culturish.com

Yay - finally.  The combination of life and procrastination postponed this by a few days, we can celebrate the best of the best.  For us, these were the cinematic achievements of 2008 that we wanted to celebrate. [Read more →]

Any categories that contain ties will be posted under the tied number, so if they’re deleted…. that’s a hint! Also, the technical categories were scored differently, hence the odd looking points/vote totals. [Read more →]

Continuing right on….. [Read more →]

  Was 2008 a great year for film?  I don’t know.  When referring to a recent year in literature, Normal Mailer once said, “Don’t read all the acclaimed books from a year.  Wait two years, and read the ones that are left,” (paraphrasing) and that seems fair.  Of course, we’re not gonna do that (indeed, even four months seems too long).  Between trying to figure out eligibility (a one week commercial release in the USA was the main requirement), hoping against hope that that hot foreign film/semi-indie with that interesting star/etc will actually play in your home town, that Netflix will have that movie you really wanted to see, it’s almost silly trying to “award” films from any given year.  But we will anyway.

So look at this as a festival - instead of just rewarding one or five or ten performances/films, we’re doing a top twenty, with a top ten dedicated to the “technical” categories.  Scouring our comments for quotes was fun (and then jumping onto the internet when the discussion wasn’t so animated.)  So here goes (jump into the discussion here) [Read more →]

–dr. ciski takes us on a tour of the 1939 remake of Intermezzo

[Read more →]

If your parent or sibling or spouse or child dies, there are books and groups and therapists to consult for help with the grieving process. But what if you are legitimately in mourning for someone you’ve never met? When confirmation arrived on Wednesday evening of the worst possible scenario – that actress Natasha Richardson had succumbed to her brain injuries from a seemingly innocuous skiing accident – tributes popped up everywhere heralding this remarkable talent. I find myself restless at night and hazy during the day, overwhelmed with a sense of despair that seems unfitting considering my only relationship with Richardson stems from repeated listenings of the Cabaret cast recording. Maybe the reason this one hurts so badly because it’s been just 13 months since the untimely passing of Heath Ledger? In a way, I feel it is almost inappropriate for me to be upset, knowing that my tangential appreciation of her work is nothing compared to the intimacy she shared with her family and friends. Who am I to feel so desolate when her husband, mother, sons and sister were at her bedside discussing whether to end life support? I fully acknowledge that my general malaise is merely a fraction of the waking nightmare the Redgrave/Neeson/Richardson family now find themselves entrenched in but I would like to believe that the mark of a good performer is one who makes a lasting indelible impression, who gives a piece of themselves to their audience, and that therefore, it is a tribute to Richardson’s formidable talents that millions who have never even met her find themselves so profoundly saddened.

Natasha Richardson was a rare breed – an uncommon but altogether inspiring conglomeration of both pedigree and moxie. Acting was in her very genetic make-up and yet she never let her lofty family ties become a burden or a curse. Her own intellect, radiance and elegance set her apart from so many of her contemporaries. While the majority of her films were not worthy overall products, Richardson naturally gravitated to the stage and that was where she achieved her greatest personal and professional triumphs. Making her Broadway debut in Anna Christie, she was the breakout sensation of the season and met her husband Liam Neeson. Their union produced two now adolescent sons and has been one of Hollywood’s resounding successes in the town of a million divorces. The Neeson-Richardsons moved permanently from the UK to NYC to escape the pressure of the Redgrave legacy and kept themselves busy with raising their children (a long-standing agreement kept at least one of them home at all the times even if the other was working on an acting project), attending charity events (Richardson’s father, director Tony Richardson, died of AIDS in 1991 and Natasha devoted much of her time and efforts to organizations funding AIDS research) and hosting dinner parties featuring Richardson’s world-class home cooking. The husband and wife duo also took pride in being amongst the greatest contemporary interpreters of 20th century master playwrights such as Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams and it was indeed a reincarnation of a beloved character – Sally Bowles in the Sam Mendes directed revival of Cabaret – that brought Richardson unprecedented raves and a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical. What a shame then not only that such tragedy befell them but also that the press behaved so grotesquely towards such a classy and respectable family in the throes of trauma.

I have thought about whether it would be considered disrespectful to get on a soapbox in what is primarily an obituary to someone’s wife, mother, daughter, sister, niece, neighbor, friend. But as merely a fan and not an industry insider, the past 72 hours has provided me with a different type of emotional burnout. After the paparazzi chasing Princess Di into the tunnel, the public inspection of the contents of Anna Nicole’s fridge, Heath in a body bag, Britney on a gurney going to the psych ward and the police photo of Rihanna’s bruised and battered face, no mainstream news source has taken the fringe media to task for their grotesque invasion of privacy. I mention these examples not to give them any credence whatsoever but merely to illustrate what has been a dangerous and ongoing cycle for more than a decade now. Nothing is more ironic than E!’s Giuliana Rancic stoically reading the announcement from Liam Neeson’s publicist asking for privacy as the network simultaneously aired video of Vanessa Redgrave and Joely Richardson (attempting to hide her face behind her coat) arriving at Lenox-Hill Hospital. After a news source jumped the gun and proclaimed Richardson dead days before the official statement, the media seemed to go on a veritable Death Watch 2009 with even the most respected of celebrity news sites chasing down “sources close to the family” and running articles ad nauseum about Richardson’s up-in-the-air medical status. TMZ most disgustingly tracked down the ambulance driver and, maybe even more disgustingly, the driver actually gave details on the condition of the patient. Was it really necessary to publish photos of the casket at the private wake? Our own government censored footage of the caskets coming home from Iraq but it’s acceptable to show the casket for someone whose only battle was with a mound of snow? This is a family going through the most unspeakably horrifying event imaginable and we should have taken it upon ourselves to demand that they be treated with dignity. The crotch shots of starlets that so dominated the gossip pages for years became rape by the media with the public as bystanders who didn’t report the crime and now we have become like witnesses at public executions for people who did nothing wrong other than achieve a certain level of success in their chosen profession. Perhaps exacerbating this is UK reality star Jade Goody, who is dying of cervical cancer and has asked the media to document her final days so that the footage can be shown to her very young sons. Being so permissive to such an intrusive institution is breeding a beast that already shows no signs of being tamed. Entertainment is essential in our lives but those who make their living doing it should not have to sacrifice principles of human decency.

  Natasha Richardson lived her life to the highest standards of excellence, leaving behind a resume highlighted with choices showcasing her rare beauty and hard-earned individuality as a performer. She possessed an innate dignity and a grace that can be found so infrequently in the industry these days and it is an acknowledgment of her gifts to the world that so many people find themselves grieving this week. Next time though, let’s respect the families enough to allow them to grieve in peace.

–Above the Title

The redoubtable Nike290 tackling the 1939 aviation drama from Howard Hawks

[Read more →]

The future just isn’t what it used to be.A few years back, Futurama –the short-lived FOX series that followed the misadventures of a time-displaced slacker, his crass robot sidekick, and his one-eyed lady love through the 31st century– wowed dozens of fans. The series was on its way to becoming the best animated series ever (despite lackluster ratings and living in the shadow of The Simpsons) when it was technically, though not really, canceled. It lingered on FOX for an extra year because there were so many episodes in the can, but it wasn’t until it joined the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim animated comedy block that Futurama developed a cult following. That following, successfully reinforced with the series’ DVD releases, resulted in an almost unprecedented return to the drawing board.
[Read more →]