The Conversations #31: Bamboozled

Jason Bellamy and I have now posted the latest of our Conversations at The House Next Door. In this piece, we discuss Spike Lee's controversial blackface satire Bamboozled. It's a provocative film with a lot to talk about, from its engagement with the history of black entertainment to its consideration of black stereotypes. Join us at The House Next Door for the full conversation, and be sure to add your own thoughts.

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The Conversations #30: 3D

The latest conversation between me and Jason Bellamy is now live at The House Next Door. This conversation is a bit of a different approach for us, as this time we focus on the phenomenon of 3D film, discussing the technology and aesthetics of this popular and controversial format. We concentrate especially on two recent 3D movies by popular directors — Martin Scorsese's Hugo and Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin — along with the Werner Herzog documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams. I know everyone has an opinion on 3D, so I hope we'll see some debate and disagreement in the comments section.

Join us at The House Next Door for the full conversation, and be sure to add your own thoughts.

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The Conversations #29: Alexander Payne

In our latest installment of The Conversations, Jason Bellamy and I discuss the films of Alexander Payne, from his debut Citizen Ruth to his acclaimed, recently released The Descendants. We talk about Payne's satirical targets, his balance of comedy and drama, and the performances in his work. And of course we focus on what seems to be the big critical question regarding Payne: the debate over whether or not he's condescending towards the types of characters who frequently appear in his films.

Join us at The House Next Door for the full conversation, and be sure to leave a comment with your own thoughts.

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The Conversations #28: Barry Lyndon

The latest installment of The Conversations has now been posted at The House Next Door. For this latest discussion, Jason Bellamy and I have tackled Barry Lyndon, arguably the most overlooked film of Stanley Kubrick's mature career. We talk about the film's unforgettable visual style and its (purposefully) forgettable protagonist, as well as the themes of class, love and ambition that run through this great movie. As usual, we invite comments that expand upon our discussion, so please read the piece and add your own thoughts in the comment section.

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The Conversations #27: Jaws

Jason Bellamy and I have posted our latest conversation, this time turning our attention, at the heart of summer blockbuster season, to one of the first summer blockbusters, Steven Spielberg's classic Jaws. We talk about the film's reception at the time, its legendary status, and how it holds up now. We also talk about the music, the shark, the performances, the influence of Hitchcock and Hawks, and the surprising amounts of meta humor built into this often harrowing film.

Come join us with your own Jaws thoughts. As always, we welcome your contributions to the comment section.

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The Conversations #26 (part 2): The Tree of Life

If you've seen Terrence Malick's latest film, The Tree of Life, chances are that you're as eager as Jason Bellamy and I have been to discuss, dissect and analyze this rich, dense, sometimes frustrating but always fascinating movie. In part 2 of our discussion of Malick, following up on our previous conversation about his first four films, we turn our attention to his latest film, which may well be his most ambitious yet. It's certainly a film about which there is a lot to say, and Jason and I doubtless only scratch the surface in our conversation, so be sure to join us in the comment section with your own thoughts.

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The Conversations #26 (part 1): Terrence Malick

The latest conversation between Jason Bellamy and me has now been published at The House Next Door. With The Tree of Life just now arriving in at least some theaters, we take the opportunity to address the first four features of director Terrence Malick: Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line and The New World. It's a lengthy overview of the director's career and aesthetic so far, and within the next month we'll be following up with a second conversation, focusing on The Tree of Life itself.

As always, we welcome your input, so go take a look and join the conversation. Malick is a direct who seems to inspire great passion and affection, but also some equally strong dislike. We think that both sides of that debate are likely to find some ideas to agree with and take issue with in this conversation, so we hope there will be a lively conversation in the comments.

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The Conversations #25: Wong Kar Wai

Jason Bellamy and I have completed the latest installment of The Conversations, a discussion of Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai, and it has now been posted at The House Next Door. It isn't a full overview of every single Wong film (as much as we would have loved to do it, that would have been pretty overwhelming, to write and to read) but a selected overview of his career based on five films. Over the course of our conversation, we talk in depth about Days of Being Wild (1990), Chungking Express (1994), In the Mood for Love (2000), 2046 (2004) and My Blueberry Nights (2007). Focusing on these films allows us to examine Wong at different points in his career, considering how he's developed even while crafting a coherent cinematic universe that's always unmistakably his. We talk about his distinctive aesthetics, his thematic preoccupations, his actors, and the continuities between his films. I'm especially happy with how this conversation turned out, so take a look and as always, join the conversation in the comment section at the House, where we invite additional commentary about Wong in general, about the films we talked about or the ones didn't.

