Modern Masters

After a night out at the cinema last night I'm dying to tell you all about two of my hands-down, flat-out favorite films of the last couple of years: "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood". "No Country" I saw twice at the theater within a three week period in February and March, but it wasn't until last night that I finally saw "There Will Be Blood". Both films were released in late-2007, of course, but neither made it up here to our local theaters until recently. But it was definitely worth the wait. Filmmaking this fine is a rare thing indeed.

Raw, gritty, intense and, in the case of "No Country", quite violent, both films also have their moments of humor and are, simply put, incredibly-well-acted, -written and -directed pieces of cinematic brilliance. In other words, in case I'm not making myself completely clear, I absolutely loved both of these films!

It's a sad day for all serious fans of film. Anthony Minghella, the British screenwriter and director of such great films as "Truly Madly Deeply", "The Talented Mr. Ripley", "Cold Mountain" and "The English Patient" has just died at age 54. He still had another good 25 years of filmmaking ahead of him. What a loss!

Kanye West is simply #$%*ing amazing! It's that simple and straightforward. There's just no denying he's one of the greatest artists working in the music industry today. Three classic albums in a row now. Three out of three. The first three of his career. Really now, how many artists have ever done that before?

The past couple of years have been an absolute Bobsend for all of us Dylan fans. Not only did we get The Bob's great autobiography, "Chronicles Vol 1", but there was also "Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews", an excellent collection of sometimes-hilarious and often-bizarre Q&A sessions spanning a 40 year period. Then there was the fantastic Martin Scorsese-directed documentary "No Direction Home" with its terrific double-CD soundtrack. Then last year, in late August, Bob gave us "Modern Times", the third album in his modern trilogy of revitalized greatness. And, finally, for the past year and a half now there's been his fascinating weekly radio show, "The Theme Time Radio Hour". We're talking about a whole bloody Bob Renaissance here people. The guy's as productive, creative and full of talent now as he's been at any other time in his career, save the early to mid-60s.

Let's get something straight right off the bat, I'm a huge Quentin Tarantino fan and it drives me nuts when people don't "get" his films. But I just watched "Death Proof" on DVD (Tarantino's half of the double feature "Grindhouse") and I've gotta tell ya, I just didn't get it. I mean, it's not that I hated it or anything, I found it interesting and I'd probably even give it a 6 or 7 out of 10, but it simply didn't blow me away like all of his previous films have. And Tarantino films are supposed to blow you away. Period.

Bob Dylan on Neil Young:

"Neil is very sincere, if nothing else. He's sincere, and he's got a God-given talent, with that voice of his, and the melodic strain that runs through absolutely everything he does. He could be at his most thrashy, but it's still going to be elevated by some melody. Neil's the only one who does that. There's nobody in his category."

Tell it like it is Bob!

You've heard of the Bermuda Triangle, right? But have you ever heard of the Prairie Triangle of Inspiration? It's not a place where people get lost forever, like in that famous triangle around Bermuda, it's a place that people get the hell out of as soon as possible... though not before becoming incredibly inspired and creative.

One of the greats is gone. Robert Altman has died at age 81. If he had only directed 5 films ("M*A*S*H", "Nashville", "The Player", "Short Cuts" and "Gosford Park") he'd still be one of the greatest and most original directors of all time