In this age and day, it takes some moxie to adopt a band name that isn’t particularly distinctive. When establishing dominance over Google search results is at least part of the strategy for reaching an audience and therefore heightening chances … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Sorry, “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star”
Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate the day! Continue reading Happy Thanksgiffing!
Since great television comedy always begins with the script, this series of posts considers the individual episodes that have claimed the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series over the years. Thanksgiving is a time of … Continue reading Golden Words — Master of None, “Thanksgiving”
Early Summer (Yasujirō Ozu, 1951). The middle entry in the set known as Yasujirō Ozu’s “Noriko trilogy,” Early Summer settles in with a Japanese family and the acquaintances that move in and out of their sphere. The film is about … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Early Summer; Ex-Lady; So Big
Almost thirty years ago, Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas was released into theaters. In contrast to the common perception, the 1990 masterwork was the filmmaker’s first real storytelling dalliance with the mob. Some intimidating, probably connected fellows moved around the fringes of … Continue reading Now Playing — The Irishman
612. Frank Zappa, Sheik Yerbouti (1979) Sheik Yerbouti was a new beginning for Frank Zappa. After several frustrating years spent extricating himself from an onerous pact with Warner Bros., Zappa was finally on his own. He’d also been stockpiling material … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #612 to #609
Le Guin’s Subversive Imagination by Michael Chabon We recently passed what would have been Ursula K. Le Guin’s ninetieth birthday, and we’re approaching the two-year anniversary of her death. I suppose either of those momentous dates might have inspired Michael … Continue reading Outside Reading — Human Community edition
It was probably inevitable that a holiday-themed song would crop up in this weekly space at some point during this stretch of the year. Although my general aversion to melodized yuletide cheer made me suspect that I’d cave in to … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Kacey Musgraves, “Glittery”
#48 — Mila Kunis as Lily in Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky, 2010) When my past assertions that Mila Kunis delivers one of the strongest performances — maybe the strongest performance — in Black Swan were met with surprise of even derision, I … Continue reading Greatish Performances #48
These posts are about the songs that just barely failed to cross the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. Ray Charles made a name for himself in the nineteen-fifties and a tremendous performer who could move effortlessly back and forth between jazz and rhythm and blues. He also spoke regularly about his love for country music, cultivated during his upbringing in the South. “Hillybilly music” is what Charles called it, and he was convinced he could make a fine record with a batch of suitable songs, … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Born to Lose” and “If You Were Mine”
Coffee for Two 