From the Archive — Brokeback Mountain
A few days after the annual Oscar nominations announcement is still a time of bliss, when justice is possible. No matter how many personal favorites have been overlooked, there inevitably remain contenders imbued with uncommon cinematic beauty. Maybe those creative … Continue reading From the Archive — Brokeback Mountain
This Week’s Model — Better Oblivion Community Center, “Dylan Thomas”
Maybe someday Phoebe Bridgers will appear on every record, or at least every record worth buying. In the last sixteen months, Bridgers released her solo debut, gave all the sad kids new treasures as one-third of boygenius, and now arrives … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Better Oblivion Community Center, “Dylan Thomas”
Top Ten Movies of 2018 — Number Ten
Ari Aster brings a scalding intensity to his feature directorial debut, Hereditary. Unmistakably a horror film — in its nightmarish imagery, in its tone, in its unapologetic embrace of the gruesome — Hereditary is presented with a psychological acuity that is … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2018 — Number Ten
Top Ten Movies of 2018 — An Introduction
The Oscar nominations arrived yesterday, and with them comes my own timed-release survey of the best the recently closed cinematic year had to offer. I begin with my customary caveat: Much as I’d like to be comprehensive and timely in … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2018 — An Introduction
Popularity Contest — Thoughts on the Oscar Nominations
It’s been a notably rocky year for the the most hallowed of entertainment honors, so it’s fitting that the announcement of this year’s Academy Award nominees was a mix of the woefully predictable with gleaming bursts of the daring. In … Continue reading Popularity Contest — Thoughts on the Oscar Nominations
Playing Catch-Up — Shirkers; I Feel Pretty; First Reformed
Shirkers (Sandi Tan, 2018). This documentary traces a guerilla attempt at filmmaking by a group of teenagers and their somewhat skeevy teacher in Singapore, in the early nineteen-nineties. Essentially a cinematic memoir of embitterment and gradual self-discovery by Sandi Tan, … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Shirkers; I Feel Pretty; First Reformed
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #788 to #785
788. Stevie Nicks, The Wild Heart (1983) At the time Stevie Nicks recorded The Wild Heart, her second solo album, there was little doubt that she was emerging as the dominant member of Fleetwood Mac, the band that could still … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #788 to #785
From the Archive — FernGully: The Last Rainforest
The brevity of this review reflects its placement as part of general round-up of new releases I wrote for The Pointer, the student newspaper of the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. It’s highly questionable as to whether or not … Continue reading From the Archive — FernGully: The Last Rainforest
This Week’s Model — Strand of Oaks, “Weird Ways”
The way Timothy Showalter tells it, creating new music to be released under his preferred moniker Strand of Oaks wasn’t his idea. On his website, Showalter even openly ruminates on the possibility that he might have reached a creative endpoint … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Strand of Oaks, “Weird Ways”
Golden Words — “The Lou and Edie Story”
Since great television comedy always begins with the script, this series of posts considers the individual episodes that have claimed the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series over the years. The Emmy Awards are known for … Continue reading Golden Words — “The Lou and Edie Story”
Coffee for Two 