Featured Writing

200 DAYS AND 200 MOVIES

In October 2006, Funderburg and Cribbs set out to watch at least 200 movies over the course of the next 200 days. They both watched a different slate of films and wrote about every single one; from epic high art masterpieces such as Fassbinder's 15 & 1/2 hour Berlin Alexanderplatz to goofy teen comedies like Savage Steve Holland's worthy One Crazy Summer to idiotic dreck like Open Water 2. In sections spanning 10 days at a time, The Pink Smoke is reprinting their writings about the grueling experiment in cinematic endurance.

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VIDEO ODDITIES, or VHS: VIDEO HOUSE SAFARI

This is the first year where absolutely nobody anywhere is creating or distributing new VHS tapes. With DVR On Demand, HD disc technology and online rental services as well as comprehensive movie databases changing the home entertainment market seemingly every second, the days of seeking something odd and interesting aren't just waning, they're pretty much gone. So these days Cribbs returns to Alexandra's Video Vault to do something he always took for granted: to browse. And what he finds, he's bringing home and writing about it. Hence this little regular column: his ode to the odd.

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FIVE FROM THE FIRE

Stored in a single warehouse are the complete works of five filmmakers, their entire bodies of work, every last 35mm & 16mm print, dvd disc and vhs tape together in one place. When the warehouse goes up in flames, you have the chance to save five films - which ones do you keep and which ones do you let burn? Each installment features a different list of directors and a different writer taking on the enjoyably pointless exercise. Featuring even more proof that Paul Cooney loves Mel Gibson.

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LISTS and SERIES IN-DEPTH

Occassionally, The Pink Smoke takes a look at a series of related films, ranging from John's annual month of horror movies in October to a list of "9 Awful Performances in Classic Films" to a run-down of every film Christopher saw in the awesome "Buried Treausres of the 70's" repertory series at NYC's Anthology Film Archives to our annual wrap-ups from the Toronto International Film Festival.

<<click here for an index of every LIST and SERIES IN-DEPTH>>

FRUSTRATING FILMOGRAPHIES

An experiment dedicated to great directors. Great directors...who've transgressed. Disappointed. Befuddled. But not to the point of being written off entirely. In the course of long careers these filmmakers have made the occasional slip and this ongoing column will try to figure out what their motivation might have been in choosing projects that proved questionable, wrongheaded or outright embarrassing. The purpose of this experiment is not to deride, but to understand.

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REVIEWS

Reviews of individual films, nothing more complicated than that. Deeper looks at older films, personal favorites, new releases and previews screenings.

<<click here for an index of the INDIVIDUAL REVIEWS>>

SECOND CHANCES

Despite their reputations, some films and filmmakers just don't do it for the writers of The Pink Smoke. This series, Second Chances, follows Funderburg and Cribbs as they actively make an effort to appreciate esteemed artworks for which they currently have a distaste. They give cult favorites like Let the Right One In another shot and dig deep in the filmographies of beloved auteurs whose appeal baffles them (like Nicholas Ray) - and sometimes, they even emerge as newly-minted fans...

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YEARS IN REVIEW

Our annual looks back at previous year; the best, the worst, the instantly forgettable. Monstrously lengthy breakdowns of the years that were.

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