May 2013
7 posts
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The Great Gatsby (2013)
AMONG THE WHISPERINGS AND THE CHAMPAGNE AND THE STARS.
by Chad Perman
I can’t handle how quickly modern culture moves. Mostly, I’m simply ill-equipped—needing time to think and reflect and sort out one’s thoughts feels dangerously close to being a handicap in the digital age. But at the same time, I’m in no way immune to the seductive pull of an ever-happening right now,...
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Parenthood (1989)
LIFE IS WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU WHILE YOU’RE BUSY MAKING OTHER PLANS.
by Brianna Ashby
I sat on the toilet for at least ten minutes, crossing and uncrossing my eyes, trying to make sure that the faint pink line that had appeared in the window wasn’t a figment of my imagination, or an optical illusion, or some strange shard of refracted pinkness that was magically hovering just over that particular...
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Ryan Gosling won't eat his cereal →
Welcome to your new favorite meme (as well as justification for the existence of Vine, finally).
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““…Art is simply inevitable. It was on the wall of a cave in France 30,000 years...”
– Steven Soderbergh
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Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
by Andrew Root
“At least it’ll give us something to complain about.”
I have a coffee mug without a handle. Granted, it’s difficult to drink anything hot out of it without constantly shifting the cup from hand to hand, or sipping quickly then setting it back down. It’s a warm shade of brown with an intricate mosaic pattern on it, and the interior is a deep aqua. What a thing of beauty! What a...
April 2013
12 posts
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Out of Sight (1998)
YOU’RE A BANK ROBBER. THAT’S NOT A VERY MARKETABLE SKILL.
by Taylor Long
For years, I considered my love for Out of Sight to be a “guilty pleasure,” but I’m not sure why. I don’t remember the first time I saw it – probably on a late night run on HBO, Encore, or Starz – but I know I loved it immediately, the characters and the dialogue popping off the screen, teeming with excitement;...
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Spring Breakers (2012)
THE AMERICAN DREAM Y’ALL.
by Christopher Fraser
It’s easy to think of the movie-going experience as passive – you sit down, the lights dim, and for the next hundred minutes or so someone has a direct synaptic connection to you. Whatever happens, you’re the passive receiver, and all you need to do is decide whether you like the content being piped into your brain.
A lot of films operate...
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Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)
YOU MIGHT BE A KING OR A LITTLE STREET SWEEPER, BUT SOONER OR LATER YOU DANCE WITH THE REAPER
by Michelle Said
I assume that you are familiar with Bill S. Preston, Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan, they of metalheaded duncehood and the time-travelling phone booth. And I will assume that you may be in your 20s or 30s and you may have seen this movie and its predecessor as a child. I will assume it...
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CQ (2001)
by Keith Krepcho
“I thought my ideas were so clear. I wanted to make an honest film. No lies whatsoever. I thought I had something so simple to say. Something useful to everybody. A film that could help bury forever all those dead things we carry within ourselves. Instead, I’m the one without the courage to bury anything at all. When did I go wrong? I really have nothing to say, but I...
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Moneyball (2011)
THE HONESTY MAN.
by Isaac Skibinski
At first, it’s easy for me to think I know what’s going on in a movie. I think I’ve picked it apart. I think it’s predictable. Thankfully, this analytic over-exuberance is an exhausting habit and, eventually, a scene doesn’t quite fit. At which point, I really start to watch, and I stop keeping watch. I can’t say whether...
Do YOU Want to Write for BW/DR?
Every year, right around this time, we put out an open call for new contributors to the site, and every single year, we get swamped with tons of high-quality essays and pitches—which is humbling, amazing, and entirely wonderful on our end and serves to remind us how many of our devoted readers are also incredibly talented writers just waiting for a chance. In fact, several of our...
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The Office (US; 2004-2013)
I BRAVEHEART: Why The Office is a scary place.
by Erika Schmidt “Fear is sort of an odd thing.” —Jack Shepard, Lost, ”Pilot” Settling for less: fear makes us masters at it. I had a first draft of this essay. It was fine. It talked in circles, about Kurt Vonnegut, my personal experience working in an office, Tim and Dawn, Pam and Jim, and back to Kurt Vonnegut. But in the end it...
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Reflections on the Passing of Roger Ebert
Upon hearing the awful, sad news of Roger Ebert’s death yesterday, I sent out a note to all our Bright Wall/Dark Room staff writers, asking them to send along any thoughts or reflections on Mr. Ebert and what he meant to them, which I’ve collected throughout this post. Obviously, being the age most of us are, and doing what it is we do here at BWDR, he was a big influence on a whole...
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The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
I JUST CUT THE HAIR.
by Letitia Trent
His name is Ed, though it doesn’t much matter and you’ll forget it as the film goes on, thinking that maybe it’s Ned or even Fred, but then remembering that, oh yes, it’s Ed; that essential element of a whole, almost-memorable name without the hard consonant up front to seal it in.
Ed is a barber, the kind of man who is so steady that you don’t mind...
March 2013
21 posts
the internet is our new best friend.
