http://blogs.e-rockford.com/movieman When film critic Will Pfeifer isn’t watching movies, he’s reading about movies, talking about movies, thinking about movies or dreaming about movies. Now he shares that unhealthy obsession with you. From Hollywood hits to Japanese obscurities, from Oscar night to the summer season, he’s got movies on the brain — and on this blog. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:36:34 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en For several weeks now, I've been gathering my picks for the Best Movies of the last decade. I'll be revealing that list sometime before the new year, both here at the Movie Man Blog and in the Rockford Register Star. But I want to compile a list of readers' favorites, too. ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/movieman/2009/11/20/best-of-the-decade-im-working-on-my-list-but-how-about-yours/ Over at his Shadowplay blog, David Cairns writes up an excellent analysis/review/appreciation of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece, PSYCHO. It's full of astute observations and worth reading in its entirety, but here's a small sample, where he discusses the scene where Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) and Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates) have dinner ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/movieman/2009/11/20/peeking-at-psycho/ On Wednesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- aka the people who give out the Oscars -- announced the 15 finalists for the Best Documentary category, culled from an original list of 89 films: “The Beaches of Agnes,” Agnès Varda, director “Burma VJ,” Anders Østergaard, director “The Cove,” Louie Psihoyos, ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/movieman/2009/11/19/and-the-documentary-finalists-are/ In this piece over at the New York Times, critic A.O. Scott  discusses the semi-controversy springing up in the wake of Spike Jonze's WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (and set to revive itself when Wes Anderson's THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX opens this week) -- namely, are these movies based on children's books ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/movieman/2009/11/13/kids-movies-versus-grown-up-movies/ Here are four more movie posters from Poland, courtesy of this fascinating site: First up, Martin Scorsese's classic urban nightmare, TAXI DRIVER...   Next, this bold take on THE TIME MACHINE, which frankly makes it look more exciting than it actually is...   Then we've got a very strange interpretation of THE STING... And finally, my ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/movieman/2009/11/13/more-posters-from-poland/ Jason Zinoman of VANITY FAIR spends the day at one of screenwriting guru Robert McKee's day-long seminars and lives to tell about it. What's more, he remains unimpressed with the man who proclaims "“You can’t work in this business without reading my book." Read about Zinoman's experience here, in a ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/movieman/2009/11/12/writing-about-a-guy-who-writes-about-writing/ While I've been screwing around on this blog, teasing you readers with my contenders for the top 10 movies of the decade, those craft Brits over at the Times (that's London, mind you, not New York) have manned up and compiled a list of the 100 best movies of what ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/movieman/2009/11/12/and-so-the-lists-begin-the-top-100-movies-of-the-decade/ Then it might look a little something like this surprisingly elaborate production cooked up by the Russian group Bolshaya Raznitsa, which according to Neatorama (where I got this clip) translates as "Big Difference." [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAu74d4fGt0&feature=player_embedded[/youtube] http://blogs.e-rockford.com/movieman/2009/11/11/what-if-the-matrix-were-a-silent-movie/ According to the New York Times, the total cost for James Cameron's upcoming sci-fi extravaganza, AVATAR, could reach the fabled $500 million mark... "The final cost of the film has not been tallied, as Mr. Cameron, who has worked on the film for 15 years, and his collaborators, as far-flung as ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/movieman/2009/11/09/should-we-care-how-much-avatar-costs-probably-not/ And I'm not talking about the actors, either. Before it was a teen comedy (frankly, probably the best teen comedy ever made, not counting RUSHMORE), FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH was a book by Cameron Crowe, the future writer/director. Crowe, who was both precocious and young-looking, enrolled at a California ... http://blogs.e-rockford.com/movieman/2009/11/09/whatever-happened-to-the-kids-from-ridgemont-high/