Only a couple of things from me this week. First, I reviewed a new documentary about El Bulli, the famed Spanish restaurant that revolutionized gourmet food, essentially expanding the parameters of how it could be prepared and the level of creativity that could show up on each plate. Every time someone on Top Chef makes a “foam” or drags liquid nitrogen through the kitchen, there’s a dotted line leading back to El Bulli. I’m especially grateful that I reviewed Frederick Wiseman’s Boxing Gym last year because that gave me a vital vocabulary to use in discussing the structure of this newer film.

On the music side of the site, I reviewed the new album from Portugal. The Man, the band with the exceedingly annoying punctuation tomfoolery in their name. I was generally positive in the review, but I find it interesting that the album grew on me as I was writing the piece. One of the trickiest thing about writing record reviews is the way that music has a habit of seeming better or worse over time. I haven’t had cause to second-guess anything I’ve written thus far, but I know I’m far more likely to have my opinion shift dramatically with an album than I am with a movie. I know there are albums I loved in college that I actually dislike now (and the opposite is true, as well). I genuinely wonder if my opinions will shift on any of these releases that I sat with and struggled to turn my reactions into words.