And next month, toward the end of May, be on the lookout for the next Conversation, covering the work of Terrence Malick in preparation for his forthcoming film The Tree of Life. That piece will be a two-parter, with the first part a career overview of Malick's first four films and the second part a discussion of his latest work.

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The Conversations #24: Last Tango in Paris

The latest edition of The Conversations has now been posted at The House Next Door. In this piece, Jason Bellamy and I discuss Bernardo Bertolucci's controversial X-rated Last Tango in Paris, and unsurprisingly we have a lot to say. We talk about acting and realism, the stars Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider (who, sadly, recently passed away), the influence of the French New Wave on Bertolucci, the responses of Pauline Kael and Norman Mailer to the film, and, oh yeah, the sex scenes. It's another wide-ranging discussion of a film we suspect will prompt a lot of discussion and debate, so go get the butter, check out our conversation, and then weigh in at the House's comment section.

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The Conversations #23: True Grit

The latest installment of The Conversations has now been posted at The House Next Door. This time around, Jason Bellamy and I discuss the Coen brothers' new adaptation of Charles Portis' True Grit, and compare their take on the material to Henry Hathaway's iconic John Wayne-starring version of the same story. We talk violence, revenge, Wayne, Westerns, the place of this film in the Coens' oeuvre, and much more. Join us at the House and be sure to comment to continue the conversation.

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The Conversations #22 (part 2): Black Swan

Jason Bellamy and I have now posted part II of our conversation about Darren Aronofsky. In part I, from a couple of weeks ago, we talked about Aronofsky's first four films, and now we've turned our attention to his fifth and latest, Black Swan. We talk about the film's psychosexual underpinnings, its lurid aesthetics, its genre references, its links to the films of Powell and Pressburger and others, and its ideas about female sexuality and identity. We hope you'll join us in discussing this very provocative film. We have a feeling that lots of people have strong opinions about Aronofsky in general and this film in particular, so please let us know what you think in the comments section at the House Next Door.

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The Conversations #22 (part 1): Darren Aronofsky

My latest conversation with Jason Bellamy has now been posted at the House Next Door. With the release of director Darren Aronofsky's fifth feature, Black Swan, due in early December, we have taken the opportunity to discuss Aronofsky's first four films: his debut feature Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain and The Wrestler. We talk about the direction Aronofsky's career has gone, what unifies his oeuvre and what distinguishes his in some ways very different films from one another. It's a lengthy conversation that tries to get to the center of Aronofsky as a filmmaker while also considering the aesthetics and themes of the individual films.

This is, as the title suggests, the first part of a two-part consideration of Aronofsky. Once Black Swan comes out, Jason and I will be returning with a second piece about that film, tentatively scheduled to be posted at the House around December 13. In the meantime, please check out part I and comment to join the conversation.

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The Conversations #21: An Autumn Afternoon

Jason Bellamy and I have a busy month lined up for our Conversations series, and following quickly on the heels of our concert film discussion, we've posted our second piece this month, a consideration of Yasujiro Ozu's final film, An Autumn Afternoon. We talk about this film from many different angles — aesthetics, acting, themes, humor — and relate it to Ozu's career as a whole. As usual, our conversation also touches on meta topics, like the very big question of the possible gap between what a shot is intended to represent and what could be read into it. It's a lively discussion with a lot of back-and-forth debate. As usual, we invite our readers to join the conversation in the comments, so follow the link below to the House Next Door and check it out.

Also, keep an eye out later this month for our discussion of the films of Darren Aronofsky, a career overview that will be followed by a piece about his new film Black Swan.

