The Art of the Sell — The 13th movie poster
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. One of the sad side effects of so much of modern serious filmmaking begin done under the … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — The 13th movie poster
Laughing Matters — Sarah Cooper, “How to lobster”
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. Not long ago, Sarah … Continue reading Laughing Matters — Sarah Cooper, “How to lobster”
Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Thirty-Two
#32 — Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012) Violence begets violence. In the longstanding cinematic algebra that posits the swinging of fists and the pulling of triggers as the readiest and surest solutions to all manner of problems — such as the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Thirty-Two
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #500 to #498
500. INXS, Shabooh Shoobah (1982) The members of INXS knew they were on the verge of a breakthrough when preparing to record their third album, Shabooh Shoobah. After a couple reasonably successful album releases in their homeland of Australia, the … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #500 to #498
Outside Reading — Precedented edition
“Can We Live?” by Tananarive Due Now that we’re almost halfway through this calendar year that epitomizes the curse of interesting times, it’s useful to remember that the the cataclysms of now have historic precursors that we can learn from. … Continue reading Outside Reading — Precedented edition
This Week’s Model — Bob Mould, “American Crisis”
Of all the enduring figures of college rock’s heyday in the nineteen-eighties and early nineteen-nineties, no one mines their own history more effectively than Bob Mould. Across his last several albums, Mould has drawn upon most of the sounds that … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Bob Mould, “American Crisis”
Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Thirty-Three
#33 — Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015) In the nineteen-fifties, a young woman from Ireland moves to the United States. Ellis (Saoirse Ronan) has few prospects and only the slenderest of connections to other Irish immigrants in the big city she … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Thirty-Three
Then Playing — Fast Color; Monty Python’s Life of Brian; Blinded By the Light
Fast Color (Julia Hart, 2019). Black girl magic made tangible, Fast Color lightly adheres to the superhero origin story template that’s unexpectedly become a cinematic mainstay. In the film, Ruth (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) returns to her Midwestern childhood home at a … Continue reading Then Playing — Fast Color; Monty Python’s Life of Brian; Blinded By the Light
My Writers — Spike Lee
For a long time, I primarily made sense of the world through the movies. I read books and newspapers, too, but in those endeavors I mostly hovered above the surface of what might be uncomfortable, what might challenge my conceptions … Continue reading My Writers — Spike Lee
Radio Days — Then and Now: May 31, 2020
This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves. Last night, I commemorated a momentous birthday, crossing over to one of those ages that can leave … Continue reading Radio Days — Then and Now: May 31, 2020
Coffee for Two 