It's going to get pretty busy around here with Fantastic Fest starting tomorrow. I may very well be posting multiple Screen Time mini-episodes throughout the next week, depending on how often and quickly I get interviews done with various people.
Stay tuned.
I posted a couple of backdated Daily Grabs. They resume tomorrow, with more backlogged ones as well as actual daily updates of it. Grabs to anticipate: Tenenbaums, more TNG, Disney animation, musicals, and much more.
A new installment of Discovering Ozu is on its way in the morning, with a couple more before the end of the week.
Regularized Manufacture-On-Demand (MOD) DVD coverage is coming this week, too. Physical media is only dead if you tell yourself that it is.
I haven't traveled so frequently in a long, long time. Combine that with what I'm assuming is a herniated disc at worst and a massive muscle spasm at worst in my back, and AC has been much less updated than I ever promised you dear, loyal readers.
I haven't traveled for work regularly in ages. Last week's trip to L.A. absolutely destroyed my productivity here. I've got six or seven days worth of Daily Grab(s) posting tomorrow, to make up for my now comical-looking promise of one a day.
The launch of Screen Time has gone well too. That's soaked up loads of time, too.
I've spent much of the day on "work work" in addition to working on a Comic-Con wrapup for Ain't It Cool News.
Late in the afternoon, I started digging into a freshly-arrived copy of next Tuesday's Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 Blu-ray. It's impressive to say the least. If you are into TNG and own a Blu-ray player, I can confidently say that this will bring you a great deal of joy.
Regarding the other thing that has flooded the news today: I decided to carry on to the best of my ability as if it had it not happened in the first place.
For years, all of my Blu-ray posts have been designed to help make a comparative decision as to whether the double-dip (or sometimes first release) of a title is worth your money.
While guesting on an episode of The CriterionCast, I coined the term "Blu-grade" (I think) to describe the process of a title arriving on (or making a repeat appearance) on the HD format of kings. Some are true upgrades, while some are terribly lackluster, and yet others are so light on any compelling incentive to re-purchase that I want to shout it from the rooftops as soon as possible.
All posts in this category will include comparative data in addition to my verdict on whether it's worth it or not so that you can make your decision based on a composite measurement as you see fit.
All these posts (past, present, and future) are now tagged Blu-grade and linked in the sidebar site-wide.
Your Top Shelf is where your best and favorite things sit. Top Shelf Discs is a new recurring category on Arthouse Cowboy that is designed to give special recognition to the best of the best in the realm of physical media.
Even if it isn't packed with extras, or the surviving film elements do not allow a crystal-clear and flawless restoration, these are the best Blu-rays and DVDs (yes, DVDs) out there. They are the ones I find to be most worth your time and money in an age when both of those resources are in decline for many of us.
I'll be digging back into my archives and adding titles I've reviewed extensively in the past to this listing too. Watch for that.
You can also find all Top Shelf Discs posts in the sidebar as well.
Archived posts in all categories need a generous amount of reformatting work that will progress as I am able.
(While I was at it, I also threw in a link for Criterion Collected, my ongoing series of articles about Criterion.)
In related news, my review of the Singin' in the Rain Blu-ray is imminent.
Last thing first: in about 15 seconds, I added a search box to every page of the site. This is thanks to the magic of my hosting and CMS solution. This has been a dream so far. If only I could batch edit posts...
For the longest time, Arthouse Cowboy didn't have commenting enabled because the Movable Type backend of Hollywood Elsewhere was too delicate a thing for me to monkey with very much for fear of incurring the wrath of El Jefe Jeff. I liked not having to comb through the loads of comment spam that Jeff would deal with every day on the site's front page. I liked just posting my stuff. Then I added comments to every post, and I felt like some posts (like this one) felt lonely with no comments.
I decided that I want to selectively enable/disable comments on a post-by-post basis relative to the content. In particular, when I post links to other sites, appending a little commentary of my own, I may disable in the interest of driving you to that other site to comment on the conversation.
That reminds me of how much I hate that most of the movie/TV/entertainment writing out there is just crass aggregation at this point.
I coined "The Blogger Centipede" as the name for a SXSW panel that I was supposed to moderate a couple of years ago. The whole reason I wanted to do the thing was to dig into how the entertainment blogging game has turned into a first-to-post, fastest-to-repost, ULTRA-MEGA-EXCLUSIVE race that drives me and many others nuts.
Many "major" sites across the net are virtually undistinguishable and lack an individual voice that was once their pride and selling point. They may have enormous traffic numbers, but those stats can be a very fleeting thing. Say what you will about Harry at Ain't It Cool, but his site and his posts still carry his unmistakable mark.
To this day, I get ragged on by colleagues for ever having written at Hollywood Elsewhere, their hatred of Jeff Wells is so great. Whatever differences of opinion or personality incompatibilities people (myself included at times) may have with him, he never pretends to be anyone but Jeff Wells.
I wish we valued individuality the way that we once did. I wish it weren't considered acceptable practice to paraphrase someone else's story, citing unnamed "sources" (when actually swiping the story), and then include a nearly-invisible attribution link at the bottom.
That last thing happened in a pretty high-profile way the other day when Instapaper creator Marco Arment caught and reported a massive iOS App Store corruption bug and reported it on his site, Marco.org. Countless major tech news sites ripped him off, and dear dark lord Cthulu...he called every single one of them on it on Twitter (example). He discusses the whole App Store corruption thing on this week's episode of Build and Analyze, a show I listen to every week.
There was a time when I tried to shoehorn my content into the various shapes that were popular or successful on every other site on the net. It was always too much work for content about which I cared so little that I hated doing this thing that I'm supposed to like.
Thanks to the couple hundred of you that have been reading since yesterday. Tell your friends if you think they'll dig what I'm doing.
So, I've been MIA for a few days.
I've never been more uneasy and terrified in my entire life. In taking a quick inventory of times when I've felt doomed and helpless, including when my father had a stroke 18 months ago, I realize that I've also never felt this bleak.
They found a growth that measures 3-4" in diameter inside my younger brother's chest, in addition to some other complications. He goes in for examination and (it's expected) a biopsy later this week. He's 24, autistic, and lives with my parents. He's overweight thanks to a lifetime of medications that do all sorts of bizarre things to your glands and hormones. He's one of the most genuinely nice and funny people you'll ever meet. I lost a very dear friend to brain cancer in early 2009. I'd like to think that the only benefit from that is I have acquired some sort of superhuman emotional stamina, but I know that isn't the case.
I already put this info out on Twitter, and even though I'm not begging for it or anything, the sympathy has helped. For those who wonder aloud to me "how can you associate yourself with Jeffrey Wells?", you probably wouldn't believe that he's actually provided some of the best comfort out of any of my friends who know.
I've spent most of the last week figuring out how to financially miss as many days of work as I will soon, regardless of diagnosis. For those who don't already know, I don't make my living by writing for Hollywood Elsewhere.
That said, I don't plan on altogether dropping off the map, but posting will be erratic at best. The Ozu series will get caught up, I'm going to be on The CriterionCast as a guest this week, and I'm not going anywhere. I'm just asking for a little understanding. Thanks in advance.
Unforeseen personal matters have come up over the last few days that have unfortunately brought the column (and life in general) to a screeching halt. I can assure you that I should return Monday or Tuesday with a flood of things, including Ozu pieces (that are mostly-done, but need some polishing). Thanks for your patience.
