In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that my unkind words for Summer School don’t properly acknowledge how weirdly watchable I find that comedy to be. On the other hand, I stand by my praise for Kirstie Alley … Continue reading From the Archive: Sibling Rivalry
It’s been almost exactly a year since my household began the segmented process of returning from a decade and a half living in southern states, resettling in our homeland of Wisconsin. During that span, I think it’s fair to say that each of us has occasionally felt the sensation of a unique culture doing its damnedest to welcome us back. The winter was milder, the beer has gotten better, the city has been alive and accommodating. Maybe best of all, there have been a handful of entirely unexpected musical gifts. When I was at my college radio station, Swamp Thing … Continue reading One for Friday: Swamp Thing, “Learning to Disintegrate”
I was dismissive of Joss Whedon at first, needlessly so. And I probably should have known better. My first exposure — knowingly anyway — to Whedon’s writing was with the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which arrived with the excited promise of flinty ingenuity. It delivered far less, and Whedon was easy to dismiss as another breathlessly celebrated Hollywood wunderkind who didn’t have that much to contribute beyond a couple hooky notions. The nineties were lousy with those. As opposed to now, there weren’t a fleet of entertainment reporters prepared to dutifully transcribe Whedon’s complaints about how his original conception … Continue reading My Writers: Joss Whedon
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 am a mediocre beer hunter. I admit this fact with humility and a dollop of shame. Though I take woozy delight in a artfully crafted beer, I am woeful when it comes to holding relevant details in my head about those concoctions that should be chased. I am a willing and eager wingman for those cohorts with encyclopedic knowledge of the breweries and their beers that are simultaneously great and elusive, and therefore … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: 3 Floyds Brewing Co. Flying Tigersault and Perched Atop the Denim Throne
With Swiss Army Man, the directing duo that bills themselves as simply “Daniels” succumb to a very common shortcoming of first-time feature filmmakers: they’re better at showmanship than storytelling. Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan wrote and directed the film, which begin … Continue reading Now Playing: Swiss Army Man
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. Happy 4th of July, everyone! Previous entries in this series can be found by clicking on the “Laughing Matters” tag. Continue reading Laughing Matters: The Kids in the Hall, “That’s America”
178. The Style Council, “My Ever Changing Moods” After serving as a central figure in the transformation of punk rock into new wave, thanks to his position as chief songwriter of the Jam, Paul Weller was looking for something a little different the early nineteen-eighties. Following the dissolution of the band that made him famous (at least in the U.K.), Weller joined with keyboardist Mick Talbot to form the Style Council. Weller took the name of the new group to heart, expounding on the richness of all aspects of European culture, saying of the erudite continent, “There’s some great things coming … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 178 – 176
I find it a little remarkable that I have no reviews of Steven Spielberg films from the time I cohosted the movie review show on college radio station WWSP-90FM. During the time our program was airing weekly, the prolific filmmaker signed his name to exactly one directorial effort: Hook, released in 1991. Given when it landed on the release calendar, it’s possible we didn’t even cover it on the show. (A December 11th release date means we could have already been off in correlation to the school’s winter break). Instead, in order to populate the “From the Archive” feature with … Continue reading From the Archive: Munich
Because some days you need some New Zealand punk from the late nineteen-eighties. And because I remain committed to paying forward the bevy of obscure wonders I once discovered on the late, lamented blog Little Hits (mourned previously in this space). And because I could scour every song in my digital collection and not find another with a title remotely as apt for this ridiculous day and age. Today, that’s all I’ve got. Today, I’m confident that’s all I need. Listen or download –> The Dead C, “Bad Politics” (Disclaimer: I am under the belief that this track is entirely … Continue reading One for Friday: The Dead C, “Bad Politics”
Benjamin J. Grimm was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. He made his first appearance in Fantastic Four #1, released in 1961. Since then, the character, who is arguably better known to his adoring masses as the ever-lovin’, blue-eyed Thing, has seen his varied adventures written and drawn by countless creative professionals in the comic book field, and endured a few cinematic ventures that are best left unremarked upon. Across many of those titanic tales — and I read as many I could wrap my grubby hands around — Ben Grimm was dependably, identifiably the same, arguably the most consistently … Continue reading Character Sturdy: Benjamin J. Grimm
Coffee for Two 