I’m Down…But Not Out

So YouTube’s pulled the plug on me, which makes most of this blog semi-effective at best. Until I can get things sorted out, you’ll be seeing less posts.

A minor setback, I’m sure, as I learn the ins-and-outs of this newish technology. I still have plenty to share with you all.

Until then, here’s a picture of a monkey my Grandfather took 70 years ago.

See you soon!

Links to Go

Time for my first Links Roundup. (I’ll need to come up with a clever name then Links to Go. Link Slowly, maybe?)

Links for the Day: Sex and the City 2 Edition. It’s cheating to link to the links page on another blog, but SlantMagazine.com did a sex-tacular job of assembling many of the best online slams on Sex and the City 2, a film quickly becoming the Showgirls of the new millennium. It also includes a very funny sketch from SNL, with Christine Aguilera doing a spot-on Kim Cattrall impersonation.

Celebrate the me (and you) yet to come. I’ve had a profile of the original Fame (1980) on my to-blog list for a while, but this post might make mine unnecessary. Edward Copeland’s sharp analysis summarizes “this may be an Alan Parker film, but inside a Robert Altman film is trying to break out,” which I couldn’t agree with more.

Happy Birthday, John Wayne! Vincent Price wasn’t the only legend to celebrate a birthday this week. Sheila O’Malley writes at length about the Duke, gathering a ton of interesting and varied quotes and clips. A great thing to read if you, like me, got your hands on the just-released pure-killer, no-filler Criterion Collection Stagecoach DVD. (Jesus, that DVD has a great cover.)

KCRW’s The Business, with Kim Masters. I recently got hooked on this industry-insider podcast about film and TV. These 30 minutes episodes go down like candy, featuring keen observations about the latest trends that are driving us crazy (i.e. the cost of 3-D movie tickets). Smart. Funny. I liked this one in particular, which includes in-depth interviews with the credited screen-writers of Battlefield Earth, the L. Ron Hubbard-written John Travolta sci-fi flick that was voted the Worst Film of the Decade.

The Bachelor & The Bobby Soxer. Mirror.org is subtitled “Motion Picture Commentary,” and blogger Kartina Richardson posts clips from films that are sweetened with her own commentary track, such as this post about the Cary Grant/Myrna Loy/Shirley Temple comedy. I don’t know who else is posting homemade audio commentaries, but it’s a great idea. It’s something I might try one of these days; until then, check out this sight where she provides opinion and insight into films as diverse as Terrence Malick’s Badlands and Hans Christian Andersen with Danny Kaye.

Have a great weekend! I’ll be back next week with some praise for the praise-worthy documentary It Was You, John: Rediscovering John Cazale, premiering on HBO next Tuesday.