Then Playing — Toni Erdmann; Wildlife; The Seagull
Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016). German filmmaker Maren Ade puts pathos and comedy together in a way that’s borderline magical in Toni Erdmann. The title character, as it were, is a pseudonym commonly adopted by Winfried (Peter Simonischek) when he’s … Continue reading Then Playing — Toni Erdmann; Wildlife; The Seagull
Now Playing — Beyond the Visible – Hilma af Klint
In her recent book Ninth Street Women, Mary Gabriel briefly recounts the story of a misattributed painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A portrait of Charlotte du Val d’Ognes, the piece was originally thought to be the handiwork of … Continue reading Now Playing — Beyond the Visible – Hilma af Klint
Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “It’s Got the Whole World Shakin'”
These posts are about the songs that just barely failed to cross the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. When Sam Cooke entered RCA Victor’s Music … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “It’s Got the Whole World Shakin’”
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #524 to #521
524. ‘Til Tuesday, Voices Carry (1985) In the late nineteen-seventies, Boston radio station WBCN started an annual battle-of-the-bands promotional event called the Rock & Roll Rumble. As usual for these sorts of undertakings, the Rock & Roll Rumble had an … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #524 to #521
Outside Reading — Is Our Children Learning? edition
A National Death Wish: How Science, Education, and the Future Were Sacrificed For Profit and Power by Jared Yates Sexton As Jared Yates Sexton meticulously argues in his new essay, published by The Muckrake, where we are at now is … Continue reading Outside Reading — Is Our Children Learning? edition
This Week’s Model — The 1975, “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)”
Gleaming and pretty and just a touch odd, “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know),” the new single from U.K. band the 1975, invites admiring comparisons to the particular brand of nineteen-eighties music, practiced by the likes of Tears for … Continue reading This Week’s Model — The 1975, “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)”
The New Releases Shelf — Saint Cloud
Waxahatchee wasn’t a new act when the album Ivy Tripp was released, in 2015. Katie Crutchfield had been slinging tunes under that name for a few years and had a couple prior full-lengths. But Ivy Tripp felt major and new, … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Saint Cloud
Then Playing — Foreign Correspondent; The Rape of Recy Taylor; In Fabric
Foreign Correspondent (Alfred Hitchcock, 1940). Alfred Hitchcock’s second Hollywood picture is basically a trial run for all slam-bang entertainments that would follow in his career. On the leading edge of World War II, a New York newspaper sends a metro … Continue reading Then Playing — Foreign Correspondent; The Rape of Recy Taylor; In Fabric
Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Thirty-Eight
#38 — Hugo (Martin Scorsese, 2011) Martin Scorsese has long been a more versatile filmmaker than he is given credit for. Much as everyone reveres the tales of thugs and gangsters (and I am among the dutifully reverential), Scorsese has … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Thirty-Eight
Then Playing — Zombieland: Double Tap; Hale County This Morning, This Evening; A Separation
Zombieland: Double Tap (Ruben Fleischer, 2019). This sequel to Ruben Fleischer’s winning horror-comedy of a decade earlier isn’t good, but its pedestrian nature is almost charming. It calls to mind a bygone era, when new installments of film series were … Continue reading Then Playing — Zombieland: Double Tap; Hale County This Morning, This Evening; A Separation