You guys, it actually worked.
A whole lot of you donated, far more than we had even hoped for (some in way-too-generous amounts!) and from all around the world (Hello, Ukraine!). We were able to raise enough money in under a week, entirely and only from you, to get this magazine project officially funded, up off the ground, and out into the world.
It thrills me beyond belief to be able to come...
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BILL MURRAY WEEK: Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
I LOVE YOU, BUT YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT.
by Brianna Ashby
After seeing Moonrise Kingdom, my brother-in-law wrote to say that Suzy Bishop reminded him of the way he imagined me as a young lady. I was flattered that anyone would ever conceive of me as a possible part of Wes Anderson’s world—and thrilled by the idea that, as an adult, I’ve come to embody the sort of child that...
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BILL MURRAY WEEK: Kingpin (1996)
IT’S A SMALL WORLD WHEN YOU’VE GOT UNBELIEVABLE TITS.
by Bebe Ballroom
I distinctly remember being eleven, en-route to the kitchen to retrieve multiple ice pops, at the exact moment in which the landlady from Kingpin was haunting a rear view mirror on my mother’s boyfriend’s big, boxy television set. I froze as the landlady made obscene gestures between her fingers, wild-eyed, tongue flapping...
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BILL MURRAY WEEK: Ed Wood (1994)
I WAS A LITTLE BIT WILD WHEN I WAS YOUNG, DARLING, BUT I LIVED MY LIFE GRANDLY.
by Sara Gray
Edward D. Wood, Jr. earned eternal infamy among grade Z film fans with Plan 9 From Outer Space, considered by many to be the worst film ever made. Though Plan 9’s spectacular ineptitude has launched a thousand drinking parties, Wood’s true legacy lies in his networking prowess. He brought together the...
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BILL MURRAY WEEK: Lost in Translation (2003)
by Erica C.
I’ve been thinking lately that travel and love are two of the most connecting forces we can know.
Both can create a sense of boundless intimacy—can weave together a two-person community and a set of experiences that the outside world will never really understand.
And both can be profoundly lonely.
Once, I traveled three days by train over the Chinese mainland, through the...
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A Letter to Our Readers
Hello, everybody. This is Chad, the guy behind this site. I am coming to all of you today, directly, because A Bright Wall in a Dark Room has arrived at a (very promising) crossroads—but if it’s to go any further, we need your help.
It has been vitally important to me over the years to keep BWDR a clean, ad-free and independent reading experience, and as a result not a single penny of revenue has...
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Carrots, Jaguar Sharks & Beige Lunatics: The...
by Neil Fox
The mythology of the clown: beneath the perma-smile lies darkness, melancholy. A lifetime expended at the demands to provide others joy leaves a deep stain, a coldness, a loneliness inside that the make-up hides. This mythology has passed from the clown to the comic—despite examples of well-rounded, stable guys and gals making us laugh on stage and screen, we have come to expect...
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BILL MURRAY WEEK: What About Bob? (1991)
IF I FAKE IT THEN I DON’T HAVE IT.
by Elisabeth Geier
Bill Murray can be kind of an asshole. He crashes kickball games. He steals food off strangers’ plates. He’s notoriously difficult on-set. If handsome young movie star Bradley Cooper was stopped by Swedish police for drunk-driving a golf cart, we might question his stability, but when Murray does it, we praise his...
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BILL MURRAY WEEK: Scrooged (1988)
IN PRAISE OF FRANK CROSS.
by Christopher Cantwell
I have a bone to pick with Scrooged. The movie pretty much came and went in 1988, but because of its seasonal connection reappears every year on cable. This is not a bad thing. The film is exceptionally fun. That is, until Bill Murray becomes a nice guy.
Scrooged troubles me. The film is scary, and dark. But that’s not what troubles me. It...
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BILL MURRAY WEEK: The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
“If you think you’re enlightened go spend a week with your family.” - Ram Dass
LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES
by Karina Wolf
When Royal Tenenbaum is found out by his family – when they discover (not a spoiler) that in order to live with them, he’s only pretending to have stomach cancer (while eating cheeseburgers and scoffing Tic Tacs from medicine bottles) – he accepts his eviction...
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BILL MURRAY WEEK: Caddyshack (1980)
by Liz Shannon Miller
Growing up female and a lover of movies, I’ve always been aware of the gender divide that exists in film culture; whether it’s biology or society, there are movies I adore that are not tolerated by my male counterparts, and vice versa. Sure, we all agree on the classics being classics. But when it comes to more guilty pleasures, there is some element of “women like this;...
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BILL MURRAY WEEK: Groundhog Day (1993)
MY YEARS ARE NOT ADVANCING AS FAST AS YOU MIGHT THINK.
by Edward Montgomery
…So many things have happened. You’ve finally become the man that I had hoped for But alas, I am no longer among the living. I suppose such is the way of the world. — Ugetsu, Kenji Mizoguchi
I had long believed that the brilliance of Groundhog Day was couched in its conniving ability to make me envious. And, until...