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The Conversations #20: Rock Concert Films

Jason Bellamy and I have completed another of our dialogues about films, this one focusing on the aesthetics of the rock n' roll concert film. We chose five concert films that we thought reflected the breadth of this genre: Woodstock, Gimme Shelter (the Rolling Stones), Stop Making Sense (Talking Heads), Rattle and Hum (U2) and Instrument (Fugazi). Our conversation touches on the experience and mythology of the rock concert and its cinematic representations, on aesthetics, on authenticity, on performance and acting. It's a fun conversation, so take a look at the link below and, as usual, comment. We always say that we like our exchanges to be only the start of the conversation.

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The Conversations #19: Todd Haynes

Another installment of The Conversations has been posted at The House Next Door. For the first time in a while, Jason Bellamy and I have turned our attention to a comprehensive director overview, the first one we've done since our two-part discussion of Quentin Tarantino a year ago. I'm very excited about this new conversation on director Todd Haynes, which covers his film work starting with his hard-to-see underground short Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, up until his latest feature, I'm Not There. It's a long and wide-ranging conversation, one I'm especially proud of and happy with. Check it out, and as always be sure to comment; Jason and I had a lot to say on this subject, and we hope you do too!

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The Conversations #18: Sunset Boulevard/All About Eve

Another installment of The Conversations has been posted at The House Next Door. This time around, Jason Bellamy and I discuss two Hollywood classics in conjunction, two films with very similar themes but quite distinct aesthetics. As usual, our conversation is only the beginning; head on over to the House Next Door to read the discussion and join in with your own thoughts in the comment section.

The next part of my 2000s music countdown will also be coming slightly later this morning, so check back soon!

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The Conversations #17: "Minor" Hitchcock

My latest conversation with Jason Bellamy is a discussion about two Hitchcock films that are often considered, rightly or wrongly, to be "minor" entries in the great director's career: To Catch a Thief and Rope. In talking about these two very different films, we get to deal with Hitchcock's oft-overlooked range, his humor, his use of actors and stars, his treatment of sexuality, and of course his aesthetics. We also touch on what it means for a film to be deemed "minor," and how these particular films might be enjoyed on deeper levels.

As usual, our conversation is only the beginning; head on over to the House Next Door to read the discussion and join in with your own thoughts in the comment section.

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The Conversations #16: Easter Double Feature

Jason Bellamy and I have now posted the latest installment of our ongoing Conversations series, in which we discuss various films and filmmakers in back-and-forth debates and discussions. Our latest conversation revolves around two very different films that, in fact, tell more or less the same story: Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. It's a special double feature of movies about Jesus' life and death, just in time for Easter weekend. In addition to discussing both movies individually and in comparison to one another, we talk about cinematic representations of Jesus, and various matters pertaining to religion and faith in general. It's a pretty wide-ranging discussion of a pair of controversial films, so we hope our readers will be inspired to join in with additional thoughts and/or disagreements. As always, we view our conversation as just the start, and hope others will continue the talk.

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The Conversations #15: Nashville

Jason Bellamy and I have now completed the latest installment of our ongoing Conversations series, in which we discuss various films and filmmakers in back-and-forth debates and discussions. This time around, we tackle Robert Altman's Nashville, discussing its politics, its music, and the intricacies of Altman's distinctive aesthetic. There's plenty of disagreement between us this time around, so don't expect a straightforward tribute to an acclaimed masterpiece. As you'll see, we've approached the film from very different perspectives. I think the clash is interesting and perhaps revealing about the nature of Altman's dense, challenging film. This is the first of our conversations to be posted at the new home of the House Next Door as the blog for Slant Magazine, so check out the new site. As usual, Jason and I hope that our piece will be only the start of the larger conversation; we welcome reader comments and hope there will be some lively discussion revolving around this one.

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The Conversations #13: Crash

The latest installment of the Conversations has now been posted at The House Next Door. In this piece, Jason Bellamy and I turn our attention to David Cronenberg's 1996 adaptation of J.G. Ballard's Crash. We talk about the film's relationship to the novel, the explicit sex, the romance of the car crash, and whether or not this film actually has any point or not. We're about as divided on this film as two people can be, so it's a pretty lively debate, and we hope that others who feel equally strongly about this film, one way or the other, will be joining in. As always, our dialogue is just the start of the conversation.

And yes, I know I skipped #12 in numbering these pieces. I won't say anymore just yet, but it's not a mistake. More later this year...

In the meantime, check out the Crash conversation, and join in with your own comments.

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