Then Playing — It Chapter Two; Sounder; Thoroughbreds
It Chapter Two (Andy Muschietti, 2019). After his big-screen adaption of Stephen King’s It outperformed any reasonable expectations at the box office, it was pretty much inevitable that director Andy Muschietti would go back to Derry, Maine, the small town … Continue reading Then Playing — It Chapter Two; Sounder; Thoroughbreds
Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty-Three
#23 — Inside Llewyn Davis (Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, 2013) No other filmmakers thwart their characters’ ambitions and unravel their dreams with quite the same aplomb as Ethan and Joel Coen. The brothers are often lauded for their uncanny … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty-Three
Then Playing — Don’t Think Twice; Relic; Archive
Don’t Think Twice (Mike Birbiglia, 2016). This rueful comedy follows a modestly successful improv group that starts buckling when one member (Keegan-Michael Key) get his big break through being cast on a national television show akin to Saturday Night Live. … Continue reading Then Playing — Don’t Think Twice; Relic; Archive
Top Ten Television, 2019-2020 season
If the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences can go ahead and pretend they can proceed with the usual glad-handling and self-congratulation of an awards season, I guess I can keep up my corresponding tradition. Tradition holds that the … Continue reading Top Ten Television, 2019-2020 season
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #479 to #477
479. Roxy Music, Flesh + Blood (1980) After Roxy Music returned from an extended hiatus to make the 1979 album Manifesto, they found themselves making significant adjustments intended to insinuate their music into the marketplace. Songs from the album were … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #479 to #477
Outside Reading — A Point of Personal Privilege edition
Why Men Won’t Apologize by Jessica Valenti The Poison of Male Incivility by Rebecca Traister Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Delivers a Lesson in Decency on the House Floor by David Remnick This week, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez faced the same condescending verbal abuse that … Continue reading Outside Reading — A Point of Personal Privilege edition
This Week’s Model — Lydia Loveless, “Love is Not Enough”
“I can’t believe the worst kinds of people achieve/ Everything they want/ But it takes medication to get me off.” In her new song, Lydia Loveless does a damn fine job of encapsulating what it’s like to live in the … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Lydia Loveless, “Love is Not Enough”
Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty-Four
#24 — Moneyball (Bennett Miller, 2011) Baseball thrives and withers on its sense of tradition. The national pastime and the grand old game, baseball has a professional legacy that no other sport can match. The Chicago Cubs, for example, played … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty-Four
Then Playing — Charlie’s Angels; Invasion of the Body Snatchers; Last Christmas
Charlie’s Angels (Elizabeth Banks, 2019). Elizabeth Banks does her level best to scrape away the barnacles of patriarchal chauvinism that cling to the light-action property that launched in the nineteen-seventies as the tale of “three little girls who went to … Continue reading Then Playing — Charlie’s Angels; Invasion of the Body Snatchers; Last Christmas
The New Releases Shelf — Women in Music Pt. III
Well, the title is just about perfect, isn’t it? For their third full-length effort, Haim swing their broadswords straight at the identity shorthand that gets laid upon their music, defining their craft less by the sounds assembled and more by … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Women in Music Pt. III
Coffee for Two 