#46 — Raul Julia as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family (Barry Sonnenfeld, 1991) Movie screens weren’t big enough for Raul Julia. He started working in film in the early nineteen-seventies and picked up a few additional credits throughout the … Continue reading Greatish Performances #46
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. Without delving into the … Continue reading Laughing Matters — How Lord of the Rings Should Have Ended
656. The Headboys, The Headboys (1979) “At the time, it was important to construct an image,” guitarist Lou Lewis noted in explaining the origins of his band the Headboys. “I got a pretty severe haircut and went to the schoolwear … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #656 to #653
Car Talk’s Long Goodbye by Erik Shilling Drawing generously from recent conversations with Ray Magliozzi, the surviving member of the sibling duo that hosted NPR’s Car Talk for many years, writer Erik Shilling does a masterful job of evoking the charms of the bygone radio call-in show (which still airs in cobbled-together “best of” episodes) and marveling at the endurance of a true oddity in the public radio sphere. Magliozzo remains an entertaining figure, recounting his unlikely fame with appropriate level or amusement and marvel. Although it’s most subtext, the piece also hits a soft sentimental spot for me in … Continue reading Outside Reading — Don’t Drive Like My Brother edition
There are songs and styles that will grab me immediately, tapping into the portion of my inner being that never truly exited my old college radio studio. That sliver of me flips through the heavy rotation shelf for all eternity, … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Mikal Cronin, “Shelter”
I read a lot of comic books as a kid. This series of posts is about the comics I read, and, occasionally, the comics that I should have read. When I started reading superhero comics — and probably vocalized about … Continue reading My Misspent Youth — Ghost Rider by Gary Friedrich and Tom Sutton
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. “The Contest” completely changed my priorities … Continue reading Golden Words — Seinfeld, “The Contest”
Leaving Neverland (Dan Reed, 2019). Working with a landslide of troubling evidence and an abundance of cautious patience, British documentarian lays out a compelling, convincing case that Michael Jackson regularly perpetrated sexual abuse on boys that came into his orbit … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Leaving Neverland; Blaze; Denial
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. According to Huey Lewis, he started writing the song “Workin’ for a Livin” when he was doing exactly that. A musician who toiled through the nineteen-seventies with modest success — most notably as a member of the San Francisco band Clover — Lewis relied on a series of other jobs to help him make ends meet over the years, including a stint as a truck driver. It … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Workin’ for a Livin”
660. Hunters & Collectors, Human Frailty (1987) In just about every way, Human Frailty was a breakthrough for the Australian band Hunters & Collectors. The band’s fourth studio album represented their first significant hit in their homeland, slipping into the … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #660 to #657
Coffee for Two 