Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Frank Langella as Nixon... wow!


"Generally favorable" reviews for Frost/Nixon at Metacritic. For me the film was basically carried by the incredible Frank Langella. If there is such a phrase as ronhowarding a film, that is definitely what happened here. Somehow a semi-faithful adaptation of a play became a fast-paced, slick but entertaining view. All I can say is... smart move hiring Langella to reprise his role from the original play. He lent it some serious weight.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Waltz with Bashir

Great film. Incredible (mostly) real stories dramatized and made all the more powerful through some of the most original animation I've seen since Triplets of Belleville.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Rising Star, Composer, 2009 Downbeat Critics Poll


Very honored to be included in the category of Rising Star, Composer, in the August issue of Downbeat's 2009 Critics Poll.

Friday, July 3, 2009

the good crack


Not that I have much time since the birth of our son Owen Eric Eisenstadt, but once he's down for the night (well, at least for a couple hours) I have been cracking out on The Shield season 7. Halfway through and I just accidently read the season synopsis on wiki in trying to figure out whether there would be a season 8 or not. Oops. Oh well... with crack like this, it's better to know how much you've got left, run through it as quick as possible, and be done with it! Great, engrossing TV. Perfect for a blissfully exhausted dad.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

OWEN ERIC EISENSTADT

Announcing the arrival into the world of

OWEN ERIC EISENSTADT

Born June 13 330 am in Brooklyn, weighing 7 lbs 3 oz measuring 21 inches.

Sara and Owen are happy and healthy and we are all in a deep state of bliss!!!!

Much thanks to the incredible midwives at the brooklyn birthing center: Kathryn, Asya, Andrea and Yulia!

Much thanks to our wonderful doula Lucy!

Much thanks to the poised and gentle attending physician Dr Sol Neuhoff and helpful, considerate nurses at Maimonides hospital.




Saturday, June 6, 2009

Momma's Man


Strong reviews here for Momma's Man, Azazel Jacobs' touching film about a thirtysomething who comes to New York for a business trip, stays with his parents, then extends his stay indefinitely rather than returning home to his wife, young daughter and dreary office job. He finally goes home at the end, but it's not the narrative that I found so beautiful. It was the cinematography - the light coming through the windows of the filmmaker's real-life parents Flo and Ken Jacobs' Tribeca loft, the slow moving shots of the thirtysomething stuck on the A train making his way to JFK, the silent, troubled, understated expressions on the parents' faces as they watch their son struggle with his life.

Strange timing watching this movie just as we're expecting our first child. I have absolutely no feelings of running away from the situation we're about to get ourselves into. I cannot wait for the challenges that are coming. In fact that was the one thing about the film that didn't quite work for me. Jacobs' "protagonist" is paralyzed by responsibility, and fumbles around his parents' loft nostalgically reading old comic books and playing homemade punk tunes on a broken jr-sized guitar. But this gets old quickly. I found myself thinking "get your act together and go home to your young family" even as I was mesmerized by the the camera following him around as he lingered in the apartment. Worth a look.