And with a “thunk,” the mystery of Susan’s missing underpants was solved. #lastlinesofbadromancenovels

Self-parodying word-barfer Armond White: “RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE superior to INCEPTION and AVATAR.” http://bit.ly/ck8EwZ

Self-parodying word-barfer Armond White: “RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE superior to INCEPTION and AVATAR.” http://bit.ly/ck8EwZ

Did you know the Statue of Liberty was a gift from foreign leaders to warn us against socialism? http://bit.ly/aajo66

The one year I went to TIFF was the one year @scotteweinberg *didn’t* go. We’re not allowed in Toronto at the same time.

Thank you all for your suggestions for “Eric’s Bad Movies” a few weeks ago, and feel free to continue contributing ideas by posting comments in that thread. Now I come to you again seeking suggestions for my other Film.com column, “What’s the Big Deal?”

The criteria are completely different for this column. The idea behind “What’s the Big Deal?” is that there are many films the average person has heard of that are supposed to be “classics,” but that maybe the average person hasn’t seen. And sometimes you’ll watch one of those movies, expecting a classic, and when it’s over you think, “Well, that was OK. But what’s the big deal?” This column is meant to lay out what the big deal is.

My experience has been that if I plop down and watch some “classic” film for the first time, without any advance preparation, often I’ll come away underwhelmed. There’s a good reason for this. A movie from, say, 1960 wasn’t made for me. It was made for people in 1960. I don’t have the same frame of reference that the film’s intended audience would have had. So then I’ll read what other people have written about the movie and I’ll realize, oh, it was the first film to do this, or a good example of that, or it came out while this trend was popular, or while this topic was in the news, or whatever. Once I have some context, it increases my enjoyment of, and my appreciation for, the film.

Continue reading…

Have critics in other places found that screenings of YOU AGAIN have been canceled, or is this phenomenon unique to the Pacific Northwest?

I wonder if the first person who ever skipped school to go to the movies ever realized what a trendsetter he was.

I kind of think that as a 36-year-old my ability to do laundry should no longer be dependent on whether I have quarters.