Top Ten Movies of 2018 — Number Seven
Shirkers is a movie that never was. Or maybe was, then wasn’t, then was again. And then, well after its journey seemed fully, decisively over, a dusty path ending at a sheer cliff face, Shirkers became an entirely different type … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2018 — Number Seven
Great Moments in Literature
“In those days, I knew nothing of what I’ve come to know of the upper classes, who seemed to my mind then either fat people in dusty wigs, half recumbent or mounted upon some unfortunate horse, in paintings with gilded … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #780 to #777
780. China Crisis, What Price Paradise (1986) When China Crisis set out to record their fourth album, What Price Paradise, they were coming off a release that supposedly conferred upon them a sort of official endorsement from the upper echelon … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #780 to #777
From the Archive — Godzilla
As hype builds for the forthcoming release of the new big screen blockbuster Godzilla: King of the Monsters (complete with intense scrutiny of every fragment of available information), I will give over a few digital column inches to sharing anew … Continue reading From the Archive — Godzilla
This Week’s Model — Emily Reo, “Strawberry”
Here’s the thing about working in higher education, as I did for about fifteen years: You get to feel booming pride for a whole fleet of young adults who go out and start putting dents in the world. Sometimes, that … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Emily Reo, “Strawberry”
Top Ten Movies of 2018 — Number Eight
Satire is punishingly hard to master on the big screen. It’s a tricky puzzle in any medium, but there’s an added degree of difficulty when the tapestry is so large and dynamic. Many skilled filmmakers have taken large gashes in … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2018 — Number Eight
The New Releases Shelf — Remind Me Tomorrow
Sharon Van Etten has an intimacy issue, of a sort. Her previous studio efforts (and there’s a big batch of them, including self-released material and stray demos) are filled with stark and beautiful songs. Many of them are also so … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Remind Me Tomorrow
Playing Catch-Up — Tully; Can You Ever Forgive Me; The Smart Studios Story
Tully (Jason Reitman, 2018). Working with a script by Diablo Cody, the writer behind two of his best outings, and a compelling, vanity-free performance by Charlize Theron, director Jason Reitman creates a film that is almost jarring in its bleak … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Tully; Can You Ever Forgive Me; The Smart Studios Story
Top Ten Movies of 2018 — Number Nine
The instigating action of the plot is so small and unassuming that it almost seems like a cheerful memory rather than a cinematic plot point. A little bear named Paddington (voiced marvelously by Ben Whishaw) longs to purchase a vintage … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2018 — Number Nine
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #784 to #781
784. Aerosmith, Night in the Ruts (1979) Well before their unlikely mid-nineteen-eighties comeback, Aerosmith was band that didn’t just court disaster. It got down to one knee and gave disaster a full-hearted proposal of marriage at first sight. The Boston … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #784 to #781
Coffee for Two 