Now Playing — Creed II
There were many reasons to celebrate Creed, led by Michael B. Jordan’s exemplary performance as second generation professional boxer Adonis Johnson, who would eventually overcome emotional-fueled reluctance claim the name of his departed father. The other aspect of the film … Continue reading Now Playing — Creed II
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #816 to #813
816. The Slickee Boys, Cybernetic Dreams of Pi (1983) Formed in Washington, D.C., in the mid-nineteen-seventies, the Slickee Boys took their name from slang used by U.S. soldiers to describe the local young black market peddlers in Korea that dressed … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #816 to #813
From the Archive — Tiny Furniture
A fantastic article published this week addressed the dilemma that is Lena Dunham. A heralded new voice when her HBO show Girls premiered, Dunham has become one of those creators whose public persona inevitably — and, for many, damagingly — … Continue reading From the Archive — Tiny Furniture
One for Friday — The Waterboys, “And a Bang on the Ear”
Thirty years ago, in the autumn of 1988, the Waterboys released the album Fisherman’s Blues. It was officially the fourth full-length studio release from the motley and ever-shifting crew of musicians Scotsman Mike Scott assembled around him, and it was … Continue reading One for Friday — The Waterboys, “And a Bang on the Ear”
The New Releases Shelf — Honey
At around the time several of her songs took off in unexpected ways that forecast the crazy land of viral popularity, it seemed Robyn was poised to become as big of a pop star as she wanted to be. Certainly, … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Honey
Great Moments in Literature
“On that snowy day when he asked to borrow all that money to take care of his sick sister in Georgia, Lily’s disgust fought with relief and lost. She picked up the dog tags he’d left on the bathroom sink … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature
Now Playing — Widows
Arriving five years after director Steve McQueen took 12 Years a Slave to the top prize at the Academy Awards, Widows is a curious follow-up. It’s not simply that it doesn’t have the heft (in its basics, anyway) as the … Continue reading Now Playing — Widows
Playing Catch-Up — The Other Side of the Wind; Three Identical Strangers; All the Money in the World
The Other Side of the Wind (Orson Welles, 2018). Nearly fifty years after Orson Welles shot its first footage and over thirty years since the master filmmaker’s death, The Other Side of the Wind finally sees release. Completed by a … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — The Other Side of the Wind; Three Identical Strangers; All the Money in the World
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #820 to #817
820. Bob Dylan, Slow Train Coming (1979) During his nineteen-sixties heyday, the most notorious moment of Bob Dylan’s career came at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, when he flouted tradition and took the stage with a full band plugged into … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #820 to #817
From the Archive — Australia
With the news this week that Moulin Rouge! The Musical is officially coming to Broadway (hardly an unexpected turn after its Boston tryout largely drew raves), I found myself wondering if Baz Luhrmann is done with director feature films, ready to simply shovel dollars into his bank account from the revival of his greatest success. It’s been five years since he made The Great Gatsby, and there have been few signs of a follow-up. Of course, Luhrmann takes his time. His adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great American Novel arrived five years after its predecessor, a bumbled epic depiction of … Continue reading From the Archive — Australia
