Screening Log
This new site feature is a collective effort to summarize our viewing habits. Occasionally, you will find titles here that are coming to a theater near you, in addition to films viewed on television, and even films viewed in piecemeal. The screening log is archived each month; to view past entries select a month in the menu below.
August 2007 activity
Total Log Entries: 52
- Adam (9)
- Chet (0)
- Chiranjit (1)
- Cullen (0)
- David (0)
- Eva (0)
- Evan (0)
- Ian (5)
- Jenny (3)
- Katherine (0)
- Leo (5)
- Megan (2)
- Rumsey (4)
- Teddy (3)
- Thomas (5)
- Victoria (0)
Total Comments: 35
- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1)
- Maniac Nurses Find Ecstasy (2)
- When The Levees Broke: A Requiem In Four Acts (0)
- Eastern Promises (0)
- The Departed (0)
- Knocked Up (5)
- Little Children (0)
- Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer (0)
- The Bourne Ultimatum (0)
- Transformers (0)
- Being Michael Madsen (2)
- The GoodTimesKid (0)
- Carefree (0)
- Music and Lyrics (0)
- Inland Empire (0)
- Why We Fight (1)
- Paths of Glory (0)
- Hannah Takes the Stairs (0)
- Superbad (2)
- Jesus Camp (0)
- Titicut Follies (0)
- Ultraviolet (2)
- Eyes Wide Shut (1)
- Seraphim Falls (0)
- The Puffy Chair (1)
- Red Dawn (1)
- Robot Monster (0)
- Touch of Evil (1)
- A Clockwork Orange (7)
- Les Misérables (0)
- The Magnificent Seven (0)
- Nighthawks (0)
- Slaughterhouse Five (0)
- Hot Fuzz (2)
- Sunshine (0)
- Rescue Dawn (0)
- The Wild Blue Yonder (0)
- The Bourne Ultimatum (0)
- The 11th Hour (0)
- Shanghai Express (0)
- Trasgredire (0)
- Faces (0)
- The Bourne Ultimatum (0)
- Viva Baseball! (0)
- Holiday (0)
- Cloak & Dagger (6)
- Oepidus Rex (0)
- Dead Man’s Shoes (0)
- Sunshine (0)
- This Is England (0)
- Sweet Smell of Success (1)
- Once (0)
Full Archive
Being Michael Madsen / USA / 2007
The title alone gives you pause. And the film is pretty much exactly what you’d expect upon hearing it: a pseudo-ironic examination of the culture of celebrity, this time constructed as a loose documentary about a documentary. The premise is that the titular beefcake has hired a gang of budding documentarians to follow around his paparazzi nemesis, but they get caught up in the action, become celebrities themselves and yadda yadda yadda. There are some great cameos- Harry Dean Stanton, David Carradine and sister Virginia all manage to emerge with dignity largely intact- but for the most part this is a half-baked, chronically smug piece of filmmaking, cleverer than it could have been, but nowhere near as clever as it thinks it is.
by Tom Huddleston | Source: DVD
30 Aug 2007 12:38 PM | Comments (2)
T.C. Ford / 10 November 2007 / 4:21 AM
Having seen the film in question, I’m confused by your review. It sounds like you liked it, though you really didn’t want to.
The title “Being Michael Madsem” didn’t cause me to expect anything but Michael Madsen, whom I got to see. Did you get that concept of ‘pseudo-ironic examination of the culture of celebrity’ when you saw the title “Being John Malkovich”? They’re not close to the same type of film, and neither title gave me much of an assumption as to content (other than that the named actor would be featured in a possible “day-in-the-life” setting). I found the film very enjoyable, the set up and payoff were well worth the viewing. I thought sister Virginia stole the show as the loving, but competing sibling. And I found the other celebrity interviews spot on.
All in all, I didn’t know if I wanted to like it or not until I saw it. And I LOVED it.
Jason Snodgrass / 11 November 2007 / 6:57 PM
I thought the film was brilliant! Director Michael Mongillo deserves praise for bringing us Michael Madsen as we’ve never seen him before. He’s funny, even self-effacing, which, for Mr. Madsen, really shows off his talent.
I loved the pseudo “60 minutes” type feel to the movie. All of the actors were quite good and the celebrity cameos really added to the “realism” of the documentary.
I can’t wait to see what’s next from this very talented director.