Author: Dan Seeger

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Beers I Have Known: Green Man Sunseeker Pils

Dan Seeger

This series of posts is dedicated to the many, many six packs, pony kegs and pints that have sauntered into my life at one point or another. I live in a state that does just fine by itself when it comes to beer, thanks. But I still miss the lovingly crafted brews of the little mountain town I left about a year ago. It can be especially hard to know that there are always new offerings slushing through taps and getting sealed into cans. Luckily, no matter how skittish the TSA may be about liquids onto aircraft, skilled travelers can … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: Green Man Sunseeker Pils

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That Championship Season: Braindead, Season One

Dan Seeger

Mary Elizabeth Winstead has one particular expression that she delivers better than just about anyone else with an up-to-date SAG card among their personal belongings. Her wide eyes narrow a telling fraction as she surveys some bit of madness in front of her, skepticism and a whirring intellect operating in tandem as she sorts through the cognitive dissonance. Every subtle signal of her face shows that she’s graciously, warily pausing to give reality a chance to admit to the slipstream prank it’s trying to pull. Then, with a little exhale of emotion, she visibly accepts the upending of the plausible … Continue reading That Championship Season: Braindead, Season One

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College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 142 – 140

Dan Seeger

142. Bangles, “Walk Like an Egyptian” “Walk Like an Egyptian” was written by Liam Sternberg after he saw people awkwardly trying to keep their balance as they crossed the deck of a fairy, putting him in mind of the stiff figures in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Sternberg shopped a demo featuring Marti Jones on lead vocals. Toni Basil turned the song down, and Lene Lovich recorded it, though her version never saw release because she decided to take a sabbatical from the music business for most of the nineteen-eighties. So the demo track kept kicking around, eventually landing on cassette sent to producer David Kahne … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 142 – 140

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From the Archive: The Vanishing

Dan Seeger

The review was written for my college student-run newspaper. I’d watched the 1988 Dutch original, so I’m not precisely sure why I neglected to note that the inferior remake was directed by the exact same person: George Sluizer. That seems like a pertinent detail for a film critic to share.  The Vanishing is a prime example of how Hollywood can take a great idea and completely muck it up. Based on an intriguing and unsettling 1991 Dutch film of the same name, The Vanishing involves a man’s obsession with his girlfriend’s mysterious disappearance while on vacation. Kiefer Sutherland gives a strong … Continue reading From the Archive: The Vanishing

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One for Friday: Ben Lee, “End of the World”

Dan Seeger

I remember a spring afternoon in 1997. I was standing in Strictly Discs, as fine of a record store as can be found in Madison, Wisconsin, as a learned music fan was browsing the new releases and chatting with the guy behind the counter, as learned music fans are wont to do. And the shopper’s stack grew larger, he was talking about the upcoming releases that he’d already had a chance to somehow hear, declaring that Something to Remember Me By, the sophomore full-length from Ben Lee was a masterpiece. I was filled with envy. I’d happened upon Lee while … Continue reading One for Friday: Ben Lee, “End of the World”

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The Art of the Sell: “Basketball pro? No.”

Dan Seeger

These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art.  The primary motivation behind sharing this today is to acknowledge that I’m spending the bulk of this Thursday in my grown-up costume. That also helps account for the relatively low-content mode the space is in, I’m afraid. It’ll get wordier again next week. Other entries in this series can be found by clicking on the “Art of the Sell” tag. Continue reading The Art of the Sell: “Basketball pro? No.”

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Laughing Matters: “The Desert Inn has heart!”

Dan Seeger

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. What can I type? This is on my mind tonight. Previous entries in this series can be found by clicking on the “Laughing Matters” tag. Continue reading Laughing Matters: “The Desert Inn has heart!”

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My Misspent Youth: Fantastic Four by John Byrne

Dan Seeger

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. It was, I would come to realize, a lucky convergence. When Fantastic Four #232 hit newsstands, I’d been a convert to superhero comic books for less than a year, making the leap from far more frivolous fare. I quickly glommed onto Marvel’s first family as my favorite characters and the their title as the one I’d buy no matter what, making every anxious effort to be sure I didn’t miss an issue. Truthfully, … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: Fantastic Four by John Byrne

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Branagh, Brooks, Leigh, McGrath, Trank

Dan Seeger

Cinderella (Kenneth Branagh, 2015). It’s grading on the most generous of curves, but as a crass attempt to develop a new revenue stream for a beloved Disney animated class, the live action Cinderella isn’t so bad. It’s certainly a damn sight better than the grotesque senses assault of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, which basically established this type of cinematic tomb raiding. Similarly, Kenneth Branagh’s directing is more tightly controlled and snappily efficient than anything else he’s done in ages, the stricter corporate oversight perhaps taming his penchant for dragging indulgence. Most of the acting is merely perfunctory, save for … Continue reading Branagh, Brooks, Leigh, McGrath, Trank

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College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 145 – 143

Dan Seeger

145. Dire Straits, “Money for Nothing” Dire Straits’ biggest hit came about because Mark Knopfler eavesdropped in a New York City appliance store. According to the singer, guitarist, and chief songwriter for the band, he was browsing toward the back of the building, where an imposing row of televisions were all set to MTV, back when the cable network was still a sensation and took seriously the programming focus implied by the first letter of its name. An employee of the shop watched whatever music video was playing and offered a real-time, highly derogatory, and fairly offensive editorial reply. Knopfler reported grabbing a pen … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 145 – 143