Outside Reading — The Long Legacy of Claiborne Pell edition
I Am Not Proof of the American Dream by Tara Westover In some quarters, Tara Westover’s runaway bestseller memoir, Educated, made her exemplar of the American ethos that rewards concerted effort no matter the station in life that is a … Continue reading Outside Reading — The Long Legacy of Claiborne Pell edition
This Week’s Model — Wings of Desire, “Perfect World”
Sometimes what I really need is a lush piece of throwback dream pop, tinged with post-punk sensibility and somehow melancholy and triumphal simultaneously. I suspect there is a time when we all need that. That time is February. The band … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Wings of Desire, “Perfect World”
Top Ten Movies of 2021 — Number Ten
Flee is both an animated film and a documentary. That simple statement of fact is integral to understanding the unique power of Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s film. The story told is that of Amin Nawabi, and he tells it himself. Interviewed … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2021 — Number Ten
Top Ten Movies of 2021 — An Introduction
Another year passes with the movies simultaneously feeling more distant and yet more accessible than ever before. When I tapped out a similar introductory missive just about a year ago, a whole calendar had been flipped through and tossed in … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2021 — An Introduction
Jane’s Getting Serious — Thoughts on the Oscar Nominations
Another dizzying, pandemic-buffeted year for movies leads to another set of largely happy surprises with the Academy Award nominations. The Academy’s efforts to diversify the voting body continue to have interesting, rewarding results. Drive My Car took its flurry of … Continue reading Jane’s Getting Serious — Thoughts on the Oscar Nominations
Then Playing — Gas Food Lodging; The Tragedy of Macbeth; C’mon C’mon
Gas Food Lodging (Allison Anders, 1992). Here is early nineteen-nineties independent U.S. filmmaking in all its charm and shortcoming. Gas Food Lodging is a small story rendered with intimate emotional detail and acted with wildly varying ability. Simultaneously endearing and … Continue reading Then Playing — Gas Food Lodging; The Tragedy of Macbeth; C’mon C’mon
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #239 to #237
239. Shriekback, Big Night Music (1986) After three full-length albums, Shriekback had cause to reinvent themselves. During the recording of their third album, Oil & Gold, guitarist and vocalist Carl Marsh left the group. Frontman duties fell to keyboardist Barry … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #239 to #237
Outside Reading — Censorship vs. Curation edition
Why I’ve Decided to Take My Podcast Off Spotify by Roxane Gay With characteristic clarity, Roxane Gay writes about removing her current podcast from Spotify, part of an exodus of major figures in response to the streaming audio provider’s generous … Continue reading Outside Reading — Censorship vs. Curation edition
This Week’s Model — Arlo Parks, “Softly”
Promoting her new single on Instagram, Arlo Parks told her fans to “get ready to throw yourselves around your bedrooms with aching! glowing! hearts!” And ain’t that the truth. Bobbing on a cool neo-soul groove, “Softly” is an emotional accounting … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Arlo Parks, “Softly”
My Misspent Youth — Marvel Treasury Edition #25 by Bill Mantlo and Herb Trimpe
I read a lot of comic books as a kid. This series of posts is about the comics I read, and, occasionally, the comics that I should have read. Lake Placid, New York is approximately three hundred miles away from … Continue reading My Misspent Youth — Marvel Treasury Edition #25 by Bill Mantlo and Herb Trimpe
