Twenty-second in a series… Due credit to the original photographer. (Posted simultaneously to “Jelly-Town!”) Continue reading The last time I saw Jesus I was drinking a bloody mary in the South
I definitely appreciate that Duncan Jones is trying to create a science fiction film that’s as much about ideas as it is about C.G.I. logistics with his feature directorial debut, Moon. Set in an indeterminate future era in which our … Continue reading Though I’d like to look down at the earth from above, I would miss all the places and people I love
When I was work in commercial radio in the mid-nineties, I was desperate for new, different music. This shouldn’t have been the case. I was, after all, primarily working for a “new rock alternative” station. The implication is that the sort of music I was craving would be there in abundance. That wasn’t the case. The most interesting new music stayed behind locked doors while the DJ booth shelves were loaded down with sound-alike bands built on the theory that Nirvana’s music was cool but could use a coat or two of high gloss. In 1995, we didn’t have Sleater-Kinney, … Continue reading One for Friday: Mike Watt, “Drove Up From Pedro”
#50 — Triviatown (Patrick Cady and Brit McAdams, 2006). This documentary focuses on a trivia contest, touted as the world’s largest, which is staged annually by a college radio station in a small central Wisconsin city. In the manner of … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Fifty
Nearly ten years ago I was given a proposal from my old partner on the movie review program we did on college radio from 1990 to 1993. He suggested we each concoct our respective lists of the top fifty films of the nineties, adapting the traditional yearly top ten to a larger scale. While it had been years since we’d done the radio show together, we’d each remained avid moviegoers. In fact, we’d each taken little spins with movie reviewing and Academy Award analysis on other radio stations during the intervening years, he much more notably and productively than I. … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — An Introduction
McCabe and Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971). There are many who consider this film to be the quintessential Altman effort, and it’s not hard to see why. The hallmarks of Altman’s legend are all there: the overlapping dialogue, the moral ambivalence, the richly-conceived characters. Most importantly and impressively, the film is a thrilling example of the ways in which Altman pulls all these elements of his craft together to give the sense of a fully developed culture and society. The film is focused on the main characters, but the entire frame ripples with life. You feel as if you know … Continue reading And our silver screen affair, it weighs less to me than air
I found this thanks to Andrew Sullivan, during one of the few moments today when he wasn’t obsessing over Sarah Palin. (Posted simultaneously to “Jelly-Town!”) Continue reading Pink macaroons and a million balloons and performing baboons and …
I’m so very tired. (Posted simultaneously to “Jelly-Town!”) Continue reading Then I got tired of counting all of these blessings and then I just got tired
After a hard day of installing hardwood flooring, there’s only one movie that stands as an adequate reward. Here’s a hint or two: “Where do you dance at, darlin’?” “Um… at the Cheetah.” “I don’t know how good you are, darlin’, and I don’t know what it is you’re good at, but if it’s at the Cheetah, it’s not dancing, I know that much.” “You don’t know shit!” “She’s no butterfly. Tony, she’s all pelvic thrust. I mean, she prowls. She’s got it!” “I’ve had dog food.” “You have?” “Mmm-hmmm. Long time ago. Doggy Chow. I used to love Doggy … Continue reading I got lots of money, I got lots of time, bought myself a penthouse, filled it up with bubbly wine
Once I found my way to the student-run radio station in college, I’d found my home. This was true to such a degree that I was quick to chose spending time there over my actual home some hundred miles away. During the winter break of my freshman year, I made the obligatory trip home from Christmas, but begged off on staying much longer, noting the extraordinary need at the station for extra hands. This was true. 90FM was, with great pride, a station that didn’t operate under the philosophy that a break from school was a break from broadcasting. What’s … Continue reading One for Friday: The Frogs, “Whether U Like It Or Not I Love U”
