A brief but heartfelt prayer/plea for help from Flannery O'Connor's "A Prayer Journal." It's just what I needed for this Sunday morning (and every other day of the week, really).
Yakima Canutt Is Not A Household Name. But He Probably Should Be.
Enos Edward "Yakima" Canutt was a champion rodeo rider, and early film actor, and an influential second-unit director and action coordinator. Oh, and he was John Wayne's stuntman. And mentor. And he played a huge role in Wayne's on-screen persona. (Wayne himself said that he "spent weeks studying the way Yakima Canutt walked and talked. He was a real cowhand.")
Today's Suggestion Is A Dark, Stylish, And Wonderfully Well-Crafted Puzzle Box
Nobody Remembers Ron Necciai. Because Baseball Is Both Insane And Unforgiving.
I Don't Need A Reason To Watch KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS. But If I Did, This Would Do The Trick.
A Short Film For Those Who Find Treasures In The Least Likely Of Places
Well, THIS Is Stunning.
Assassinations, Umbrellas, And The Inescapable Weirdness Of Reality
Today's Suggestion Is About An Extraordinary Baseball Player. And An Astonishing Football Player. And They're The Same Guy.
What a fascinating guy he was. What a fascinating guy he is, actually. And that's the film's greatest strength (and greatest gift): the opportunity to spend an hour or two with a man who was not only an astonishing athlete, but one who remains an impressive and inspiring human being even to this day.
Daniel Kordan's Instagram Feed Is Amazing
Today, thanks to a Bored Panda post, I've been exploring the visually-stunning feed of Russian photographer Daniel Kordan. BP was particularly fired up by his recent work on the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia (the world’s largest salt flat) in which he "managed to capture the Milky Way being reflected on the flooded salt flat at night."
This Is Not A Question I Actually Had...
Today's Short Comes Straight From My Old Stomping Grounds
Time-Lapse Microbursts Are Amazing
Speed-Solving a Rubix Cube (In Super Slow Motion)
Today's Suggestion Proves For The Umpteenth Time That Tom Cruise Is One Of Hollywood's Most Watchable (And Bankable) Action Movie Stars
Somehow, in defiance of Hollywood's tendency to cram aging action stars down our cinematic throats even as they grow increasingly incapable of sustaining the suspension of disbelief required for an action film, these Cruise-focused/financed/carried blockbusters keeps getting better and better (even as their punctuated monikers grow ever-more bizarre).
"The Mountains Are Calling And I Must Go..."
This Suggestion Should Keep Your Kids (And/Or You) Busy For A While
"It's Not Going To Be Easy, But It's Going To Be Awesome!" -- Steve Gleason's Take On Life And Suffering
In an effort to convey some sense of himself to his unborn son, Steve begins a video diary project, recording short clips where he talks to the camera (and to his son) about an endless array of topics, trying to cram a lifetime of conversation into a few months; trying to leave behind as much as he can before his ability to communicate is too greatly impaired.
When I Started Taking Piano, I Only Wanted To Learn Two Pieces. This Is One Of Them.
The first was Chopin's Nocturne in E Minor, Op. 72, which is just gorgeous. (And HARD!) And the second was this Mozart Fantasy, which I love in no small part because it sounds so much more dramatic (and romantic) than the music I typically associated with him, though such a "rigidly classical" categorization was probably a bit unfair.
Today's Suggestion Is My Very Favorite Documentary About The Art Of Film-Making
Last year, while recommending the documentary Lost in La Mancha, I claimed that it was my second-favorite documentary about film-making. Today, I'm recommending my all-time favorite: Burden of Dreams, Les Blank's spectacular documentary on the insanity surrounding Werner Herzog's efforts to make Fitzcarraldo.