This might seem like a strange observation, but it’s a reaction I can’t quite shake: I think Inside Llewyn Davis is the gentlest film Joel and Ethan Coen have ever made. There’s a lot of aggression across the shared filmography … Continue reading But I’ve got no home, nowhere to roam, don’t even have a place to sing my songs
When I was first added to the Spectrum Culture roster, it was strictly as a film writer. Certainly, I still think that’s the strongest writing I do — much as I strive to develop my word-slinging in other areas — … Continue reading Spectrum Check
Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933). This big musical from the tail end of the Pre-Code Hollywood era is fascinating for its many contradictions, beginning with the framing of Great Depression challenges with a notably defeatist cheer. The production numbers are the handiwork of Busby Berkeley (the songs are by Harry Warren and Al Dubin) and they show off his skill at mesmerizing vastness. “We’re in the Money” is probably the most famous, but others are more interesting, especially the lengthy “Pettin’ the Park,” which includes a strikingly sexy moment involving a bevy of beauties changing behind a sheer … Continue reading Jones, Kubrick, LeRoy, Park, Tourneur
There are over 400 files in my desktop folder called simply, “Spectrum.” Now, a fair number of them are little blurbs written for various List Inconsequential features or other group-built tallies, but there are still a lot of full-length pieces. Even counting up the number of instances of this weekly link-dump of personal reviews tells the story. According to the math done automatically by WordPress, this is the 144th post entitled “Spectrum Check.” I started writing for Spectrum Culture over three years ago and first took on some editorial chores about a year after that. As of the end of … Continue reading Spectrum Check
One of the benefits of getting to my reviews later than the full-on professional critical community is that I can see the ebb and flow of the cultural consensus before I weigh in. None of that shapes my reaction to … Continue reading We could jet in a stolen car, but I bet we wouldn’t get too far
#1 — Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Stanley Kubrick, 1964) It may be that true cinematic genius stems less from an ability to fulfill a particular vision to the letter and more from a knack for pulling together all the unwieldy challenges that beset any production into a coherent, satisfying finished product. When pieces threaten to go flinging off the rig while it’s moving at top speed is when a director’s talent is truly tested. Compromises can always be transformed into advantages, but it takes someone with the intellect, patience, creativity and … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 60s — Number One
There is a slender but focused plot to the latest comedy by Alexander Payne, Nebraska. But it seems fairly clear that the story is ultimately a means to an end. That’s not to imply that Payne is indifferent to the … Continue reading I awoke and I imagined the hard things that pulled us apart will never again, sir, tear us from each other’s hearts
#2 — The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960) Often I have described myself as a cynical romantic (or a romantic cynic, but the other version rolls off the tongue more pleasantly). While there are undoubtedly a multitude of influences that led me … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 60s — Number Two
By now, David O. Russell has openly and repeatedly acknowledged that his 2010 film, The Fighter, represented a key artistic turning point for him. His first film after years of futility following the release of I ♥ Huckabees, the boxing … Continue reading Knock on the door and the door knocks back
And so we come to the end of the publication year for Spectrum Culture, which meant a huge batch of “best of” evaluations of the pop culture from the preceding twelve months (well, okay, eleven-and-a-half). I had my couple cents in every last one of them, but I also had one more full-length review to put out there. I was cautiously hopeful about grabbing the new film from Neil LaBute. Though it’s been ages since I’ve liked one of his films, I used to like them, a couple quite a bit. And this new effort seemed like a back-to-basics outing, … Continue reading Spectrum Check
Coffee for Two 