Jake Cole

LATEST ARTICLES ( 682 )

• 50 Book Pledge #7: George R.R. Martin — A Game of Thrones

  

  I'd never heard of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series before the HBO show was announced, news that didn't make me rush out to read it any faster. Read more

  Posted on 11 March 2012 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Steven Spielberg: The Terminal

  

  Spielberg's first film to truly address the changing American landscape after September 11, The Terminal is at once a key point in his development and one of hi... Read more

  Posted on 08 March 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES, MUSIC, TV & VIDEO

• Last Days Here (Don Argott & Demian Fenton, 2012)

  The same pitch that drew me to Last Days Here, that it was a rawer version of 2009's excellent documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil, is ultimately what made it... Read more

  Posted on 07 March 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES, MUSIC, TV & VIDEO

• Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (Neveldine/Taylor, 2012)

  

  After the gross incompetence of Marvel's first cinematic crack at one of its intriguing lesser-tier characters, I can't imagine anyone was altogether excited fo... Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES, MUSIC, TV & VIDEO

• This Is Not a Film (Jafar Panahi & Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, 2012)

  

  I've been wanting to see this film since I heard it was smuggled out of Iran in a cake, and boy did it not disappoint. This is a vital film, probably the most... Read more

  Posted on 05 March 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES, MUSIC

• 50 Book Pledge #6: Philip Pullman — The Golden Compass

  

  Having seen and quickly forgotten the decent 2007 adaptation of this book, I never got around to its source material, which is a shame because I would have... Read more

  Posted on 29 February 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES, MUSIC, TV & VIDEO

• Brian De Palma: Redacted

  

  The mainstream view of Brian De Palma's 2000s output is anything but flattering, with all four of his films made in the new millennium bowing to intense critica... Read more

  Posted on 28 February 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Brian De Palma: The Black Dahlia

  

  Building off the moral investigation of film noir that characterized his Femme Fatale, Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia is a grim, stylish examination of the... Read more

  Posted on 25 February 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES, MUSIC, TV & VIDEO

• Robert K. Massie — Catherine the Great

  This could have been a great text. Instead, it feels more like a very good introduction to Catherine II for middle schoolers, maybe high-school freshmen or... Read more

  Posted on 24 February 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES, MUSIC, TV & VIDEO

• Undefeated (Daniel Lindsay & T.J. Martin, 2012)

  Undefeated doesn't reinvent the sports documentary, but it does add depth to the genre with an unyielding focus on the people over the game. I've never seen a... Read more

  Posted on 24 February 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES, MUSIC, TV & VIDEO

• Steven Spielberg: Catch Me If You Can

  

  The brilliant opening credits of Catch Me if You Can encapsulate the spirit and tenor of the film to follow with magnificent conciseness. Read more

  Posted on 20 February 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Michael (Markus Schleinzer, 2012)

  The latest filmmaker to springboard off of working for Michael Haneke into a solo career, Markus Schleinzer tries to copy his boss' skill and fails miserably. Read more

  Posted on 15 February 2012 MOVIES

• Steven Spielberg: Minority Report

  

  Filmed from March to July 2001, Minority Report was not influenced by the September 11 attacks later that year, yet retrospectively it seems the first of... Read more

  Posted on 14 February 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Haywire (Steven Soderbergh, 2012)

  

  Haywire displays nearly all the traits of a modern Steven Soderbergh movie. It sports an A-list cast seemingly game for anything. Read more

  Posted on 11 February 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES, MUSIC, TV & VIDEO

• 50 Book Pledge #5: Albert Camus — The Stranger

  

  A short novel, but the way Camus writes, it'd breeze by at six times the length. His spare style nevertheless burrows deep into his cryptic protagonist, to the... Read more

  Posted on 07 February 2012 BOOKS, CULTURE

• 50 Book Pledge #4: Robert K. Massie — Catherine the Great

  

  I can't really talk about this at present, as I'm meant to review this intriguing but occasionally narrow-minded biography for Spectrum Culture. Read more

  Posted on 07 February 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Brian De Palma: Femme Fatale

  

  After the reception of Mission to Mars took some of the wind out of De Palma's sails, Femme Fatale represented a more modestly scaled return to the director's... Read more

  Posted on 02 February 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Albert Nobbs (Rodrigo Garcia, 2011)

  Well, Albert Nobbs could have been worse, I guess. It could have been offensively opinionated about gender identity and made a play for a typical Hollywood... Read more

  Posted on 02 February 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES, MUSIC, TV & VIDEO

• Tokyo Drifter (Seijun Suzuki, 1966)

  Suzuki's Tokyo Drifter is one of the finest artistic middle fingers ever made, an absurdist take on the yakuza film that makes deliberate, stylish nonsense of... Read more

  Posted on 31 January 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES, MUSIC, TV & VIDEO

• Shanghai Express (Josef Von Sternberg, 1932)

  

  [This is my first post for my Blind Spots 2012 choices]Previously familiar with the legendary pair of Josef von Sternberg and muse Marlene Dietrich only from Th... Read more

  Posted on 31 January 2012 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES