Now Playing — Toy Story 4
So maybe here’s where the story ends? Nearly twenty-five years after Toy Story launched Pixar into the field of feature film production and almost a decade past Toy Story 3, which seemed to provide an ideal conclusion to the franchise, … Continue reading Now Playing — Toy Story 4
Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Easy Come Easy Go”
Whatever other plentiful complaints can be lodged against the hair metal band Winger, they deserve admiring credit for the novelistic perfection of this detail: Their final single to place on the Billboard Hot 100 bears the title “Easy Come Easy … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Easy Come Easy Go”
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #700 to #697
700. Dinosaur Jr., You’re Living All Over Me (1987) Still known as simply Dinosaur at the time, the band fronted by J. Mascis released their sophomore full-length, You’re Living All Over Me, late in 1987. Championed by members of Sonic … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #700 to #697
Outside Reading — When She Squeezed Me Tight She Nearly Broke My Spine edition
Banned: The song deemed ‘too dangerous’ for the BBC by Stephen Dowling In a marvelous act of research and wry summary, Stephen Dowling provides the details on around a dozen different songs that have received official bans from the BBC … Continue reading Outside Reading — When She Squeezed Me Tight She Nearly Broke My Spine edition
This Week’s Model — Sheer Mag, “Blood From a Stone”
I want music to be complex and surprising. I want intricacies and subversions, devilishly clever reinvention and bursts of inspiration that upend the very foundations of pop. But sometimes — often, really — what I want more than anything is … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Sheer Mag, “Blood From a Stone”
The New Releases Shelf — Originals
I come to Originals, the new album credited to Prince, with mighty mixed emotions. My cumbersome manner in naming the performer associated with the release basically tells the story. I have a hard time believing Prince would have been pleased … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Originals
Playing Catch-Up — Cop Car; The Predator; The Case Against 8
Cop Car (Jon Watts, 2015). Like the product of a mysterious third Coen brother who got some of Steven Spielberg’s DNA spliced into him in utero, Cop Car begins with a simple premise, predicated on the wonderstruck and impulsive decision … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Cop Car; The Predator; The Case Against 8
Greatish Performances #43
#43 — Jean Arthur as Bonnie Lee in Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks. 1939) By most accounts, Jean Arthur was miserable making Only Angels Have Wings. One of many aces director Frank Capra had in his usual deck, Arthur … Continue reading Greatish Performances #43
The Art of the Sell — John Waters “No Smoking” PSA
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. Back in the nineteen-eighties, movie theaters had to work a little harder to remind patrons that they … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — John Waters “No Smoking” PSA
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #704 to #701
704. Phil Manzanera, K-Scope (1978) Phil Manzanera was a busy fellow in the late nineteen-seventies. Undoubtedly most famous as the lead guitarist for Roxy Music, Manzanera was dabbling in all sorts of other projects. Tops among them was the band … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #704 to #701
