Outside Reading — The Balcony Is Closed edition
Critic, Critique Thyself by A.O. Scott I think A.O. Scott is a good film critic. I also think he’s great at writing about being a film critic. Upon the announcement that he’s stepping down from the co-lead position assessing the … Continue reading Outside Reading — The Balcony Is Closed edition
Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Superman”
These posts are about the songs that fell just short of crossing the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. After being raised in Brooklyn, New York, … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Superman”
The Art of the Sell — Dirty Rotten Scoundrels teaser trailer
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. I’m sometimes nostalgic for the era when I could be surprised by a trailer the first time … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Dirty Rotten Scoundrels teaser trailer
Outside Reading — Cognitive Dissonance edition
It’s Not About Hypocrisy by Laura Wagner Reminding me of my favorite McSweeney’s article, Laura Wagner writes about the the proud left-wing elation in response to Jon Stewart’s recent interview with a Republican lawmaker from Oklahoma. A clip made the … Continue reading Outside Reading — Cognitive Dissonance edition
This Week’s Model — Ratboys, “Black Earth, WI”
Back Earth, Wisconsin is a village located in the western portion of Dane County, around twenty-five miles from the state capital. The 2010 census tallied the population at just a few dozen residents over thirteen hundred. It is the home … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Ratboys, “Black Earth, WI”
Twenty Performances, or Gach rud i ngach áit go léir ag an am céanna
Having completed the process of sharing my own humble views on the top ten movies of the most recent cinematic year, there’s one more bit of business that Coffee for Two tradition dictates before Hollywood hands out shiny prizes on … Continue reading Twenty Performances, or Gach rud i ngach áit go léir ag an am céanna
Top Ten Movies of 2022 — Number One
Calum (Paul Mescal) is on holiday with his tween daughter, Sophie (Frankie Corio). It’s clear that the relationship between Sophie’s parents is over in a way that is somewhere between fraught and sensitive, and this trip to Turkey has a … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2022 — Number One
Top Ten Movies of 2022 — Number Two
There is so much happening in Everything Everywhere All at Once that the premise that partnered filmmakers Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert might ever make another feature together almost defies belief. What ideas, themes, gags, and sparks of narrative invention … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2022 — Number Two
The Unwatchables — Blonde
Perhaps the blame starts with Joyce Carol Oates. The prolific author of soullessly precise prose wrote the engine block–sized novel that writer director Andrew Dominik adapted into the film Blonde. Oates’s book of the same name is a fictionalized telling … Continue reading The Unwatchables — Blonde
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #71 to #69
71. Eurythmics, Be Yourself Tonight (1985) After achieving international pop chart success in the first half of the nineteen-eighties, Eurythmics experienced their first real career stumble with the album 1984 (For the Love of Big Brother). The duo, comprised of … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #71 to #69
Coffee for Two 