Author Archive: Nathan Baker-Lutz
Sleepwalk with Me
When Ira Glass is your producer you aren’t making a blockbuster. That’s alright. Mike Birbiglia knows his story is better told over time in local bars, drinking Yuengling between Passion Pit tracks. The less this sentence makes sense the more you’ll like Sleepwalk with Me. Mike writes, directs and stars in his own true story [...]
Yes Sir!
Verne Lundquist couldn’t contain his excitement. He has long covered the 16th and 17th holes at August National Golf Club, and when Jack Nicklaus came to his holes that Sunday, April 13th, 1986, even he couldn’t resist an exclamation after Jack made birdie. “Yes sir!” Just six days earlier, a local writer described Jack Nicklaus [...]
Highlights of the 2011 Masters Tournament
The Masters golf tournament, held every first weekend in April at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, is arguably the greatest golf tournament in the world. Some rank it even higher, among the greatest annual sporting events of our time along with the Kentucky Derby, the Super Bowl, and the Indy 500. As you [...]
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead
Amidst the much debated, complex culture of our nation’s food and weight issues, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead is a touchingly simple tale. Growing up back and forth between Australia and the States, Joe Cross, the creator and star of this low-budget documentary, becomes a self-made man in the Australian stock market and quickly lives [...]
A Thorn in My Heart
If nothing else, A Thorn in my Heart is a look into the soul that fuels a brilliant mind. Michel Gondry’s personal documentary about his Aunt Suzette and her life as a traveling teacher in France is as much as you want it to be. It gives a personal connection to an enigmatic director, a [...]
Dinner for Schmucks
Let’s be honest. If you sit through the first 15 minutes of Dinner for Schmucks and don’t know how it’s going to end, well, you’re a schmuck. That’s not so bad; it greatly increases your chances of liking the movie. Schmucks is a formulaic and mediocre glimpse into self-destruction. It’s the story of Tim, played [...]
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Based on the graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley I stood alone in line for nearly 2 hours to see a screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World tonight. Fanboys abound as I read the latest issue of Wired. I ate before I left to save the hour’s wage the theater would suck from my [...]
Holy Rollers
Holy Rollers is a unique and gritty departure from the redundant drug dramas that Hollywood has been spewing for nearly fifty years. Based on true events, the film tells the story of 20-year-old Sam Gold, played by Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland), who becomes doubtful of his Jewish family’s direction and finds understanding in the drug-smuggling older [...]
The Men Who Stare at Goats
Absurdity has become a mainstay of comedy. I suppose it has always been there in the Marx Brothers and Mel Brooks but lately it is appearing as part of a new equation in laughter. We have begun to find that either a serious absurdity or an absurd seriousness often results in hilarity. The Men Who [...]
2000-2009: A Decade of Comedy
Comedy, to me, is a bit like cleaning out under the cushions of your couch. Some things you know will be there but are still surprising to see. There are things that you have never seen before, didn’t even know you had, but are glad you found. Occasionally there is something there, precious and grand, [...]
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