3 at night.

I liked Changeling. It’s good, not great, in the way that most Eastman pictures are. The story is solid and the writing is good. Angelina Jolie is good in her role, which is a relief since her character carries the weight of the movie, driving it all along. I don’t understand the haters.


I’ve never been a big fan of "action hero" movies, but I’ve seen enough of them to recognize JCVD as the wonderful act of deconstruction that it is. Jean-Claude Van Damme is a good sport and maybe even a good actor. His performance here is at least as good as Mickey Rourke’s in the Wrestler and means at least as much for his career. Screw Rourke. 2008 was Van Damme’s comeback year.


For my 30th birthday, I bought myself a copy of John Huston’s now 30-year-old adaptation of Flannery O’Connor’s masterpiece, Wise Blood. The story has always meant a lot to me and this Huston adaptation has stuck in my mind since I first saw it, nearly 15 years ago. I’ve been thinking of William Troeller a lot lately. He always treated me as a Hazel Motes, spotting the mark of Jesus on me while I vehemently denied it. The film’s tone is an odd echo of its source material, highlighting the strangeness and farce of it all while grounding things firmly in a Christ-Haunted South of shucksters and suckers. Read Francine Prose's essay.