Category: Film

Film, MusicLeave a comment

Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

I had plenty of stuff up at Spectrum Culture this week, with probably the most notable being my review of the film that earned Best Director honors at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It’s probably among the best of the year, and the performance of lead actress Emayatzy Corinealdi is definitely among the year’s best. I also adhered to my previously established role as the person on staff who reviews offshoots of Sleater-Kinney. In this instance, it’s the second effort from the band that bears Corin Tucker’s name. It’s solid enough, but it doesn’t manage to recall the style of … Continue reading Spectrum Check

Film, MusicLeave a comment

Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

I had another fairly typical week at Spectrum Culture with one full contribution apiece on the film and music sides. For the former, I reviewed a new documentary focused on the heated immigration issue in the United States. Unfortunately, it falls into one of the pitfalls common to modern documentaries: straining to do far too much. As for music, I reviewed a new compilation of classic, obscure soul music from the generally excellent Now-Again label. As usual, the crate-digger depths of discovery are impressive in the tracks selected, but the intensive focus on ballad-driven, so-called “sweet soul” winds up giving … Continue reading Spectrum Check

Film, MusicLeave a comment

Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

So I had a busy week at Spectrum Culture. Almost too busy. I’m not sure anyone needs that many of my words. It started with my latest contribution to the Revisit series over on the film side, a consideration of Wayne Wang’s Smoke. I recently confessed to the site’s editor-in-chief that this is the toughest feature for me to crack, trying to find something freshly pertinent to write about films that I know well. And I want to write about something that’s a somewhat unique selection, not simply celebrate films that have no shortage of advocates. I think I did … Continue reading Spectrum Check