question of the day: What filmmakers’ work belongs in art museums?

The Museum of Modern Art in New York City will be presenting a major retrospective on the artistry of Tim Burton, starting in November and running through April 2010. The show will feature: Hundreds of Artworks Never Before Exhibited Illuminate the Creative Vision Behind The Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the … more…

trailer break: ‘Cold Souls’

Take a break from work: watch a trailer… Ah, it’s Downloading Paul Giamatti. Nice. “I can’t feel anything”? Wasn’t that the idea, dude, to get rid of that pesky thing that was making you think and feel and was causing all the angst and worry? Why, if you don’t think or feel anymore, you can … more…

do Iranians know who Doctor Who is?

I’m catching up with last night’s Keith Olbermann now, and I just heard John Hodgman say that despite the fact that Iranians don’t know who Doctor Who is, they’re nerds because they’re Twittering their revolution. I find this shocking. I can’t believe Iranians don’t know who Doctor Who is. Prove John Hodgman wrong. Someone tell … more…

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (review)

Like the most totally awesome artifact ever of the end of the American empire, a preposterously perfect reflection of who we are: loud, obnoxious, sexist, racist, juvenile, unthinking, visceral, and violent… and in love with ourselves for it.

question of the day: Should comedians ever apologize for their jokes, even the bad ones?

I just came across the most in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the Letterman-Palin brouhaha, by Randy Cohen at The New York Times. His analysis is long and cogent, but here’s the gist: Letterman’s version had three targets — Alex Rodriguez for his sexual shenanigans, Sarah Palin for her abstinence-only politics and Bristol Palin for personifying … more…

my week at the movies: ‘Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,’ ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,’ ‘Bruno,’ ‘Public Enemies, ‘The Hurt Locker,’ ‘Cold Souls,’ more

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook (or MySpace, but I may dump that soon), then you probably guessed that I attended one of the public sneak previews yesterday afternoon of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (opens in the U.S. and the U.K. on July 1), because you saw my post-screening quick-reaction tweet: … more…

trailer break: ‘Shutter Island’

Take a break from work: watch a trailer… If it were any other director, I’d say, “Well, they just gave away the whole movie. Of course Leo’s gonna escape from the island.” But with Scorsese, I’m not so sure. And it’s not just Scorsese, either. This is based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, who … more…