L7 - "Shitlist"

L7 was one of those bands that I thought was gonna be huge. That didn't happen but, lord, did they rock. I was thinking of Natural Born Killers the other day, and remembered this absolute scorcher.

'Press Play With Madeleine Brand': Remembering Val Kilmer

 

Val Kilmer died on Tuesday at the age of 65. I went on Press Play to talk about his career and legacy, spending extra time focusing on his best performance, as Jim Morrison in The Doors. You can listen to my segment down below.

My Interview With Oliver Stone

When I started my interview with Oliver Stone, I told him what an impact JFK made on me when I was 16. "You make me feel ancient," he replied. It went from there. You can read our conversation over at MEL.

'The Doors' and the Bygone Rock 'n' Roll Era

Oliver Stone's tribute to Jim Morrison is now on Hulu. I've never stopped thinking about The Doors since I saw it opening night back in 1991. For MEL, I wrote about how it remains a ridiculous, visionary film. Hope you enjoy.

Happy 25th Anniversary, 'Natural Born Killers'

Back in 1994, I thought the movie was ambitious but flawed. Now? Well, I get into that over at MEL.

An Ode to 'W.'

Now that the Vice reviews are out, I can say this: W. is such a better Bush administration movie than Adam McKay's satire. I explain why over at Rolling Stone.

Toronto 2016: 'Snowden' Review

Snowden has the makings of a classic Oliver Stone film: a man against the system, an attack on government hypocrisy, etc. etc. So what happened? Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a decent impression of the whistle-blower, but this biopic is surprisingly conventional and uninspired. My review is up at Screen International.

Remembering the Greatness of 'JFK'

President John Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. To mark that grim occasion, I decided to write about the lingering greatness of Oliver Stone's JFK. A recent viewing reinforced the fact that, while the movie's logic doesn't hold up, it's still a rather amazing film. I explain why over at Playboy.

'Savages' Review

Like with Magic Mike, I'm not sure a lot of people will see Savages because of who directed it. Nonetheless, that individual is Oliver Stone, and the film represents the first time he's made a purely commercial movie that actually worked. It's not great, but it's good enough. My review is up at Deadspin.

(By the way, I had forgotten that Jennifer Lawrence was originally slated to play the Blake Lively role. Supposedly, Lawrence had to pass because she was doing The Hunger Games. Whatever the reason, it was a good call, Jennifer: O's the least interesting character in this movie.)

could oliver stone give the election to mccain?

The great STV over at Defamer has made some predictions about the forthcoming fall movie season. This one seems the most likely...

W. (10/17) will tip the election to the GOP. Opening less than three weeks before Election Day, the film will be too muddled to move the Democrats yet irreverent enough to galvanize the Republican base against Hollywood one more time before voting. Oliver Stone will be recognized as the new Ralph Nader.

I also worry about Religulous in that regard. I'm curious how that movie will play for people post-Palin. When I saw it a few weeks ago, the religious right seemed to be lukewarm about the McCain campaign and therefore less of a potential factor in November. That's not the case anymore, and it'll be interesting to see how much Palin gets referenced in reviews nearer the film's release date. Backlash to Palin-mania will no doubt drive Obama supporters to see Religulous as a show of solidarity for their guy, but it'll no doubt also get conservatives huffing and puffing.