The Playing — The Alphabet Murders; The Man from Laramie; Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind
The Alphabet Murders (Frank Tashlin, 1965). The primary curiosity of this adaptation of an Agatha Christie mystery is the oddity of Tony Randall being positioned as the U.S. answer to Peter Sellers. The Alphabet Murders was released one year after … Continue reading The Playing — The Alphabet Murders; The Man from Laramie; Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #482 to #480
482. Negativland, Escape from Noise (1987) Richard Lyons and Mike Hosler had been operating together as Negativland for nearly ten years when they and their collaborators delivered the album Escape from Noise. The group’s first outing for SST Records, a … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #482 to #480
Outside Reading — Good Trouble edition
John Lewis Was a Mighty American Soul by Charles P. Pierce I’m sure there are other obituaries and remembrances that sagely, somberly convey the greatness of John Lewis. But today, I want the piece that laces the reverence with commensurate … Continue reading Outside Reading — Good Trouble edition
This Week’s Model — Shamir, “I Wonder”
“And soon I’ll the neon shining moon/ And I’ll break you up just like the stars/ I’ll be the Earth without disease/ And you the human inside of me,” Shamir sings at the opening of “I Wonder,” his new single. … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Shamir, “I Wonder”
Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty-Five
#25 — Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, 2013) Nearly twenty years after a boyishly cute traveling American named Jesse (Ethan Hawke) met a young French woman named Céline (Julie Delpy) on a train traveling from Budapest to Vienna, all is not … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty-Five
Then Playing — Journey Into Fear; Nights of Cabiria; The Marrying Kind
Journey Into Fear (Norman Foster, 1943). Shortly after Orson Welles recruited his troupe’s leading man, Joseph Cotten, to pitch in on the script for The Magnificent Ambersons, he handed him primary writing duties on another adaptation. RKO had already taken … Continue reading Then Playing — Journey Into Fear; Nights of Cabiria; The Marrying Kind
Now Playing — The Old Guard
In its fundamental premise, the comic book series The Old Guard was made for modern movies. The mighty Marvel machine has fundamentally changed expectation for how big and booming action needs to be on screen in order to hold an … Continue reading Now Playing — The Old Guard
Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty-Six
#26 — Columbus (Kogonada, 2017) Intently studying great films, it turns out, is a solid strategy for someday making your own great film. Before crafting his debut feature, Columbus, Kogonada was surely best known for his exemplary video essays detailing … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty-Six
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #485 to #483
485. Jerry Harrison: Casual Gods, Casual Gods (1988) Thanks to his membership in Talking Heads, Jerry Harrison could claim a central part in creating some of the best and most influential rock music of the nineteen-seventies and nineteen-eighties. As the … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #485 to #483
Outside Reading — The Head, the Tail, the Whole Damn Thing edition
Warning: ‘Jaws’ Is Still Devouring Us by Manohla Dargis Writing for The New York Times, Manohla Dargis looks back at Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster with acute insight and inspired wit. The opening paragraph alone is a little masterpiece. There’s so … Continue reading Outside Reading — The Head, the Tail, the Whole Damn Thing edition
Coffee for Two 