I was a fan of Adam McKay’s The Big Short. By any reasonable assessment, the film about the mortgage crisis the leveled the economy in the first decade of this century (based on a nonfiction rage-generator written by Michael Lewis) … Continue reading The Unwatchables — Vice
772. Van Halen, Van Halen II (1979) In the early part of their recording career, Van Halen moved quickly. The enormous sales of their self-titled debut and the similarly robust interest in the subsequent tour led the band to assess … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #772 to #769
This was originally written for and posted at my former online home. There was a lot of suspicious murmuring when the teaser trailer for Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette hit. It looked like a period piece, but what was that New Order song doing there? Coppola was … Continue reading From the Archive — Marie Antoinette
When I write about music, there are a few synonyms I might employ to avoid repetition of the word “singing.” I’m partial to “belting,” but I probably need to retire the term. How can it be applied with any accuracy … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Lizzo, “Cuz I Love You”
Roma is memory. It is the hard certainty of the testing moments that grind into the senses and the softness of incidents turned into impressions. Alfonso Cuarón has made no secret of the ways in which this drama draws upon his … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2018 — Number Three
Chloé Zhao’s The Rider is constructed with an approach that could go drastically wrong so easily, and indeed has many times in the past, even when employed by more seasoned filmmakers. The story focuses on Brady Blackburn (Brady Jandreau), a … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2018 — Number Four
Bohemian Rhapsody (Bryan Singer and Dexter Fletcher, 2018). This biography of Freddie Mercury, concentrating on his time as the frontman of Queen, is almost startling in its ineptitude. Put aside that it treats the basic chronology of the band’s history … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Bohemian Rhapsody; Birds of Passage; Ralph Breaks the Internet
I recently came to realize how short-sighted I’ve been in my admiration for Eighth Grade, the feature directorial debut of Bo Burnham. I marveled at the ability of a single, childless comedian in his mid-twenties to convincingly occupy the headspace … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2018 — Number Five
776. Buzzcocks, A Different Kind of Tension (1979) Buzzcocks operated with a raw nerve openness (few other bands would be so brazen to release a single called “Orgasm Addict” in the nineteen-seventies), so it makes sense that their final album … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #776 to #773
There were few actors who could take full command of a film like Albert Finney. Immediately intimidating, Finney was a bull among fawns. But he was also nimble, cunning, authentic, and playful. He didn’t work all that often, yet racked … Continue reading From the Archive — Miller’s Crossing
Coffee for Two 