Pride
“The title ‘Pride’ comes to mean different things to the characters in the film. For some it’s pride in their accomplishments; for others it’s pride in who they are or what they Each actor plays a riff on this, with the stars being West, Nighy, Schnetzer, Staunton and MacKay. They all contribute to a film that is very fun to watch and, to me, deeply moving at many intervals. The last scene , at the 1985 London Gay Pride Parade is as emotional a moment as any I’ve seen this year.”
Elmore Leonard, 1925-2013: an appreciation
“Since I was 17, Elmore Leonard has been my favorite writer. I told him that the only time I met him. It was at the now defunct and long gone Waldenbooks, on Exchange Place and Broadway in Manhattan. He was there to sign copies of “Rum Punch,” which was oddly prescient since it was the basis for my favorite film adaptation of Leonard’s work. He was a very nice man, patient listener the 22-year-old aspiring writer whose excited ramblings violated Leonard’s fourth rule of writing (“Keep your exclamation marks under control!”) When I was done, he checked the spelling of my name , signed my book and wished me luck with my writing.”
“Sleep Furiously” Colorless Green Ideas
“Filmmaker Gideon Koppel returns to Trefeurig, where his parents were refugees from Germany during World War II, but he’s not here to interview anyone, or to grieve or celebrate the changing tide. He’s not It’s just a fly on the wall as the townspeople go about their daily lives knowing they might be the last to execute them. We meet the townspeople, all of whom remain unnamed, and follow them through a year of seasons. School events and county fairs are shown. Scenes are cut abruptly, and they are sometimes marked (by Aphex Twin) and sometimes silent. There is no explanation for any of this, and another reviewer told me said that one of the people Koppel follows is his own mother. Viewers may find this narrative minimalism frustrating, even pretentiously arty, but remember: it’s only pretentious if it doesn’t hold your attention.” Sleep F uriously" retained mine; I was lulled by its meditative quality and surprised by the director’s occasional use of the entire screen canvas.”
A lover of film noir, musicals, Blaxploitation, bad art and good trash, Odie Henderson has been correspondent for Far Flung since 2011. He has written for Slant Magazine‘s The House Next Door blog since 2006. He is the of unrest responsible for black history. Mumf Series at Big Media Vandalism. His work has also appeared in The Village Voice, Vulture, Slate, Cineaste Magazine, MovieMezzanine, Movies Without Pity, Salon, and of course RogerEbert.com.
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