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Dan Carlson
Los Angeles, California

I'm a twentysomething white male with ambitions to be a professional film critic and generally spend my days getting paid to watch movies and write about it. A compulsive reader and stubborn cineaste, I take an often contrary stance to my more fundamentalist peers and upbringing by celebrating the pursuit of the good, and the Good, in life, love, art and film. If you watched enough episodes of certain TV shows — for starters, "The Hungry and the Hunted," "The Cut Man Cometh," "The Body," "The Zeppo," "Waiting in the Wings," "Out of Gas," "April Is the Cruelest Month," "20 Hours in America," "Colonial Day," "An Echolls Family Christmas," "Look Who's Stalking," "The Garage Door," "Charlie Gets Crippled," "Wind Sprints," and "Corner Boys" — you would understand me completely, and you'd also realize that much of my worldview and philosophical insights are heavily influenced by fictional works/programs, and many of the good things I've said in my life are just a regurgitation of someone else's imaginings, or at any rate a heartfelt attempt to interpret them. I guess I was made to be a film critic.

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« Review: Little Children |Main| We'll Show You Why McKenzie Blane Falls Mainly On Tulane, And We'll Do Other Things That Rhyme As Well »

October 15, 2006

Sunday Recap

By Dan Carlson

• The weekend reviewed:

"Some of these films are quite entertaining; others are utterly pointless but, after you’ve seen enough of them, it’s hard to care which is which. It’s like having a really great meatloaf recipe — no matter how good it is, it’s still freakin’ meatloaf."

"So, yeah: It’s not just a bad political thriller, it is — at times — decidedly grim. In fact, Levinson’s biggest mistake is trying to take the film too seriously by trying to turn it into a dark political statement about election fraud, which is a bit like turning 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' into a statement about feminism — it just doesn’t compute."

"Instead of the kind of stupid film that is wittily self-aware, The Marine comes off like a home-video of pranksters who enjoy dicking around with pyrotechnics. It hardly seemed possible, but any entertainment gained from watching Cena fly away from half a dozen different explosions will be purely incidental. The Marine isn’t fun; it’s just stupid."

"The director hasn’t so much made a leap forward as he has ascended to a slightly higher vantage point from which to observe the woefully complex and ever-shifting relationships that populate modern America. The film is impossible to label, and I can’t get it out of my head."

"Every period of violence and uncertainty awakens our basic human need to connect with another person, but the alienation of a post-industrial society, where so many interactions are virtual, and sex doesn’t even require a partner in the same room, makes such connections more than usually fraught with uncertainty — how can we be sure if another person’s feelings are real, or even if our own are?"

• I've said it before, and I'll say it again: This is one of the best shows on TV.

• I've gotta say, I'm pretty disappointed that no one commented on these song lyrics, or chipped in some of their own. These are some classic tunes.

• A look at Letters From Iwo Jima, which, for my money, could be the more interesting film.

• Hmmm.

• Regardless of your opinions of his style and methods, he's probably the most influential living critic, and it's good to know he's still in the game.

• Again, the best videos of the week:

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