It is perhaps fitting that Jane Campion has made her finest film since The Piano by turning to a poet. Much of what makes the film that won her a best screenplay Oscar and only the second woman in Academy … Continue reading Take me to the dance and hold me tight
When I was a naive, scruffy undergrad working away at the college radio station, I spent a lot of time on the phone with record reps. We ran a relatively modest station, but a fair number of the labels still called us on a weekly basis. We got a lot of attention from Mercury/Polygram and regularly related the details of our charts to duly appointed representatives for the likes of Alias, Giant, SBK, Virgin and Geffen. These were our conduits to the music that we loved, and, in some sense, people who were working in our dream jobs. They were … Continue reading One for Friday: The Aquanettas, “Love With the Proper Stranger”
#30 — The Queen (Stephen Frears, 2006) When Princess Diana died in a car crash in August 1997, the cultural impact was seismic, and, in a way, unprecedented. As opposed to other celebrity deaths that have set people to mourning in the streets, Diana’s untimely passing wasn’t tinged by movies unmade, songs unrecorded, books unwritten. More than with Elvis Presley who preceded her and Michael Jackson who followed her, the people grieving the loss of a global celebrity weren’t responding to their connection to art, but to the person. Misguided or not, they felt they knew her, loved her the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Thirty
Three straight days without any significant writing. I need to try and change that tomorrow. For now…. Continue reading Denk’ an Dich und lass’ ihn fliegen
You can watch more about it. (Posted simultaneously to “Jelly-Town!”) Continue reading An’ I gaze back to the street, the sidewalk and the sign
You can read more about it. (Posted simultaneously to “Jelly-Town!”) Continue reading Be kind to me, or treat me mean, I’ll make the most of it
#31 — The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006) Though we’re trained to believe otherwise, change usually happens incrementally. The misconception is fueled by newscasts and history textbooks that portray great social changes growing out singular events, tipping … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Thirty-One
My homeland endured a slightly embarrassing news story this past week, as an innocent acronym proved to be unexpectedly problematic. They made a reasonable change, but I can’t help but think that the ingenious folks at the “Brand New” blog … Continue reading Nothing more to say, no more ace to play
As I’ve previously confessed, I came to my musical taste relatively late. I’d love to report that I was precociously listening to cool Joy Division music or bouncy, catchy Ramones songs when I was a kid, but during the era those albums were coming out, I was still childishly clinging to lesser fare. It certainly didn’t help that the only adult in my immediate household who even bothered to listen to music was drawn to highly problematic choices, making it that much harder for me to find a pathway to the excellent material that was emerging in the part of … Continue reading One for Friday: The Rainmakers, “Small Circles”
As they used to say on CBS, read more about it. (Posted simultaneously on “Jelly-Town!”) Continue reading With a red guitar, on fire
