by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 23, 2013 | TV & Movies
I was chatting with a friend about the increasing escalation in movies of spectacle and action, and realizing that it’s cheapening the sense of a hero’s accomplishment. If nothing can hurt these people then their struggles are meaningless. This started over a discussion of the fight in Goblin town in the HOBBIT. I really despised that whole sequence. If felt like an amusement park ride, and the idea that people could fall vast distances and just jump up and run off made me...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 3, 2013 | TV & Movies
I’ll probably go see SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK tomorrow since football bores me, and the country shuts down for the “national Superbowl holiday”; but of all the nominated films I’ve seen my favorite has been sweeping the awards so far. ARGO is the little picture that could, and I’m delighted. I really liked the movie on so many levels. I wish Affleck hadn’t gotten snubbed by the Academy, but if he wins top honors from the DGA that may remove some of the...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jan 7, 2013 | TV & Movies
Thursday night I acted like a teenager instead of a responsible adult, but damn it was fun. The evening began with dinner at The Shed, one of Santa Fe’s famous Mexican restaurants — best red chile in town. My companion was Ty Frank, one-half of James S.A. Corey of LEVIATHAN WAKES and CALIBAN’S WAR fame. We drank margaritas and I finally got a red chile fix which helped drive out some of the cold. We talked about writing, and story telling, and games. I mentioned I was...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jan 4, 2013 | TV & Movies
While I was freezing at the barn I had this realization of just how good the SKYFALL script actually was. For some reason I was thinking about the moment where Bond tells the old family retainer, “Some men are coming to kill us. We’re going to kill them first.” Then I remembered M taking a few shots, and she misses. She bitches to Bond that she was a terrible shot. Which is a lovely symmetry with Moneypenny, and how she fails to make the shot in the beginning of the film...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Dec 29, 2012 | TV & Movies
I decided that I really needed to do some homework about this new 48 frame film speed. Turns out the big theater in Albuquerque was showing the 48 frame, 3D Hobbit on the biggest screen in town. I had to be in Albuquerque anyway so I just decided to make a day of it, and go to the movie after I finished lunch with friends, and running a million errands. As I’ve said elsewhere I found the movie too long, and the battles too endless and too gratuitous, but I actually enjoyed the film...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Dec 19, 2012 | TV & Movies
I caught most of the 2011 Three Musketeers on TV the other evening. OMG! Wow. Why did someone think this was a good idea? I kept watching for the same reason humans watch train wrecks. I’m not one of those people who demands strict fidelity to a book. I know changes have to be made, and I’m happy to make them, but this warping of technological advancement in order to have flying ships, and bigger explosions made me crazy. The men playing Athos, Prothos and Aramis were quite...
