WHAT’S READIN’? 01.09 In Da Club

In Annie Hall what did Woody Allen say Groucho Marx said about clubs?

Slate.com is hosting this year's Movie Club. I always enjoy the annual pen pal bull-session between film critics. Every year a group of them send each other cute little letters back and forth geeking out on the year in films .

Heading the team, I often disagree with with him but I always enjoy reading Scott Foundas writing. This years he’s gaga for There Will Be Blood and he just may be the only major critic who dug De Palma’s Redatced (have you heard De Plama talk about this flick? The old-bugger thinks with this movie he invented using different film stocks and fake-docu-style, like he discovered youtube last year and he thinks he discovered it first).

Joining him this year is Dana Stevens, of Slate, her top ten list was fairly rational, all though... man, I really disliked that I’m Not There, which most of the cool-hip critics loved (for that matter, I wasn’t crazy about many of this years acclaimed flicks like Atonement, Sweeney Todd, The Darjeeling Limited, Grindhouse, Rescue Dawn, and the last quarter of There Will Be Blood, etc.)

The lil' critics circle also includes Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe, he gives a little shout-out to some cool ushers at his favorite theater in Boston, I guess as a way of currying favor, maybe score some free milkduds.

Lemme just say... Yo Playa, nobody in the world cares about the quality of the theater screens in Bean Town. I’m so sick of Boston. "Oh it's gritty and tough and cool" shut-up! And believe me, dude, the rest of the nation from casual sports fans to movie nerds are sick of Bostonians agog over their beloved Afflickville.

Okay, I see you over there, Austin Texas, stop smirking, I might have something for you too.

Anyway... and rounding out the gang is Nathan Lee of the Village Voice who has a total hard on for Richard Kelly’s, Southland Tales he hoisted it into his number one spot on his 2007 ten best list, no really. His list also includes I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, no really.

I think I enjoyed reading it more in the past when it had critics like A.O. Scott or David Edelstein and my idol, Manohla Dargis, who I rarely agree with, but she knows what-the-fuck she's talking about and I learn something from her. Maybe the Movie Club articles felt less obvious, maybe less dorky or something. Maybe the critics were a little more 'highbrow', but not in that "trying to be hoity-toity" way. They just were, caused they're smart writers and you know, talk all fancy-talk.

But still it’s a fun read, these are good writers too, just kinda lame. I enjoy having arguments in my head with em.

Speaking of my head, I gotta see what this Dana Stevens of Slate looks like. For some odd reason, from her writing, I’m thinking... I'm thinking me and her might just hit it off (she is a she, right?). Yeah, maybe. We could get drunk and sing songs from Once and bang and watch like, Iranian movies together and discuss ‘the use of Irony’ in the Coen Brothers work. I just better not tell her that I didn’t care for that Drew Barrymore flick Music And Lyrics, that might drive a wedge between our passion. Oh well, I’ll just keep it in my head.

- sean sweeney rules