Category Archives: Film

Kage Baker’s Ancient Rockets: Treasures and Trainwrecks of the Silent Screen

Most of you most likely know Kage Baker as the writer of The Company series where immortal cyborgs gleaned treasures for their masters down the long years, but but did you know that she had a deep, loving interest in … Continue reading

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Richard Thompson Band’s Live At Celtic Connections (DVD)

The most recent incarnation of the Richard Thompson Band started its run with a string of nine or 10 shows along the West Coast of the U.S. in February of 2010. They played a set of 13 new songs that … Continue reading

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Frank Zappa’s The Torture Never Stops (DVD)

If, like me, you never saw Frank Zappa live with one of his fabulous bands, this DVD release from Eagle Rock is a great way to see what you missed. Or even if you did witness the madness before Zappa … Continue reading

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Jean Cocteau and Philip Glass, La Belle et la Bête

We hear a lot about the “magic of the silver screen” (although I confess we seem to have left magic behind for a kind of gritty realism — the “magic” has turned dark and somewhat morbid). It’s nice to haul … Continue reading

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John Carpenter’s Halloween and Halloween II

Sheriff Brackett: Every kid in Haddonfield thinks this place is haunted. Dr. Sam Loomis: They may be right. When I was a kid, there was an old cabin in the woods outside my elementary school. Everyone said the cabin had … Continue reading

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James Cameron’s Avatar

Joseph Thompson submitted this review. Good storytellers are gardeners. They take the seed of an idea and plant it within the mulch of their life experience. After a season of drafts and rewrites, the fruit of their labor is harvested … Continue reading

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Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf

I’m going to try an experiment. I’m going to write this review freeform while I watch it. We’re going to call this one Beowolf: a Realtime Review by Camille Alexa. None of that namby-pamby “wait to digest the entire thing … Continue reading

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MusiCares Presents: A Tribute to Brian Wilson

Just before the 2005 Grammy Awards a “star-studded gala took place in Los Angeles.” It was the MusiCares 2005 Person of the Year Awards, and the winner was Brian Wilson. Beach Boy extraordinaire, composer of the surf and hot-rod songs … Continue reading

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BBC’s The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries

We watch almost nothing on so-called network television these days. Oh, the local news is watched, but that’s it. Now partly that’s because the premium networks such as HBO are where the really good stuff is, such as Carnivàle and … Continue reading

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Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The Candy Man The Candy Man can The Candy Man can cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good – “The Candy Man,” from Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory I can’t remember a time when … Continue reading

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