Author: Dan Seeger

MusicLeave a comment

One for Friday: The Replacements, “Within Your Reach” (live)

Dan Seeger

My favorite record store had a glass case that was filled with magic. In the days before a skilled Google search could kick up just about any music a heart and ear might desire, there was all sorts of material out there which enticed with its sheer elusiveness. Some of this was old stuff that was out of print and some of it was the flotsam and jetsam that bands released on b-sides and compilations. But the hidden gems that intrigued me the most were those albums that were clearly bootleg releases. Some of this was undoubtedly because of the … Continue reading One for Friday: The Replacements, “Within Your Reach” (live)

Everything ElseLeave a comment

Burnett, Roach, Singer, Smith, Varda

Dan Seeger

Vagabond (Agnès Varda, 1985). Varda’s sedate, stirring drama follows a young itinerant woman, paying special attention to the variety of ways society expresses its disdain for her. To a degree, it’s because of her place on the tattered fringe of the social structure, but a remarkable amount of the pain she endures is provoked by her gender rather than her place in class culture. She’s used, dismissed and disregarded repeatedly. Sandrine Bonnaire is evocative and moving in the leading role, clearly investing deep feeling into the performance. It would be easy for the film to lapse into woeful melodrama, but … Continue reading Burnett, Roach, Singer, Smith, Varda

FilmLeave a comment

Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

I’ve been running behind on my music reviews and the studios have been running behind on getting me screeners, so I only had one piece up at Spectrum Culture this week. It was my second contribution to our Best Living Directors series, this time offering an evaluation of Pedro Almodóvar. I wasn’t part of the selection process for our list, but I’m very pleased with it. For one thing, there’s good diversity and a strong sense of history to it. These sorts of tallies are so often of the moment and crassly devoted assembled choices that are perceived as ever … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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One for Friday: Michael Jeter, “Everything’s Coming Up Videos”

Dan Seeger

I saw the actor Michael Jeter in a movie the other day, and it just made me sad. It wasn’t because of the quality of the film or the performance–although the movie was certainly one that came to define what ludicrously-budgeted Hollywood junk looks like–but simply because it was a reminder that he was gone. Jeter died in 2003 at the age of fifty, no kid but still too young. Though he won both a Tony and an Emmy, his opportunities in movies were spottier, usually relegated to something a little odd over on the fringe of the plot. Jeter’s … Continue reading One for Friday: Michael Jeter, “Everything’s Coming Up Videos”