MetaFilter posts tagged with Reviews

Metastasis

Artw — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:26:45 -0800

SffMeta - Metacritic for Science Fiction.

The Movie Genome Project

reenum — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:29:34 -0800

Jinni is a movie and TV recommendation service that has apparently developed an algorithm similar to Pandora's Music Genome Project. Their algorithm is cleverly titled The Movie Genome Project.

Where the Scent of Yesterday's Vogue Lives

netbros — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:17:31 -0800

Take your nose on a stroll down memory lane with vintage perfumery. The Vintage Perfume Vault features fragrance reviews and articles on perfume history. Perfume Shrine offers articles on perfumery including essays on the science of fragrance and aroma materials, interviews with perfumers and industry professionals, trend-watching. Inspiration in Perfumery profiles Henri Robert, Andre Fraysse, Ernest Beaux and Edmond Roudnitska. More about olfactory delights from 1000 Fragrances. Looking for that special fragrance to make the evening just right? How about: Dregs | Dirt | Earthworm | Funeral Home | Laundromat | Necco | Pinkitude | Redhead in Bed | Sex on the Beach | Stable | or the ever ubiquitous Play-Doh.

This movie is rife with the stench of back bacon!

Horace Rumpole — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:11:32 -0800

From Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe to Zombie Nightmare, Canuxploitation is your guide to the world of Canadian B-movies. Via the always indispensable (and occasionally NSFW) Mondo Digital.

The Millions: The Best Book Blog, Bar None

ocherdraco — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:39:52 -0800

The Millions, online since 2003, is a book blog of exceptional breadth and depth, and "an independent literature and culture publication that pays its writers." Until recently, that breadth and depth was hard to fathom, as the site had outgrown its infrastructure. Now, however, its excellent features are easy to find, as are series like The Future of the Book, Ask a Book Question, and The Millions Interview. Superb reviews can be found as they happen or in the Book Review Index, and, a vestige of when The Millions was a one man operation, you can find out what C. Max Magee, founder of The Millions, is reading on the Book Lists page. Some excellent recent essays: Julia Child and the Ethical Appeal by Garth Risk Hallberg

It's not often we think of recipes as a form of literature, but they are as formally exacting as the Spenserian stanza. And, as anyone who's ever ruined $40 worth of lamb knows, the stakes are higher. So Julia Child turns out not only to have been a kind of unfussy feminist; she was also a terrific writer.

Summer of My Discontent by Lydia Kiesling

Sometimes I read a novel that drags, and then another that drags, and then another, and before long I have spurned books in favor of internet television, Calvin and Hobbes, and puerile blogs.

Nabokov, Wallace, and the Incredible Shrinking Book by Belazel Stern

Why is it that books are being published in the contemporary market that don’t have the length or stamina of books? I am thinking, in particular, of David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech to the Kenyon College 2005 graduating class, published posthumously as This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life. I had read the commencement speech long before it was officially published. In fact, shortly after Wallace delivered it a friend sent it to me over e-mail. It took me about fifteen minutes to read. And I read slowly.

It's not acceptable in the 00s

ashaw — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:46:37 -0800

Twitter documents the breakdown of Calvin Harris , British electropop musician due to critical reviews. (RT @everyone #calvinharrisisarichpersonskid)

Darkfall NERDRAGE

The Devil Tesla — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:52:14 -0800

The gaming website Eurogamer posted a scathing review of the MMO Darkfall, yet the developers claim that the reviewer only played the game for two hours. Eurogamer refused to take down the review and became hated by the Darkfall community. This lead to what might be the most sublime nerdrage in the history of mankind. To Eurogamer's credit, they commissioned a second review of the game by Kieron Gillen. Kieron Gillen is one of the writers of Rock Paper Shotgun and inventor of the term new games journalism. As you might expect his Darkfall review is a little navel-gazey and includes a section discussing the difficulty in reviewing MMOs. The original reviewer, Ed Zitron, is somewhat notorious for posting negative reviews, though I totally agree with his Guitar Hero 2 review. Oh, and if you thought the guy who raged about Eurogamer was kind of adorably funny, he has more videos on his YouTube channel.

