Ceding the Floor
I post in this space every day (with the occasional self-gifted break), but I feel like today isn’t the right day for my words. The words of some other people are far more important. As the political party most complicit … Continue reading Ceding the Floor
Then Playing — Martha Marcy May Marlene; Personal Shopper; Cleo from 5 to 7
Martha Marcy May Marlene (Sean Durkin, 2011). The debut feature from director Sean Durkin takes a fraught subject and increases its power with shrewd understatement. The film opens as Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) flees a commune-like rural homestead, seeking assistance, with … Continue reading Then Playing — Martha Marcy May Marlene; Personal Shopper; Cleo from 5 to 7
Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Nineteen
#19 — Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance, 2010) Michelle Williams carries the weight of a weary life like few of her acting contemporaries. She’s been called upon to portray misery so often that it is all too easy to forget how … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Nineteen
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #467 to #465
467. Various Artists, Quadrophenia (Music From The Soundtrack Of The Who Film) (1979) “The problem with a film like Quadrophenia is that it’s exploited something that’s already there,” Pete Townshend noted of the film based on the Who’s 1973 album … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #467 to #465
Outside Reading — Unzipped edition
Donald Trump’s USPS Attacks Threaten to Disrupt 2020 Election by Lily Herman Of all the colossal absurdities in a political era defined by them, perhaps none is quite so absurd than the fact that concerted effort is now required to … Continue reading Outside Reading — Unzipped edition
This Week’s Model — Carly Rae Jepsen, “Me and the Boys in the Band”
As she’s spun up new pop jelly beans in recent years, Carly Rae Jepsen has developed a reputation for ludicrous productivity, reportedly generating hundreds of new songs for each album. So it’s hardly surprisingly that a pesky annoyance such a … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Carly Rae Jepsen, “Me and the Boys in the Band”
The New Releases Shelf — Lianne La Havas
According to Lianne La Havas, she started writing songs for her latest album shortly after a breakup. That makes sense, because soul music is practically made for heartache. Or seduction, but the heartache brings out a sharper tang. The resulting … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Lianne La Havas
Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty
#20 — The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2015) An important cinematic storytelling strategy, too often overlooked, is to treat the outlandish as if it’s as plain as white paint on a wall. In Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster, people who are romantically … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty
The Art of the Sell – Star Snacks
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. As we edge towards the final days of this strange movie summer, free of blockbusters and with … Continue reading The Art of the Sell – Star Snacks
Then Playing — Green Mansions; Claudine; Julieta
Green Mansions (Mel Ferrer, 1959). This film contains one of the most spectacular triumvirates of disastrous casting choices I’ve ever seen in a major Hollywood production. Green Mansions adapts a 1904 novel by William Henry Hudson and follows a headstrong … Continue reading Then Playing — Green Mansions; Claudine; Julieta
