#33 — Ashley Judd as Charlene Shiherlis in Heat (Michael Mann, 1995) When Michael Mann’s Heat was released, in 1995, most of the chatter was about the plentiful elements that could be fairly described as highly masculine. The centerpiece was … Continue reading Greatish Performances #33
Even without director Steven Spielberg offering fairly unequivocal explanations of his motivation behind signing on for The Post — and working overtime to deliver a finished product as quickly as possible — it’s not difficult to ascertain the film’s sharp … Continue reading Now Playing — The Post
1000. Falco, Einzelhaft (1982) In the early nineteen-eighties, German pop music was having a moment in the U.S. That surge in popularity was so pronounced that two different tracks sung in German — Nena’s “99 Luftballoons” and Peter Schilling’s “Major Tom” — … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — 1000 – 997
As this slightly worrisome Oscar season continues to shower precursor awards on the problematic film about mass advertising on the outskirts of a small community, spare a thought for the fleeting front-runners from earlier in the cycle. Barring a major … Continue reading From the Archive — Happy-Go-Lucky
Amy Rigby was one of those performers whose name I regularly heard and read attached to eager praise of her songwriting, yet for ages, I never heard a not of her music. As the varied streaming options make mere memories … Continue reading One for Friday — Amy Rigby, “I Don’t Wanna Talk About Love No More”
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. I believe Spider-Man was supposed to be my generation’s gateway into … Continue reading My Misspent Youth — The Amazing Spider-Man by Roger Stern and John Romita, Jr.
“Hints of robustness survived in him, more than a hint of primitive good looks, and Margaret, noting the spine that might have been straight, and the chest that might have broadened, wondered whether it paid to give up the glory … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature
The Final Girls (Todd Strauss-Schulson, 2015). This send-up of horror films — with special satiric sanctimony leveled at the slasher films of the nineteen-eighties — can’t help but draw comparisons to similar efforts in recent years. And already muddled film … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — The Final Girls; Baby Face; Lightning Strikes Twice
Molly’s Game, the feature directorial debut of Academy Award-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin makes a compelling case for his previous practice of turning his material over to others to shepherd it to the screen. More than most, Sorkin had the benefit … Continue reading Now Playing — Molly’s Game
Over seven years ago, I shared the first College Countdown post, taking advantage of an online find — an old CMJ Top Cuts chart, which are devilishly difficult to track down in the otherwise information-packed superhighway — to offer a … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — An Introduction
