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A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence is the title of a Swedish film that won the top award at Venice Film Festival. Many critics think it is one of the best movies of the year. It is also a movie that relatively few people will see. The main reason most people won't see it is because it is an extremely odd film. It could be called boring and fascinating in the same breath. The film is made up a series of master shots depicting events that have very little narrative clarity. Some characters show up periodically but with little sense that their actions have any potency or potential purpose. The title suggests an underlying philosophy of existential confusion.

I don't think there has ever really been a great film about a great writer. We naturally compare their lives to works of great fiction. Great fiction tends to distill the tedium and awkwardness out of real life. Real life can be exhausting in the day-to-day disappointments that can sometimes be wrapped in small victories. David Foster Wallace was a great writer. This is almost universally acknowledged. David Foster Wallace no longer is because he hung himself in 2008 at age 46.

Dustin P. Anderson

Our story follows Davide, a scientist who is trying to exorcise aliens out of the bodies of people who have been abducted. One day Davide is visited by a strange girl who says that she is possessed by an alien. Davide and his team look into it and are startled when they find out that this girl is royalty, and possessed by a leader among the aliens. I would love to give you more explanation, but after sitting through this movie twice, I still cannot make heads or tails of what is going on. I have never been so confused while watching a movie. The small bits and pieces I could understand were that there is a guy who is trying to use the human soul to force out aliens who have taken control of a host body.

It is widely believed that the early 70’s was a great renaissance for American film. Part of the reason for this is that society was in upheaval, and the studios had lost their way trying to understand the American public. Young filmmakers were allowed to come in and do what ever they wanted. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't, but there was real freedom in the anarchy of the times. Then movies like Jaws and Star Wars changed the industry again, and the money managers were back in control. Today, the studios run things based on formulas and templates. There are still interesting independent films being made, but they are strictly treated as fringe dwellers.

Dustin P. Anderson

Our story follows Kitch, one of only a few survivors from a deadly outbreak that has devastated much of the world. Kitch makes his living by taking down drones and stripping them for parts. The most valued part is Arcanum pellets, which have taken over as currency in this bleak future. One day, after trying to sell some Arcanum pellets to reclaim a camera that was stolen from him, he meets a drone marked with DR1 . Kitch thinks that this drone will lead him to his father, who was last seen trying to find a cure for the plague that ravaged the world. On his travels to find his father, he is joined by the niece of a gangster who is hunting them. The two search for Kitch’s dad together while trying to avoid her uncle and protecting DR1.

“Sometimes it’s better not to touch your dreams, take it from someone who knows.”

In the first season of Showtime’s Californication, we were introduced to David Duchovny’s character, bitter yet upbeat writer Hank Moody. Hank, after moving to Los Angeles on the heels of his first novel – a critical darling entitled “God Hates Us All” – has recently lost his long-time love and, by extension, his daughter, to a straight-arrow bore who makes his girlfriend Karen (Natascha McElhone) feel safe.

The Black Knight satellite is one of many tantalizing so-called true tales that are circulating on YouTube and various cable outlets like the History Channel. I say so-called true tales because many believe stories about aliens are total nonsense. But not everyone believes so. A National Geographic survey says 77 percent of all Americans believe there are signs that aliens have visited Earth. A Harris poll says 68 percent of all Americans believe that Jesus is the son of God. A HuffPost/YouGov poll shows that 45 percent believe in ghosts and 64 percent believe in life after death. A 2009 CBS poll said 78 percent believe in the afterlife. I could go on, but it is all in the same general range.

Dustin P. Anderson

As far as a synopsis for this movie goes, there isn’t too much to it. We are given a brief look inside the mind of a real-life serial killer. A psychopath has been given a conditional release from jail and is only interested in satiating his lust for killing. After some failed murder attempts, the killer finds an empty house and waits for the occupants to come home.  This movie has a lot to say, while being easy to summarize. The story is basic, but there is so much more to it than just the events that take place. It does a great job at making the killer seem more human when we see how clumsy he is at killing people. During the killer’s beginning inner monologue, he states, “this time he won’t get caught,” which, I thought meant he had some grand scheme in place to kill a bunch of people and never see the inside of a jail cell again.

"Looks like the crazy is starting."

Actually, it started three seasons ago. The creator of Dawson’s Creek and The Vampire Diaries, Kevin Williams, delivers a thriller that is a bold new entry in the crime drama for television. The Following was 15 episodes of nail-biting bliss that kept the viewer guessing and riveted long after its gut-wrenching cliffhanger season after season. For a while I was beginning to wonder if Williamson had lost his touch with the Scream series, but what you’ll discover here is that Williamson may just be the king of creating and penning one of the darkest serial killers on the small screen. 

That's Rock the Kasbah with a K. It was probably decided to do that spelling so as not to be confused with the hit song “Rock the Casbah” by the Clash when googling. The movie is about a down-on-his luck music manager who goes to Afghanistan on a U.S.O. Tour. There is a great scene early on when the aforementioned manager visits his daughter by sitting outside her window as she lectures him that there are no casbahs in Afghanistan. It's a perfect metaphor for a character who has obviously screwed up his life so much that he can't even go into his ex-wife's house. The music manager, Richie Lanz, is played by Bill Murray and may be his best comedy performance in years.