“A good Top Ten list has . . .”
Daily Plastic presents the “Top Ten Loathsome or Laudable Uses of a Zoom Lens,” a list that is brilliantly meta in a way that reminds me of John Barth’s “Lost in the Fun House.” It begins conventionally enough, but soon meanders inexplicably off-track. By the time we get to item 4, it is obvious that something has gone horribly, hilariously wrong. Check it out.
Also, while you’re checking things out, have a look at these three clips from Synecdoche, New York, Charlie Kaufman’s latest and a film I’ve been itching to get a look at since I first read about it quite some time ago. These brief peeks are as . . . interesting as I would have expected.
In other items of interest, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has had its release moved from late November to the middle of next July. While I was initially inclined to be somewhat dismayed by this turn of events, I now realize that (what with taking on my first year of graduate work) the move gives me a much better chance to both enjoy and “cover” it.
Finally, bloggers, critics and fans across the interwebs are lamenting the death of Star Wars in the wake of the recent release of animated prequel gap-filler The Clone Wars (currently sitting at a frighteningly abysmal 18% on Rotten Tomatoes), which fatefully coincides with The Dark Knight overtaking Star Wars astronomical box office numbers. It is a topic I am naturally very much interested in, but I have decided that I’d rather not discuss it until I have seen The Clone Wars for myself. Since I am very busy just now, and I have not yet decided whether I am ethically and emotionally okay with putting money in this particular plate that Lucas is passing around, that will just have to wait. (On the other hand, it’s still Star Wars . . . Can I stay away?) Just wanted to mention that it’s on my mind.
Moviegoings 