Three Ways of Looking at a Film

jonp72 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 21:33:45 -0800

Digital Poetics is a film blog with a proposal for an interesting experiment called 10/40/70: write a film review of a DVD with three screen captures taken at arbitrary intervals (10, 40, 70 minutes into the film) and see how it changes the way you look at films. This 10/40/70 approach has led to some interesting interpretations of The Conversation, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Blue Velvet, Godard's Vivre Sa Vie, and 12 Angry Men, as well as a contrarian appreciation of Hudson Hawk. The blog Spectacular Attractions has even upped the ante by using a random number generator to determine where to select screen caps. Results include Jaws Randomised and This Is Spinal Tap Randomised with Two Brains. It's like Dogme 95, but for film bloggers.

Arts Journal

netbros — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 07:03:28 -0800

The Highlights is an online arts journal. It consists of web-based projects and essays by artists. An example from the current issue, Master of None, where the author posits that a new model of work for artists can exist, one where the artist retains agency while also getting paid to do complementary work which is informed by the subtlety, strangeness, and sure-footed temperament of the artist’s persona. Two years of journals in the archives. Articles from the archives include: Reframing Mirrors and Windows, where the author explores Mirrors and Windows, opened at The Museum of Modern Art, New York in July of 1978. It was legendary curator John Szarkowski’s exhibition of American photography in the 1960s and 70s. We begin to understand how the institutional frame of the window evolved and how it might have affected the development of the form of the photograph. It is the hand as well as the eye, the self as well as the other — that distinguishes a mirror artist from a window artist. Fact, Factoid, Factotum. A distinct class of Web sites has emerged within the past 5 years to package and quantify artists, works of art, and even art mediums into statistics. Researchers take typically insider information — who is the most important artist in the world or whether contemporary or Dutch 18th-century painting is the wiser investment — and crunch the data through internal databases to translate their results into public information.

"R, and G, and B", a well-curated (and seemingly undiscovered) film blog

colinmarshall — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 09:58:31 -0800

"R, and G, and B" is a very well-curated — and, seemingly as yet undiscovered — film review blog by the video artist Blake Williams covering pictures by filmmakers like Werner Herzog, Chris Marker, Chantal Akerman, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Carl Dreyer, Michael Haneke, Stanley Kubrick and, best of all, Abbas Kiarostami.

The Second Pass - Book Reviews

sciurus — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:21:23 -0800

The Second Pass is an exclusively online publication devoted to reviews, essays, and blog posts about books new and old. It is updated every weekday. [via]

Breakfast at Sulimay's

vronsky — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:13:36 -0800

Breakfast at Sulimay's with Bill, Moon, Joe and Ann: 1 featuring reviews of The Thermals, Joanna Newsom, The Decemberists, and Clipse. l 2 with The Knife, Deerhoof, and Paul Wall featuring 'lil Keke. l 5 with Asha, TI, Toby Mac. 6 with the Shins , !!!, and Common. l 7 with Bjork , Wilco , and Black Reble Motorcycle club. l 9 with Santogold, Portishead and Death Cab for Cutie! more (v) yt

Everyone is Watching the Watchmen

empath — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 19:41:26 -0800

After 20 years in development, Watchmen has finally had it's premiere. The reviews--both geek and mainstream--have begun to trickle in. Is it a masterpiece or a disaster? Dave Gibbons likes what he's seen. Alan Moore still won't comment (well, about the movie, but he does go on.)

Cave Canem Feature

netbros — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 09:33:13 -0800

The Drunken Boat publishes poetry from around the world, translations of poetry, reviews of poetry collections and anthologies, and interviews with well-known poets. The current issue features Cave Canem poets, home for the many voices of African-American poetry and committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African-American poets.

Gramophone Archives

Gyan — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 08:55:54 -0800

The Gramophone Archive is a (free) searchable database containing every issue of Gramophone from April 1923 to the latest issue.

The Film and Arts Online Magazine

netbros — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 07:43:13 -0800

Scene 360 is an online film and arts magazine, profiling and interviewing artists & web designers, filmmakers and writers.

Ending up in a kind of soundlessly spinning ethereal void as we all must.

