This old review should have really posted yesterday. Then again, Groundhog Day in repeat is somewhat fitting. This was written for The Pointer, the student newspaper at UW-Stevens Point. The minor reservation expressed in the last paragraph is baffling to … Continue reading From the Archive — Groundhog Day
I have been writing weekly College Countdown posts for many years by now. Depending on the chart — and of course the position on said chart — my commitment to listening to can deliver some rough material into my ears. … Continue reading One for Friday — The Dictators, “Next Big Thing”
“I began to understand home when Riv and I slept next to each other and Riv told me stories in the dark. Once, River told me about the ocean. He said: We got so much water where I’m from. It … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature
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. Before there was a single note of … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “That Thing You Do”
Christopher Nolan is a masterful cinematic craftsman who compulsively calls attention to his own striking craft. As opposed to Steven Spielberg, his most obvious ancestor, Nolan is largely disinterested in engulfing an audience so completely in the feelings of the … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2017 — Number Nine
A Ghost Story (David Lowery, 2017). There’s been some chatter lately about the divide between film critics and general audiences. I thought about that quite a bit while finally catching up A Ghost Story, David Lowery’s ruminative tale of grief … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — A Ghost Story; I Am Not Your Negro; Mudbound
992. T Bone Burnett, Proof Through the Night (1983) In the early nineteen-eighties, T Bone Burnett was a musician of high regard who hadn’t yet broken through. A few years earlier, Burnett earned his keep as a guitar-slinger on Bob … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #992 – #989
I’m dusting off this old pile of words in commemoration on the recent announcement that the Warner brothers — and the Warner sister, of course — are on their way back. This was originally posted in my former online home. … Continue reading From the Archive — Animaniacs
When I arrived at the college radio station where I grew up, I discovered a strange, wonderful, boldly enlivening world. That’s hardly a new observation for me to tap out in this space, but I truly can’t repeat it enough. … Continue reading One for Friday — The Fall, “Big New Prinz”
Director Sean Baker is committed to using his art to give voice to the members of society who are too easily diminished. That’s what he did with the marvelous Tangerine, from 2015, and that’s what he does with The Florida … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2017 — Number Ten
Coffee for Two 