Expedient MEANS

Notes on Film, Art, Writing, Technology and other things by Steve A Furman

  • Flight – Film Review

    Screenwriter John Gatins made an inspired choice when he settled on Flight as the title of his film. He has written a story that traces the flight path of its main character Whip Whitaker, played superbly by Denzel Washington. Flight is not about airplanes and only mildly touches on the airline business. Instead it’s a Read more

  • Argo – Film Review

    Ben Afflack’s Argo gives us a window into a time not frequently explored by filmmakers these days, The 1970’S. Which I find interesting because so many great films were products of that decade. Mostly we get films set in the future (way in the future), or the present, or hundreds of years in the past. Read more

  • The Master – Film Review

    There’s no mistaking a P.T. Anderson film when you see one. Vivid, sonic, provocative, weird and frequently unsatisfying. The Master is his latest foray into the deep regions of culture and individual human behavior. The picture opens on an active beach with Freddie Quell (Jauquin Phoenix) lying on freshly raked sand opening coconuts with a Read more

  • The Season of the Film

    Autumn brings impossible colors and crisp nights. It also beckons the best films of the year to the screen. We have suffered through the winter drought, the spring chick flicks (no offense ladies) and the summer explosions to finally emerge on the other side. We are now in film art territory and I couldn’t be Read more

  • The 9/11 Memorial

    Earlier this year I visited the 9/11 Memorial with my wife and 7 year old son who is now 8. It was hard for me as I had lost a friend that day. David Aoyama was on the Flight 11 jet that crashed into the north tower. We were close enough for me to know Read more

  • Prometheus – Film Review

    There’s no question that Ridley Scott likes strong women in his films. Thelma and Louise, G. I. Jane and of course Ripley in Alien. Mr. Scott moves through the rich tapestry of the female mind and places them, physically, at the epicenter of danger and discovery. I have always loved Ripley’s spunk, but I gotta Read more