All Consuming : Daniel Spils

Consumed "The Man Who Skied Down Everest"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:30:10 GMT

The Man Who Skied Down Everest

by Bruce Nyznik

WORTH IT!

Consumed "Jules and Jim - Criterion Collection"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:04:52 GMT

Jules and Jim - Criterion Collection

by François Truffaut

A story about "Dragon Faces"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:27:29 GMT

Dragon Faces

by Fred Roth Revue

I was walking up Pike Street last week and ran into Cedric. He had just picked up copies of his new CD from the Post Options across the street. He pulled a couple copies out and handed them to me. And this is where I never know exactly how I’ll feel about the music: a friend + a friend’s band does not usually = good music.

Well, I love it. I’m spinning it for the fourth time in the office.

great music documentary

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:10:12 GMT

Anvil! The Story of Anvil

by Sacha Gervasi

I wavered between thinking these characters were delusional and heroic. I ended up somewhere close to admirable. I’m a sucker for people who are obsessed with what they do—and albeit that Anvil is a somewhat cheesy metal act from 1984, the lead singer “Lips” genuinely inspired me. That guy loves to play guitar and sing and won’t give up because giving up simply isn’t an option for him.

Warning: you may cry in this movie if you’re not careful.

I cried

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:36:19 GMT

Song Sung Blue

by Greg Kohs

And it was a total sucker punch … I spent the first 20 minutes of the documentary thinking about ways to sneak out of the theater. I thought it was going to be that bad.

It’s a tragic story about Lightning & Thunder, a married couple who make a living as a Neil Diamond/Patsy Cline cover act. They’re messed up, in love, totally off the rails, delusional, depressing, funny … and it’s hard to watch at times. But at the end the emotion swelled and I heard everyone around me quietly sniffling.

I didn't sit through the credits

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Sat, 10 May 2008 05:20:58 GMT

Iron Man [2008]

by Jon Favreau

... but I enjoyed the ride. Can somebody tells me what happens during or after the final credits? Iron to know, man.

70mm @ Cinerama Seattle 3/16/2008

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:44:02 GMT

Lawrence of Arabia

by David Lean

I entered around 11:45am yesterday and exited the Cinerama 70mm theater at 4:35pm. What a great film! If you have the rare chance to see it in 70mm I highly recommend it. The expansive desert scenes are breathtaking in it’s intended full size.

A story about "Juno (Single-Disc Edition)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 22:20:28 GMT

Juno (Single-Disc Edition)

by Jason Reitman

This was a borderline “not worth it” for me. I didn’t find it very funny or touching. I was excited going in and left feeling ‘ehhh’.

A story about "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 04:41:26 GMT

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

by Seth Gordon

I loved this documentary. And you don’t have to love video games to enjoy it (my Mother went with me and gave it a thumbs up). It’s a human interest story with all the crazy quirks that can only come from crazy humans. You could not invent these characters and events. There’s a great blog post about the film by Dan Paulus at The Stranger. I recommend this sucker. I think I may have teared up toward the end.

a big sustained chase scene (rated 5 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:57:59 GMT

The Bourne Ultimatum

by Paul Greengrass

Which sounds like it would suck, but is in reality excellent! What a fun, exciting film. This film is smart and delivers wonderfully as a spy thriller.

Crazy People (rated 4 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:12:59 GMT

Crazy Love

by Dan Klores & Fisher Stevens

You can’t dream this stuff up. Wild characters and decades long story. The opening scenes with the Linda’s friends being interviewed were top notch.

A story about "The Host (??)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 21:38:43 GMT

The Host (??)

by Bong Joon-Ho

This is one of the better “not worth it” films I’ve seen in a while. I mostly thought it was not worth seeing and disappointing on many levels, but I didn’t feel like I had wasted 2 hours of my life (as is the case with most “not worth its”).

Why I like people who have consumed "300"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 22:53:53 GMT

300

by Zack Snyder

Mostly because you go to movies like this—and so do I. I love trailers like 300 had going for it. But as much as I’d like to like this film it didn’t quite do it for me. The battle scenes, although compelling at times, were too many and too ridiculous in the end. Yes, the visuals were very compelling (loved ‘em) but the movie was basically lame.

