Author: Dan Seeger

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Gordon Willis, 1931-2014

Dan Seeger

Gordon Willis was nominated for the Best Cinematography Academy Award twice. Only twice. It’s unbelievable, and it stands as one of the greatest injustices in the overstuffed annals of egregious omissions of the august award-giving body. Let’s illustrate the extent of the oversight further: from 1972 to 1974, Willis was the cinematographer on four different Best Picture nominees, three of which actually claimed the top prize, and though his category often went in rough lockstep with Best Picture Willis wasn’t among the competitors once during this span. To make it even more clear, practically ever obituary and remembrance cites his … Continue reading Gordon Willis, 1931-2014

Music10 Comments

College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 12

Dan Seeger

12. Sea Level, On the Edge The Allman Brothers Band was one of those groups that felt like they were fractiously apart more than they were together, practicing a brand of precarious camaraderie befitting their familial nature. When the band experienced their first formal break-up in the mid-nineteeen-seventies, several members were already poised to do their own thing. Sea Level was a clear, supported offshoot of the Allman Brothers Band, opening shows for the southern rock icons in 1975 and 1976. In the latter year, it became the main thing going as the tension between Gregg Allman and his bandmates … Continue reading College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 12

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From the Archive: King Kong

Dan Seeger

So…modern remakes of giant monster movie classics seem to be on my mind for some reason. This review was written for my former digital space This is when I was still deeply enamored with the idea of building hyperlinks into the reviews, an inclination that, I’ll admit, I haven’t fully shaken. Or maybe haven’t shaken at all. As it turns out, I and my partner in all things saw this movie on a trip to New York City, where we walked within view of the Empire State Building on the way to our next stop. It added some resonance to … Continue reading From the Archive: King Kong

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One for Friday: Marshall Crenshaw, “You’re My Favorite Waste of Time”

Dan Seeger

It always seemed that Marshall Crenshaw was genetically engineered to be a cult hero. Even though his very first single, the utterly wonderful “Someday, Someway,” made it into the Billboard Top 40, it was hardly a thunderous success, peaking at #36. That seems simultaneously appropriate and a little tragic. Crenshaw created songs that were made for the radio, albeit maybe a different era than the one he was in. This was the early nineteen-eighties, when new wave was ascendent, punk was morphing from broad-ranging alternative to almost myopic jackhammer anger, and electronic was still trying to find its footing in … Continue reading One for Friday: Marshall Crenshaw, “You’re My Favorite Waste of Time”

Books, Comics6 Comments

My Writers: Bill Watterson

Dan Seeger

I operate under the belief that I saw the very first Calvin and Hobbes comic strip when it appeared in the newspaper. I have a vague memory of being in one of my high school classrooms, a social studies course where the teacher had the daily newspapers and a bevy of weekly current affairs magazines delivered and on display, actively encouraging us to peruse them while others were completing assignments. (He also regularly made us watch C-SPAN, which is a sort of torture for adrenaline-fueled, hormone-addled teenagers, as well as forced us to sit through entire Mark Russell comedy specials, … Continue reading My Writers: Bill Watterson

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Great Moments in Literature

Dan Seeger

“Paul Espeseth, who was no longer taking the antidepressant Celexa, braced himself for a cataclysm at SeaWorld.” –Jonathan Lethem, “Pending Vegan,” 2014 “THE BEAST’S SCALES ARE CUTTING EDGES THAT WELT HIS FLESH, TEARING HIS UNIFORM INTO BLOODIED TATTERS! THE MONSTROUS TAIL LASHES IN DEADLY FRENZY, WHIPPING THE WATER TO FOAM, FRAGMENTING ITS REFLECTIONS–AND STRANGELY, IN THAT MOMENT, THEY ARE IMAGES THAT HAVE A STABBING CLARITY THE MIRROR-PERFECT FIGURE LACKED! PAIN BIRTHS INSANITY WITHIN HIS MIND…AND DESPERATION IS THE MID-WIFE. HIS BOOTS PURPOSEFULLY GOUGE INTO THE YIELDING, SALIVATING MOUTH, AND ITS TONGUE BULGES BENEATH AND AROUND HIS HEELS! HOLD ON! PLEASE, … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature

FilmLeave a comment

From the Archive: Popcorn

Dan Seeger

I marvel at the things we needed to watch. The little burg where I started as a film critic at my beloved college radio station rarely played art house fare and was even late in the run of higher profile prestige material. When we started our movie review show in the fall of 1990, the screens always had plenty of room for cheapo horror flicks, though. Popcorn is almost entirely forgotten now, but I stand by my laudatory evaluation of the early scene found at the front end of this review. I actually still think of that passage from time … Continue reading From the Archive: Popcorn