#43 — Mudbound (Dee Rees, 2017) Ten years is a long time, so it’s hardly remarkable to survey that length of time in a chunk of cinema history and discern major differences between the respective creative landscape and the starting … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Forty-Three
Gideon’s Army (Dawn Porter, 2013). This documentary examines the grueling, perpetually disheartening work undertaken by public defenders, vital contributors to the principle of equal justice that are severely undervalued. The prevailing storytelling scheme of the day calls for picking a … Continue reading Then Playing — Gideon’s Army; They Drive By Night; Five Feet Apart
544. The Lords of the New Church, The Lords of the New Church (1982) “I think that first record was really built on pure adrenaline,” drummer Nick Turner said of The Lords of the New Church several years after its … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #544 to #541
She Finds Meaning in the Dark by Manohla Dargis In this strange, unsettled time, there are many who are facing far greater hardships than me and most of my friends. For this I am a grateful. But everyone’s context is … Continue reading Outside Reading — See You on the Other Side edition
I became a devotee of singer-songwriter Margaret Glaspy shortly after the release of her debut album, Emotions and Math. As often as I returned to the studio recorded etched into that record’s grooves, my regular urge to once again hear … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Margaret Glaspy, “Devotion”
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. The past few days … Continue reading Laughing Matters — The Critic
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Michael Dougherty, 2019). By now, Hollywood has offered up a mountain of evidence of their collective inability to do right by the fire-breathing behemoth first brought to the screen by Toho Studios and director Ishirō … Continue reading Then Playing — Godzilla: King of the Monsters; The Hustle; The Dead Don’t Die
#44 — The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro, 2017) The path always led to The Shape of Water for Guillermo del Toro. Across a career that begin firmly in the horror genre before expanding to other hybrids, practically of … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Forty-Four
This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves. By happenstance, I was already scheduled to sit in the air chair at my college radio alma … Continue reading Radio Days — Then and Now: March 15, 2020
548. Hunters & Collectors, Fate (1988) I.R.S. Records had the Australian band Hunters & Collectors under contract for U.S., but the label executives didn’t particularly like how, well, Australian the band sounded. The band released their fifth studio album, What’s … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #548 to #545
Coffee for Two 