#49 — Coal Miner’s Daughter (Michael Apted, 1980) Film biographies of famed musicians follow the same trajectory with such unwavering rigor that they’ve practically become a cliche unto themselves. The humble beginnings are traced. Then the rise to notoriety begins, … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Forty-Nine
Mary and Max (Adam Elliot, 2009). A beautifully downbeat stop-motion animation feature about unlikely penpals on the opposite side of the Atlantic who correspond over a number of years, developing a moving, warm, fragile and occasionally fractured relationship. Despite the distance–or, arguably, because of it–they drawn strength and even courage from one another, muddling through the unique challenges of their respective lives in part because they’ve got a lifeline out there somewhere in the world, someone who may not understand them, but at least takes the time to try. Max, voiced by Philip Seymour Hoffman, is an especially wonderful creation, … Continue reading Audiard, Curtiz, Elliot, Polanski, Vaughn
Back issues are expensive. The cover to The Amazing Spider-Man #91 from 1970 may have a price of 15 cents on it, but trying to procure this item from your local comic book shop proprietor will require an outlay of … Continue reading Mighty Marvel Checklist HyperboleCheck: The Amazing Spider-Man #91
Though I haven’t linked to them yet, I’ve contributed a few words to Spectrum Culture over the course of the past week. First, there was a consideration of The New Pornographers album Twin Cinema for a “Five Years Later” feature on the best music of 2005. When the “Five Years Later” feature turned its attention to film, I got the chance to take another crack at a movie I’ve written about a couple times previously. Today, I contribute to our inaugural List Inconsequential feature, Great Musicians Who Haven’t Made a Great Album in At Least 10 Years. If my friend … Continue reading Meanwhile…
58. Fire Town, The Good Life For most bands, getting that sweet major label deal is the dream. It’s theoretically the leap from dirty vans prone to breakdown and sleeping on the floors of new fans to tricked-out tour buses … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 58 and 57
The following is presented as part of the 5th Annual Supporting Actress Blogathon hosted by StinkyLulu #6 — Patricia Clarkson as “Rachel Solando” in Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, 2010) Sticklers about such things might insist that Patricia Clarkson’s performance in … Continue reading Greatish Performances #6
I’ve probably seen Ani Difranco live more than any other performer. Basically, it’s built right into the terms of my marriage. Ani came with the package, like a stepchild or a beloved feline. The affection may have faded somewhat over the years–new albums are no longer automatic purchases for our household–but seeing Ani perform live remains an obligatory outing. This isn’t a problem, by the way. She’s a helluva songwriter and a terrific performer, equal parts fierce and adorable with a charisma that amazingly plays best to the back seats and moves forward. She brings herself unguarded to the stage, … Continue reading One for Friday: Ani Difranco, “Most of the Time”
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Pedro Almodóvar, 1988). Almodóvar’s international breakthrough is almost quaint in its kitschy simplicity when held up against the rich, lush films that have sprung from his off-kilter cranium in recent years. It involves a tangled web of romantic and sexual relationships, largely converging in a Spanish apartment that has a convenient batch of sedative-laden gazpacho in the fridge. There evidence of Almodóvar’s sterling eye, especially in the earlier scenes, but it’s mostly an engagingly casual farce, played with a relaxation that feels nicely cultural. Carmen Maura is especially good in the lead … Continue reading Almodóvar, Campion, DeBlois and Sanders, Lumet, Pontecorvo
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. As we’ve established, I spent a lot of time reading comic … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: Fantaco’s Chronicles series
#50 — Always (Steven Spielberg, 1989) If you want a snapshot of who I was at the age of nineteen, Always is as good a place as any to start. Like a lot of people who grew up during the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Fifty
