For the second year running, I participated in the Next Projection Awards, that site’s celebration of the year in film. Submitting my ballot for that has made me think a lot more about my favorite things of the year than my standard Top Ten Films lists do (though obviously, that list is included here), so I wanted to take the time to lay out my ballot for those who are interested, with periodic annotations throughout. You should all also check out the group list here. Enjoy! -
1Jan2015FEATUREDJordan's Film Awards Ballot
For the second year running, I participated in the Next Projection Awards, that site’s celebration of the year in film. Submitting my ballot for that has made me think a lot more about my favorite things of the year than my standard Top Ten Films lists do (though obviously, that list is included here), so I wanted to take the time to lay out my ballot for those who are interested, with periodic annotations throughout. You should all also check out the group list here. Enjoy!
22Dec2014FEATUREDJordan's Television Awards Ballot
As most of you probably know, earlier this year, I was asked to become Television Editor for Next Projection (for those of you who didn’t, that might explain why things have been…quiet around here of late). One of the things I started as part of my duties there is the Next Projection Television Awards, a year-end group list that celebrates some of the things we loved in television in 2014. Submitting my ballot for that forced me to dig deeper than usual into the things I loved over the past year... 17Jun2014FEATUREDDarrens Musical Radar (Part 2 - 2014)
I admit I haven’t been keeping up with writing full length reviews of everything that has come out these past few months, so here is the second quarterly installment of my musical radar, where I discuss essentially every album I have heard since April 1. Much like the first installment of this series, I’m focusing more on general commentary than assigning ratings. I’ll hopefully keep this up for the next quarter of the year (July – September) and might actually write some more full reviews! Also...21Apr2014FEATUREDGame of Thrones, Season Four, Episode 3
It seems to be the case that every season of Game of Thrones, there is one episode where a script supervisor shits the bed and switches a joke email chain for the actual script. I just hope this gets it out of the way for this season. I won’t say tonight’s episode was without merit, but there were a couple of scenes that made me question how nobody involved in the production spoke up to say maybe this wasn’t a great idea.
I am impressed by how measured Charles Dance’s depiction of Tywin is. I...12Mar2014FEATUREDReview To Be Named Podcast #66
Sam, Chris, and Jordan discuss the highlights and lowlights, surprises and disappointments of this year's Oscars.
10Mar2014FEATUREDGraveyard Shift
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (A Symphony of Horror) 1922, Directed by F. W. Murnau
We’re going way back this week, all the way to the 1920s and the heart of the Silent Film era. F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu isn’t only one of the first adaptations of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and it isn’t just one of the first horror films, it is also one of the most influential films of all time. But one of the things that makes it hold a lot of its creep factor, even almost one hundred years later, is ...5Jan2015Sam's Top Ten Films of 2014
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):
The Imitation Game
Guardians of the Galaxy
XMen: Days of Future Past
The Lego Movie
Interstellar
Birdman
Foxcatcher
Under the Skin
The Raid 2
The One I Love
Nightcrawler
10. Selma
This last spot, as one would imagine, had a lot of contenders. In fact, the films that came closest to this spot — Nightcrawler and Birdman — both shared the positive of having one main performance outshine the film. The reason Selma lands this top spot ...7Jul2014Instant Gratification
The films that I have picked out for this month’s Instant Gratification both surprised me—I honestly did not go into them thinking that they would be movies that I would want to recommend, at least not based on their directorial pedigrees. I have an appreciation for a few of Quentin Tarantino’s films, but (especially lately) haven’t been able to say that I love his work, and well, Michael Bay? I have some latent affection for Bad Boys and The Rock, but there isn’t really anything else on his l...23Jun2014Graveyard Shift
Repulsion (1965, dir. Roman Polanski)
I find it difficult to talk about Roman Polanski as a director without first prefacing some of my personal feelings about his life and crimes and how those things play into my appreciation of his work. I wholeheartedly endorse those people who avoid his films in an effort to refuse supporting someone who has done some incredibly despicable things and then hidden from the consequences—this is America, after all, and a capitalist society to boot: we vote ...15Jun2014Game of Thrones: Season 4, Episode 10
I have mixed feelings about tonight’s episode. I’m just going to lay it out on the table: To me, the show isn’t just the best show on television; it’s the best show on television that also happens to be based on a book series that’s very dear to me. Sometimes the show runners, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, make decisions that really irritate me, when they take a wonderfully woven story and chop it up and make changes wherever they feel like it might make a cool scene. Still and all, I will tr...Recent Podcasts
