The Memorial Day holiday made for a truncated week at Spectrum Culture, but a convergence of minor issues meant that I had the rare instance of two different new movie reviews go up. First, I wrote on Hannah Arendt, about a writer and intellectual who covered the Adolf Eichmann trial for The New Yorker.

Keeping with the heavy subject matter, I reviewed Shadow Dancer, centered on the The Troubles in Ireland, its own sort of period piece, taking place in the mid-nineties. Probably the most notable aspect of this film is the director, James Marsh. He won the Best Documentary Feature Academy Award for Man on Wire, following that with the even better Project Nim. The new film is solid enough, if a little on the dull side.

Finally, I contributed a few words to our Monthly Mixtape feature, highlighting some of the best tracks of recent weeks. I wrote on a song from the fantastic new album by The National.