Carl Reiner, 1922-2020
For my eleventh birthday, all I wanted was a Carl Reiner movie. A little more than a year after the release of The Jerk, Reiner’s sixth film as a director and his first of four straight starring Steve Martin, the … Continue reading Carl Reiner, 1922-2020
The New Releases Shelf —Sideways to New Italy
When I fell for Hope Downs, the debut full-length from Australian band Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, it was because I heard the college radio of my own personal era in the earnest, tuneful stylings. It wasn’t true retro, reliant on … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf —Sideways to New Italy
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #491 to #489
491. The Suburbs, Love is the Law (1984) Serving as the trailblazers in a Minneapolis rock scene that went a long way towards defining alternative music in the pre-grunge era, the Suburbs were prepared to make a proper stab at … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #491 to #489
Outside Reading — Canon Fodder edition
Rethinking the Film Canon by Rich Juzwiak Earlier this year, I was listening to the Little Gold Men podcast as they discussed the newly announced Academy Award nominations. As they mostly expressed relief about the small signs of voters looking beyond … Continue reading Outside Reading — Canon Fodder edition
This Week’s Model — Eric Church, “Stick That in Your Country Song”
I barely follow it, and even I know it’s been a helluva week for country music. I’m sure there are still plenty of practitioners of the form still relying on pickup truck cliches and jingoistic garbage to propel their creativity, … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Eric Church, “Stick That in Your Country Song”
Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty-Eight
#28 — Snowpiercer (Bong Joon Ho, 2013) Most of the films of director Bong Joon Ho have been wholly original works, suffused with inspiration drawn from serious study of film, perhaps, but springing start to finish from his whirring brain. … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty-Eight
Then Playing — Ashes and Embers; Brewster McCloud; A Star is Born
Ashes and Embers (Haile Gerima, 1982). Made around forty years ago, Haile Gerima’s experimental drama opens with Black men driving in a city who get pulled over police officers that immediately escalate the situation, presuming guilt as a default for … Continue reading Then Playing — Ashes and Embers; Brewster McCloud; A Star is Born
Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty-Nine
#29 — American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013) Rife with absurdity and energized by misguided bravado and crass capitalistic scheming, David O. Russell’s darkly comic rendering of the FBI’s Abscam sting operation would feel off if it didn’t have “American” … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twenty-Nine
Laughing Matters — Meet The CONAN Staff: Conor Oberst – Production Assistant
Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. The official announcement of … Continue reading Laughing Matters — Meet The CONAN Staff: Conor Oberst – Production Assistant
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #494 to #492
494. Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Rust Never Sleeps (1979) Neil Young had a record to promote when he went on the road in 1978. With backing band Crazy Horse sharing the bus, Young undertook a monthlong trek meant to … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #494 to #492
Coffee for Two 