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BILL MURRAY WEEK: Rushmore (1998)
I WROTE A HIT PLAY AND DIRECTED IT, SO I’M NOT SWEATING IT EITHER.
by Erica C.
Max Fischer may be Wes Anderson’s sweetest character.
The son of a barber (though he tells his prestigious private schoolmates he is a neurosurgeon) and a dead mother, enthusiastic Jack-of-All-Extracurricular-Trades. Likely future cult leader, entrepreneur or coup d’état organizer.
Max at fifteen is...
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BILL MURRAY WEEK: Quick Change (1990)
HE WAS ON A BLUFTONI: Brief Thoughts on Bill Murray’s Only Directing Credit
by Christopher Cantwell
The bicycle jousting scene: a seeming non sequitur. The bank robbers we’re following are lost. They decide to ask for directions.
They happen upon an entirely different movie taking place. Two shirtless Latino men joust on bicycles, using common gardening tools as lances. It’s not played for...
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The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
THAT’S CLEARLY A WOLF.
by Christopher Fraser
I came out of the cinema grinning, just like everyone else. Then, over the course of the next six months, my view of the film changed radically, and I only noticed once it was too late.
The Cabin in the Woods is a hard movie to write about for a couple of reasons. The first of these should be painfully obvious to anyone who read the initial...
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Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying...
WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT DOOMSDAY
by Michelle Said
It had been a long, tough day for Dimitri. Cold as usual. A blistering sort of cold that made you feel like your blood would freeze over just thinking about it. He was tired. So very tired. As premier of the Soviet Union, he was always tired, but this night in particular he was recovering from an all-night session with his...
February 2013
10 posts
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
A SLAP ON THE BACK AND HEAVY MIST BEFORE THE EYES
by Karina Wolf
The Philadelphia Story begins with a kind of homage to silent film: Morning, Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) follows her husband C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) to the doorstep of their impressive mansion. She wears a nightie, he packs up the car. Wordlessly, she offers his golf bag – pulls out a club, breaks it in two over her knee...
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Lincoln (2012)
by Chris Cantoni
It is justifiably difficult to separate Lincoln the movie from Lincoln the man. Regardless of how well-made the film may be, we can’t help but supplement it with our own recollection of America’s greatest martyr. Lincoln is tasked not only with depicting President Lincoln himself, but capturing the turmoil swirling around him during the early months in 1865: all the struggle...
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Amour (2012)
I WILL FOLLOW YOU INTO THE DARK
by Michelle Said
This is what we want: to fall in love, to find the person that will make the day-to-day bearable, even enjoyable, to have security in finding a home within another.
We want to grow old with that person.
We will attend operas and eat dinners, we will sit on the bus, happy just to be together, no urgent conversations, no desperate discussions. All...
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Argo (2012)
by Liz Shannon Miller
Historical drama is always a hard thing when you’re unfamiliar with the truth of the backstory. After all, the Venn diagram between great storytelling and real life is never a full circle, and thus the details often require some finesse.
That said, as someone who was born after the events of Argo occurred, the thing I couldn’t get over while watching the movie was whether...
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Valentine's Day Movies
by Chad Perman
(originally posted on Valentine’s Day 2012)
If you decide to watch a movie on Valentine’s Day - and we here at BWDR obviously strongly recommend that you do - choosing one can be a bit of a minefield. The straight-forward Hollywood rom-coms of the past twenty years (at least) are usually god awful, the predictable and sappy ones often make you want to burn out your...
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
I SEE THAT I’M A LITTLE PIECE OF A BIG, BIG UNIVERSE.
by Andrew Root
For someone raised in a traditional Christian household, in which God made the Earth out of clay and breath for man to have dominion over, it can be difficult to conceive of a system in which the Earth exists simply as it is; in which we’re here because people have been breeding for thousands of years, and because the...
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HBO's Girls: What's All the Rumpus About?
NOW IMAGINE SHE’S HOT.
by Erika Schmidt
I think Girls is true to life, and I think it gets a bad rap.
Before I go further, let me provide a bit of context, in the interest of making myself a slightly more reliable source and in the spirit of oversharing. I turned 30 this year. I have a bachelor’s degree from a highly regarded university, where I studied theatre and fiction writing. I am...
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Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
NIGHT VISION
by Sarah Malone
Zero Dark Thirty, the title, has the cadence and slightly unwieldy precision of military lingo: code, but only cryptic until you’re in the know. It’s meant to be readily recalled and quickly repeated and understood. The tweak from the military “oh” to “zero,” with its sharper sound and richer associations—Ground Zero, Zero Hour, Zero Day, countdown to liftoff or...
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Les Misérables (2012)
THERE IS NO COMFORTABLE DISTANCE.
by Sara Gray
While I was reading articles and Wikipedia entries for this essay, I came across New Yorker critic David Denby’s scathing review, “There’s Still Hope for People Who Love Les Misérables.” He’s not my usual source of movie crit, so I have no clue if this resentful, mean-spirited review is his typical style or not. All I know is that the essay...
