The Long Haul — Kelsey Grammer in Cheers and Frasier
These posts are about great acting performances sustained across the full run of a television series. When Dr. Frasier Crane first bellied up to a certain Boston, below-ground bar, there was no inkling that the character would be a fixture … Continue reading The Long Haul — Kelsey Grammer in Cheers and Frasier
Then Playing — Laggies; This Changes Everything; Buck and the Preacher
Laggies (Lynn Shelton, 2014). There are other films that depict a twenty-something character’s panicked retreat from the looming responsibility of adulthood, but few make the minor insurrection as charmingly pathetic as Laggies. Directed by Lynn Shelton (working from someone else’s … Continue reading Then Playing — Laggies; This Changes Everything; Buck and the Preacher
Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty-Two
#22 — Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012) Michael Haneke is not gentle with viewers. The Austrian filmmaker built his formidable reputation with material that dwells, to different degrees, on the significant cruelties human beings exact on one another. The appalling instincts … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty-Two
Then Playing — Bad Education; The Story of Temple Drake; Rocketman
Bad Education (Cory Finley, 2020). Based on a real incident, as reported in a New York article, Bad Education is a portrait of criminal greed dressed up as glad-handling public duty. Frank Tassone (Hugh Jackman) is the superintendent of a … Continue reading Then Playing — Bad Education; The Story of Temple Drake; Rocketman
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #476 to #474
476. Love Tractor, This Ain’t No Outer Space Ship (1986) The early nineteen-eighties was a good time for a band to ply their trade in Athens, Georgia. In addition to an especially fertile club scene, boosted by a college crowd … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #476 to #474
Outside Reading — Breathing Lessons edition
COVID-19 should encourage creative reform in higher education by John McNay I’ve previously used my little corner of the digital world to share articles that detail the opportunity of the current moment, the clearing of stagnant practices that would allow … Continue reading Outside Reading — Breathing Lessons edition
This Week’s Model — Ela Minus, “megapunk”
Hypnotic and steely, the new single from Ela Minus is a forceful techno anthem for our wounded times. Born in Bogota and based in Brooklyn, Minus makes music with an impeccable sense of craft, layering on airy, rich vocals that … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Ela Minus, “megapunk”
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
