Andre Techine’s quietly powerful gay-themed drama “Quand on a 17 ANS” is his best film since “Wild Reeds” in 1994 and a strong contender for the Best Film of 2016.
by Sam Juliano
Last week’s miss for the Monday Morning Diary was the first such rare instance since my two week trip to the United Kingdom in August of 2013 when my family spent two weeks with Allan and his mum. The winding down of the long running Top 100 Science Fiction Countdown and some Caldecott Medal Contender review commitments convinced me for this one time to combine the activities into a single week. Therefore my round-up constitutes what I managed to negotiate in the prior two week period. Speaking of the countdown, it really has caught fire as it nears the finish line (this coming Wednesday in fact) and some of the most spectacular reviews that have ever published at the site have appeared in the person of some glorious scholarship. It is hard to believe we are nearly done, but it will be a project always remembered for the tenacity of its participants and the unconscionable darkness that hovered over it with the passing of our beloved friend and film mentor about half way through. Because of that incomparable grief and battle with depression it was an unprecedented challenge to move forward. Thoughts of cancellation nearly came to pass, but after discussion with Jamie Uhler it was deemed a better idea to divert to the subject out dear friend lived his life for, thus this countdown is devoted to Allan Fish, whose reviews were seen more times in the Top 100 than any other writer aside from Roderick Heath. Mr. Heath of course has moved mountains with numerous staggering essays that redefine the capabilities of the form. But a number of other writers have penned brilliant pieces and I will discuss those in the countdown round-up next week. The Sunday posting of J. D. Lafrance’s Blade Runner represents another case of stupendous scholarship, and earlier this week Duane Porter wrote up a storm for his La Jetee review as did Robert Hornak and John Greco respectively for Frankenstein and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Aaron West last week wrote an achingly beautiful review of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but it goes on and on. And then there is Allan who needs no further commendation. I also want to thank the childrens’ book fans for their amazing support by way of comments and page views for the fourth annual Caldecott series. As soon as the Science-Fiction countdown ends I will be devoting quite a bit of time towards resuming the series, though I also would like to post some horror film reviews from some of our staff as we move closer towards Halloween.
It does seem pretty clear that the Republican nominee for President will be going down to resounding defeat, not that anyone is at all surprised. But the past weeks on that front have been as bizarre as have maligned any election. Ha, only in the US! Yes right now it does look like a Chicago – Cleveland World Series (Geez, if Jamie were a baseball fan who might he be rooting for? He grew up in Cleveland, where his family still lives, but he’s been a Chicago resident for a number of years now) I do not count out the Toronto Blue Jays just yet, but they have to turn it around fast. Jim and Valerie Clark are two of the team’s biggest fans, and I’ll be thinking of you both as the series winds down. This is the second year in a row the Jays have been knocking at the door. (more…)
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