Dennis Hopper, R.I.P.

Four Reasons Why Sex & The City 2 Doesn’t Suck

by Andrew Osborne

I’ll admit, I had my doubts.

Based on the scathing reviews of SJP’s second SATC feature, you’d think it was the second coming of Showgirls (or at least the latest Katherine Heigl atrocity): a soulless broadside against right-thinking people everywhere and the feminist movement in general.

And yet, having recently returned from a nearly sold-out theater packed with a demographic smörgåsbord of women having the time of their lives oooooh-ing and awwwww-ing together at all the film’s cute babies, glistening biceps, extravagant pastries and over-the-top fashions (and then laughing at their own reactions), I gotta say…why the hate, haters?

Therefore, in honor of Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha, here are my Top Four Reasons why Sex & The City 2 doesn’t suck nearly as much as the critics are saying:

The Top One Movie of the Week (5/27/10)

by Scott Von Doviak & Andrew Osborne, with Special Guest Villain Amy Jeglinski-Osborne

SCOTT: Good news, Andrew! This week I’m in a position to immediately eliminate one of our Top One Movie contenders from consideration. That’s because I already saw George Romero‘s sixth installment in the decades-spanning Living Dead series, Survival of the Dead, when it played Austin’s Fantastic Fest last fall. Of course, your first question is, “Did George Romero really need to make a sixth zombie movie?” And my answer is no, especially when said zombie movie spends way too much time on the dull machinations of a pair of feuding families with Lucky Charms accents.

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Nick Schager Reviews Micmacs

Jeunet’s career, more or less completely doing away with narrative as a vital component and exalting mouse trap-style set pieces as a be-all end-all. To discuss the Amélie director’s latest in terms of story is almost to waste breath on a superfluous element, as his tale, from the opening sight of a woman expressing sudden grief with a grotesque open-mouthed squeak-squawk, thoroughly feigns serious, empathetic concern for characters and themes. Rather, Jeunet’s film is all about intricate domino-effect sequences designed to show off his cleverness. The nominal plot concerns a winsomely weird video store clerk named Bazil (Dany Boon) who, after surviving a stray gunshot to the head, teams up with a raft of carnival kooks to take down the rival arms manufacturers responsible for his noggin’s bullet as well as the landmine that, years earlier, killed his dad.

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Hayden Childs’ Record Collection: The Louvin Brothers

Even when they sing secular music, the Louvin Brothers are about the best argument for the existence of a benevolent deity outside of the way that Christina Hendricks is shaped.  Charlie and Ira Loudermilk, who for some reason decided that “Louvin” was a more commercial name, sang a type of country gospel based on close harmony.  Many singers in popular music pitch their harmonies in fifths (C and G, for instance), which helps keep everyone in key and cover the tonal discrepancies of their voices.  Close harmony singers often pitch their harmonies in thirds, which can sound so very wrong with a lot of voices.  Many of the popular singers who have pulled off close harmonies are also closely related: the Beach Boys, the Everly Brothers, the Andrews Sisters.  It’s not completely necessary, as in Simon and Garfunkel, but it seems to help. 

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Lost: The Cosmic Carrot

by Andrew Osborne

The Seinfeld finale was aggravating because it had a different (and far more sour) flavor than the rest of the series.  The Deadwood and Twin Peaks finales were frustrating because they were inconclusive and came too soon, when it seemed like the shows had more to say.

But the frustrations, inconsistencies, satisfactions and overall entertainment value of the Lost finale perfectly encapsulated the engaging and exasperating nature of a uniquely compelling show that never quite lived up to the promise of its pilot episode and yet will definitely be missed around here (even though I’m thankful it’s finally over).

Lost…Meet Shoe!

by Andrew Osborne

And now, in honor of Lost Finale week here at the Screengrab in Exile, we proudly present an encore screening of the 2007 Team Bait Shop/Burt Wood entry in the 48 Hour Film Project:  SHOE!

Top 10 Lost Twists

Whoops, I promised to do a list of my Top 10 Lost twists, didn’t I? Well, this probably isn’t it, because I’m sure a few things slipped my mind. But here’s ten I can think of! And most of them are pretty good.

1. The first flash-forward (“Through the Looking Glass”)

Maybe I only put this in first place because I actually figured it out pretty early in the episode, but either way, it was still quite the mind-melting moment. We have to go baaack!!!!

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The Top One Movie of the Week (5/20)

by Andrew Osborne & Scott Von Doviak

ANDREW: So, we’ve been doing this column for a couple of months now, and to date, none of my weekly picks are likely to wind up on my annual Top Ten list (except maybe, possibly Please Give, which, though slight, was still a pretty solid night at the art house). But maybe things are about to change. Maybe this week Hollywood will release one of the best films of 2010! (Or maybe we’ll just have to flip a coin between the latest unnecessary SNL flick and the latest unnecessarily “3-D” CGI extravaganza.) Let me just check the new release schedule and…shit. 

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The Ladies of Lost

by Scott Von Doviak, Andrew Osborne, et. al

[Note:  Please to enjoy our heavily edited contributions to Nerve's list of sexy castaway ladies!]

Since day one, we’ve debated the motivations of the dozens of characters on Lost. And — especially when it comes to the almost frighteningly attractive women — we’ve also spent hours arguing over who’s the most attractive. So, before the show takes its final bow, we’ve decided to rank all the significant characters from unappealing to irresistible. (And check out yesterday’s list for the men’s rankings.)

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