“There was always the feeling that you were in the presence of thwarted violence,” Orson Welles once said of the Hollywood hand he hired to help him with the screenplay of his first feature film. “It was this thrashing of … Continue reading Now Playing — Mank
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. Bob Dylan logged seven Top 40 singles … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Wigwam” and “Watching the River Flow”
422. Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Live Rust (1979) Lest anyone doubt Neil Young’s entrepreneurial spirit, he is one of the few artists who opted to make a live album to document the tour mounted in support of a live … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #422 to #420
Is It Possible to Enjoy This Winter? by Molly Young Ostensibly a review of Wintering, a new memoir by Katherine May, this piece by Molly Young expounds on all manner of concerns that relate to the oncoming season of snow … Continue reading Outside Reading — Hazy Shade edition
It takes diligence to track the minor shifts and major changes Tigers Jaw has experienced over the years. Formed in Scranton, Pennsylvania a decade and a half ago, the group has undergone significant roster changes and refined their sound along … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Tigers Jaw, “Lemon Mouth”
#4 — Cold War (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2018) Cold War is the story of Zula (Joanna Kulig) and Wiktor (Tomasz Kot). Not long after the end of World War II, Wiktor is one of the people charged with presiding over a … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Four
Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. I was a college … Continue reading Laughing Matters — The Ben Stiller Show, “Kill Doug Szathkey”
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Aaron Sorkin, 2020). Aaron Sorkin finds the ideal vehicle for his talky liberal indignation in the sham legal case leveled against a group of protestors who were bullied and brutalized by Chicago police officers … Continue reading Then Playing — The Trial of the Chicago 7; Slice; Horse Girl
Nearly twenty-five years ago, The Birdcage was released to enthusiastic reviews. There were dissenters within the critical community, though, including at least one writer I remember who took great offense at the Mike Nichols–directed film mining comedy from gay men … Continue reading Now Playing — Happiest Season
425. Big Country, The Seer (1986) The intent was a return to the band’s roots. Big Country had the sort of hit debut that bands dream about. The Crossing, released in 1983, sold enough copies to earn a gold certification … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #425 to #423
Coffee for Two 