Life of Pi Quotes

This is Ryan, trying out a new "Quotes" feature on the blog. Let's hope it works! These quotes are from the book: 1. (There is a lot in the book that talks about how zoos are actually not so bad; I’m not sure how to square this with a lot of what humanity in general thinks about zoos, but it is interesting fodder for thought or debate. In any case, here he’s been talking about how many animals are actually more comfortable in zoos): “If you went to a home, kicked down the front door, chased Read more [...]

Life of Piscine, Tag-Team!

This two-person review of "Life of Pi" will take you back to the good ol' days of the World Wrestling Federation. Sitzman already called that he was Ultimate Warrior, but it's yet to be determined who Deuce will be. Hulk Hogan? André the Giant? Jake the Snake? Only one way to find out--read on! Read more [...]

Bill Hicks

Bill Hicks was a comedian from Texas who rose to at prominence in the 80s. He was "controversial," in that he talked a lot about politics, society, and drugs. He unleashed his wrath on the first two, and as for drugs, he was a major opponent of the hypocrisy surrounding drugs. Although his comedy could be angry, bitter, and often vulgar, he still strangely seemed to come at the whole thing from a place of love and compassion (hence the book's title). His comedy seemed to reflect an exasperation at the decline of society, but he seemed to genuinely want to change things for the better. Read more [...]

Jesus Christ Superstar

If you've not seen JCS, I can heartily recommend it. It's excellent for many reasons: the songs, the acting, the singing, the setting, the nostalgic value, and the ability to make the viewer think. It's my favorite musical, and it's also on my list of top 20 movies in general. I've talked about it with ministers, Germans, devout church-goers, lapsed Catholics, non-believers, and even a drunk student in Madrid (who burst Jesus' part from "What's the Buzz"). The point is, if you're thinking, "But I'm not religious, so I'm not really interested," then you should still give it a chance. Read more [...]

Postapocalyterature

It's been fairly quiet around here this week... almost too quiet. If Cinematic Attic were a movie, I'd be walking down a deserted street, sidestepping newspapers proclaiming an imminent zombie apocalypse. I'd have no idea how I got here, and I'd have no idea what to do. Then suddenly, a mutant vampire would grab at my leg from a sewer grate! OK, I guess it's not been that quiet here, and I imagine we writers got all hot and bothered for the Oscars and then ended up taking this week off to recover Read more [...]

Top 12 of 2012: “Cloud Atlas” (“Co-Review” by the Sitzchowski Brothers)

Good evening! We're back today with an admittedly enormous post to continue our 2012 review. It's so long that it even has two authors, who both took on new identities; Now Ryan and Paul are calling themselves the Sitzchowski Brothers in homage to the Wachowskis, the sibling pair who co-directed Cloud Atlas (along with director Tom Tykwer... but unless we can convince Jake to play "Tom Jykewer," then we'll just have one author fewer than the movie has directors). We'll begin with Paul's argument Read more [...]