An interesting part about the film was the potrayal of the Persians riding in on their mutant beasts (modern day SUVs?) with slave armies while the God/King was engaged in corrupt hedonistic pleasures. Seemed like a reverse metaphor for the Iraq war—with the Spartans coming off as mostly reasoned and rigtheous. I’m not sure if this was an intentional comment on modern events but it seemed so.

Oh – and the crunch guitar battle scenes were what I was most looking forward to (I’m a sucker for it when well executed) and unfortunately by the time they arrived I was already battle weary and ready for some decent drama to tie the whole thing together. Damn you 300!

Double Dutch Documentary (rated 5 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 18:59:48 GMT

Doubletime

by Stephanie Johnes

I loved this documentary which I saw a couple days ago at 2007 South by Southwest (SXSW). Highlights included Tim Martin (world single jump rope champ) do his thing toward the beginning of the film. Unbelievable! Up to 6 rope revolutions in one jump. The Harlem double dutch teams were incredible, the Japanese teams were even more amazing. And the back story worked well. Loved it.

A story about "Genghis Blues"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:53:44 GMT

Genghis Blues

by Roko Belic

My brother and sister-in-law recommended this to me and I really enjoyed it. As a documentary it was rough around the edges—and the fellas making it admit that it’s their first movie and when the opportunity came to travel to Tuva they just dropped their day jobs and went for it. The story by itself it interesting, but it’s the wonderfully flawed Paul Pena that makes it a compelling film.

If they’d had a better film crew the Tuvan Throatsing performances could have been much more dramatic and musically affecting, but it’s scrappy and that’s mostly okay in this flick. I also liked the fact that the two biggest claims to fame in the documentary are a 20 second clip of B.B. King talking about Paul and the fact that Paul wrote a “Big Ol’ Jet Airliner” which was eventually covered by Steve Miller Band. The rest is just a story about a mostly forgotten blind blues musician making a trek to Tuva to meet the people who sing from their throats and compete in their annual throatsing competition.

A story about "Inland Empire"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 18:13:59 GMT

Inland Empire

by David Lynch

Half the battle with a film like Inland Empire is making it through the film. It’s long. It’s disjointed and for the first hour my brain was jumping back and forth trying to connect characters and plot that aren’t supposed to connect. This can be frustrating and exhausting and also dreamlike. Somewhere between marriage, infidelity, hollywood and rabbits there are themes. I wouldn’t see this movie again, but I’m glad I saw it. I think.

Why I recommend "Get Good or Stay Bad"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 17:57:26 GMT

Get Good or Stay Bad

by The Cops

I’ve seen The Cops twice in Seattle. The first time rocked my world. The second (this past weekend) was a respectable show with a crappy house sound system. I look forward to greater shows in the future, but these guys are great. The album pales in comparison with a great Cops live show, but I still enjoy it.

I really enjoyed this film (rated 4 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 22:03:26 GMT

Volver

by Pedro Almodóvar

Mostly I just liked the actors and watching it all unfold—it was a fun film to watch.

A story about "Battlestar Galactica (2003 Miniseries)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 22:10:11 GMT

Battlestar Galactica (2003 Miniseries)

by Michael Rymer

I recently rented this to lend it to JP—so I spent some downtime (I’ve a cold right now) watching the miniseries over. It’s really a great bit of work. Having watched through the beginning of Season 3, revisting the miniseries shows how carefully the writers setup the plot and character interplay. I think the miniseries may be my favorite part of the entire 3 seasons.

Why I recommend "We Are Pilots"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 22:05:35 GMT

We Are Pilots

by Shiny Toy Guns

test

A story about "American Hardcore"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Daniel Spils) — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 21:47:08 GMT

American Hardcore

by Paul Rachman

The first 30-40 minutes of this documentary was great. Then it petered out. Josh was correct—the filmaker should have treated like a hardcore song: all killer, no filler. If they would have stopped after 35 minutes it would have been perfect.