs!), the sock puppets killed it, and way more of his jokes made me laugh than groan. Let’s talk Oscar!

Oscar 2013: Who Will Win?

E: 2013 has proved to be one of the more challenging Oscar seasons in memory.  Some seasons, dreary after dreary award show passes with the same four actors and the same clump of producers. But this year, three of the top six categories are in complete chaos!  Amazing!  It makes my job harder here, but it’s going to make the ceremony WAY more interesting. Much as I enjoy them, this year it’s not just going to be about the gowns and speeches; there are some genuine mysteries here.  Ladies and Gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts – like the lady says, it’s going to be a bumpy night.

SAG Aftermath: We Have A Front Runner!

E:  Well, they said it.  Director snub and statistics be damned!  Director branch of the Academy, go Argo-eff yourself.  We’ve finally got a best picture front runner.