The Card Cheat — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:35:59 -0800

The day will come when the words of Shakespeare are no longer known. Roger Ebert looks back on a long career and waxes philosophical.

When No One Understands You, Chocolate Is There

netbros — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 21:28:44 -0800

According to legend, Einstein was eating chocolate when he came upon the theory of relativity. These sites are all about chocolate and candy in general. Chocolate Obsession. Hyperbole? Maybe. Just a little. Ok, a lot. Chocolate does have a lot to offer, though. It is a one of a kind food characterized by a truly unique and intense flavor. The idea of Jim's Chocolate Mission came after a discussion with friends about the greatest chocolate bar. Was is the Wispa? Galaxy? Clark? The Chocolate Review is most likely to review English chocolate because that's where they're from, but they also do imports. No discussion of chocolate would be complete without a little history, so here's the Chocolate History Time Line. For 4000 years, chocolate… like gold, has had a universal appeal. Candyblog has meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind. At Candy Addict you can find articles and reviews like the Top 10 Simpson's Candy Moments, or the 10 Grossest Candies. Just remember the 12-Step Chocoholic Program. Never be more than 12 steps away from chocolate. It's a helluva lot cheaper than therapy.

Meet Fedor8, the angriest film reviewer alive

Down10 — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 23:47:40 -0800

In only three years, IMDb commenter Fedor8 has written over 800 reviews, the majority of which are the most vitriolic comments ever put online. He hates nearly everything he sees, yet he'll seemingly watch anything lying on the rack at the video store. His reviews are not mere critiques but annihilations. So full of contempt (particularly for the leftists who run Hollywood), he never misses an opportunity to take a cheap shot at an actor, director or intended audience member. He does have a few positive reviews, but they are so random you can't predict how he'll feel about any given flick. But he is clearly on a rampage, tearing down one film after the next, sneering all the way. If you can't get enough of his movie reviews, you can also read Fedor8's reviews of music, his tastes of which are as contrary and contradictory as his taste in film.

Being snarky (a MeFi homecourt advantage)

Seekerofsplendor — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:43:40 -0800

Snarky indeed: An interesting review of New Yorker magazine writer David Denby's book, Snark: It’s Mean, It’s Personal, and It’s Ruining Our Conversation, from New York Magazine. MeFites might feel right at home.

The Great Cornholio's more literate sibling

not_on_display — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:41:34 -0800

The Caffeine Examiner will review any product containing caffeine. For example: chewing gum, sprays, energy drinks, soft drinks, hard drinks, perplexingly hard drinks, patches...? The sidebar on the right points to reviews of more caffeinated products than I had ever dreamed existed. Products are also rated by taste, packaging, nutrition/buzz, and website functionality. [via]

'Where Forgotton Books are Remembered'

anastasiav — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:13:26 -0800

The Neglected Books Page

Blindspots

flatluigi — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:20:38 -0800

Blindspots is a continually-updated collection of movie reviews based around one very interesting concept -- how accessible they are to the visually impaired. Movies that score high in accessibility include "The American President" (10/10) and "Ghosts of Mississippi" (9/10). At the other end of the scale are "101 Dalmatians", "Buddy", and "Spawn", each receiving 2/10.

Roger's little rule book

Knappster — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 22:27:45 -0800

It is acceptable, but rarely, to join in a general audience uproar, as at the first Cannes press screening of "The Brown Bunny." Even then, no cupping your hand under your armpit and producing fart noises. Roger Ebert's little rule book.

The culture writing of Adam Cadre

colinmarshall — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:45:23 -0800

If you've never heard of Adam Cadre, then Adam Cadre is the best internet writer you've never heard of. He's a novelist and interactive fiction (a.k.a. "text adventure") author, but his site is packed with some of the clearest, most entertaining (and most personal) cultural writing around. It's a blog-esque sort of deal with posts prompted by films, books and other. Choicest articles include a to-the-point takedown of Stranger in a Strange Land, thoughts on Lanark and trolls who have never known love, an exegesis of the virtues of The Sweet Hereafter and the story of his near-lifelong relationship with Cosmos.