Now Playing — The Lost Daughter
Maggie Gyllenhaal didn’t opt for an easy task with her feature directorial debut. There’s presumably a straightforward way to to adapt Elena Ferrante’s 2008 novel, The Lost Daughter, to the screen, laying out the embers of emotion and the character … Continue reading Now Playing — The Lost Daughter
Then Playing — The Matrix; The Green Knight; Zola
The Matrix (Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski, 1999). In revisiting this ahead of the recent sequel, my reaction more or less mirrored original impressions from my opening-weekend experience in the theater what seems like centuries ago. The Wachowski siblings manage … Continue reading Then Playing — The Matrix; The Green Knight; Zola
Betty White, 1922 – 2021
The world’s oldest broadcast television station first went on the air in 1928. About ten years later, Betty White was on the air, too. She made her debut by singing a song from the operetta The Merry Widow, essentially repeating … Continue reading Betty White, 1922 – 2021
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #254 to #252
254. Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars (1988) Word traveled to the major labels that there was a local band in Dallas that was playing to sellout crowds. Reps swarmed to the Deep Ellum neighborhood to … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #254 to #252
Outside Reading — Six from 2021
Every Saturday, this space is given over to extol the writing of others. Because this particular Saturday lands on the first day of the new year, it seems proper to call attention to some of the articles of 2021 that … Continue reading Outside Reading — Six from 2021
Five Songs from 2021
Although the most cursory click-around on this digital slab of opinion makes it clear that I have no reservation about ranking the pop culture artifacts that stir my soul, the exception to that sorting rule comes when I look back … Continue reading Five Songs from 2021
Top Ten Albums of 2021
The stack of hyperlinks until the Previously… at the bottom of this post remind me of just how long I’ve maintaining this particular end-o’-the-year tradition. Clicking on any one of those hyperlinks confirms that my summary introduction is almost always … Continue reading Top Ten Albums of 2021
Now Playing — The Matrix Resurrections
I appreciate that Lana Wachowski, usually in collaboration with sibling Lilly Wachowski, tried to do other things. They didn’t always work, not entirely, but there was at least an attempt to tell different stories in eager exploitation of the lingering … Continue reading Now Playing — The Matrix Resurrections
Now Playing — Being the Ricardos
Aaron Sorkin channels a lot of his interests into Being the Ricardos. The writer-director hits upon political bullying, television production, creatives bucking against killjoy executive, and snappish relationships predicated on a version of romance that has no apparent love in … Continue reading Now Playing — Being the Ricardos
Now Playing — Spider-Man: No Way Home
When I delved in devotedly to superhero sagas, many Marvel Comics Calendars ago, it was generally understood that the publisher of Spider-Man’s super stories was able to maintain a more coherent continuity because they hadn’t tinkered around in alternate universes … Continue reading Now Playing — Spider-Man: No Way Home
Coffee for Two 