How engaging, likable, and well-informed are Jett Loe and Gareth Higgins of the online chat show (or, as they call it nowadays, podcast) The Film Talk? Engaging, likable and well-informed enough that they were able to wrangle both myself and The New York Press’s Armond White onto the same episode. Separately, I have to add, although I daresay that the fellows are charming enough that they might have been able to persuade us to appear ensemble. You can listen to the episode, in which we talk bests of the year and, of course, Avatar, here. Also, the fellows are having a fundraiser, as you’ll see when you visit the page, so you might wanna throw a couple of bucks their way to keep a good thing going.
Speaking of Armond White, I see that we’re paired again elsewhere, sort of; he and I, for better or worse, figure prominently in my former colleague Stephen Saito’s year-end roundup of, um, 2009’s Most Memorable Critical Dustups. I won’t say much except I think I should be flattered, and I’m fond of the picture Stephen chose to run of me, and that the larger verdict will be rendered by history, or something. Enjoy.
I discovered TFT a few months back, and have been listening to it relgiously ever since. Fantatic show, and a great episode. Your portion was great (you have the unique tendency of sounding interested in the few places I’ve heard you interviewed), and the guys got great stuff out of Armond White. He let Gareth like Precious! I couldn’t believe it!
Seriously though, he came off rather well. I wish they would get him to expound on Transformers 2 and the Godardian aspect of G.I. Joe, though.
Considering I was coming from a place of wanting to pay tribute to one of my favorite daily reads, I’d take it as a compliment (and my hope is that some readers will read the Swanberg entry and click on the link to your invaluable Farber series as well), though I’d understand if you felt otherwise. My one major regret for the article was not being able to crop the picture to include the full Q‑tip. Hope you’re enjoying a happy holiday season, Glenn.
“Star Trek – An eminently forgettable film… the action sequences are so poorly done, they’re so cinematically illiterate…it’s one of those things that sort of defines a certain aspect of technologically sophisticated and expensive mediocrity, that kind of does its thing while you’re there and then sort of fades from the consciousness, there’s nothing to attach to it for yourself.”
Spot on Glenn. Still not understanding why the critics went gaga for Trek, especially in the light of the ‘shock and awe’ of Avatar. I guess JJ is the hot new guy in town, albeit on the back of two muddled and mediocre 60s TV remakes.
The success of JJ Abrams critically is something I find simultaneously bewildering and terrifying. I think Star Trek got a freer pass than it would have because everyone was paralyzed with fear of being labeled a “fanboy” if they pointed out its flaws.
I was not an Abrams fan and enjoyed the hell out of Star Trek. Nothing sacred about it all, and it is in a number of different ways illiterate…but it had a pluck and spirit to it that I loved. And it had beautifully conceived effects.