Category: Film

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

So I was kind of a screw-up when it came to my contributions to Spectrum Culture this week. I had two different screeners sitting by my DVD player, clear instructions as to which one to watch and review, even complete knowledge in my own skull about the cinematic release schedules of the films embedded on those shiny discs which should have led me to be able to make the right conclusion about how I should devote my time. For some reason, though, I watched the wrong film, wrote up my Dire assessment of it and sent off the piece. I … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

I had a fairly busy week with Spectrum Culture. I had two different pieces post in the music review area, beginning with a consideration of the the first solo album from Sophia Knapp. The second review I wrote this week was probably more significant: the new album from Bruce Springsteen. I like the record quite a bit–probably more than anything he’s put out since 1995’s The Ghost of Tom Joad–which was a bit of a relief. It gave me a chance to make up for trashing The Boss in an earlier List Inconsequential feature, which felt like a bit of … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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Greengrass, Nolfi, Scorsese, Van Dyke, Winer

Dan Seeger

George Harrison: Living in the Material World (Martin Scorsese, 2011). It’s very fun to watch Martin Scorsese in this later phase of his career in which he clearly feels empowered and has the accumulated goodwill and respect to make whatever damn movie he feels like at any given time. If that means he’s sometimes going to flip through his record collection and say, “Hey, what about this guy?,” so be it. This documentary on the Quiet Beatle isn’t hugely revelatory in any way, but it’s a nice, creative compendium of the life and art of someone whose undervalued membership in … Continue reading Greengrass, Nolfi, Scorsese, Van Dyke, Winer

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

Luckily enough, I had a very light week at Spectrum Culture just when I needed a break. I’d like to say I orchestrated that, but that’s plainly not the case. The only thing I reviewed was the new film from the director of Maria Full of Grace, which was surprisingly left behind in the first go-around in our selection process. Were I smarter or at least less of a procrastinator, I would have take the comfortable schedule to actually work ahead on a couple of the pending record reviews I have. Of course I didn’t, so I suddenly have a … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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Allen, Coppola, Cukor, Gunn, Mills, Scorsese, Winterbottom

Dan Seeger

New York Stories (Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Woody Allen, 1989). I remember reading Roger Ebert’s review of this anthology film and thinking he cheated by giving individual star ratings to each of its three segments. After all, no one going to movie theater had the option of just paying for a third of a ticket to see the one part of the film he recommended. Now that I’ve seen it, however, I completely get why he chose to take that approach: one part of the film is significantly better than the others. Woody Allen’s segment is amusing but … Continue reading Allen, Coppola, Cukor, Gunn, Mills, Scorsese, Winterbottom

Film, MusicLeave a comment

Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

This week at Spectrum Culture, I opted to review the new film from director Jill Sprecher, who previously created the very good comedy Clockwatchers and the sadly mediocre 13 Conversations About One Thing. It’s been a long time since that prior feature, so I had perhaps had reason to be leery. But then the movie poster calls attention to the fact that it takes place in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I couldn’t turn that down, right? It was good, but there’s some internet scuttlebutt that it may have been even better in the original cut that debuted at Sundance a year ago. … Continue reading Spectrum Check