Now Playing — Skate Kitchen
Director Crystal Moselle’s debut feature was a documentary, the acclaimed depiction of isolated, movie-obsessed brothers called The Wolfpack. It is fitting, then, that Moselle’s first full-length fiction offering is reliant on the foundational skills of observation and spinning a compelling narrative out of the distinctive individuals she meets when traversing the big world with a keen eye. Skate Kitchen takes its name from a crew of young women skateboarders in New York City who Moselle first encountered by chance, recruiting them for the short film That One Day before fleshing out the material to cover the requite ninety-plus minutes. The … Continue reading Now Playing — Skate Kitchen
Now Playing — Support the Girls
The following should be an obvious point: The setting of a movie is important. By this, I don’t mean that only films settled into certain locales can have value. It’s that the setting — whatever the setting — should inform … Continue reading Now Playing — Support the Girls
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #868 to #865
868. Laurie Anderson, United States Live (1984) ”Since I tour a lot, especially in Europe, ‘I’ve frequently found myself sitting across the dinner table from people who ask me, ‘How can you live in a country like that?,’” Laurie Anderson … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #868 to #865
From the Archive — Rachel Getting Married
Sometimes I simply get sad that there won’t be any more Jonathan Demme movies. This was written for my former online space. One of things I most admire about Jonathan Demme as a director is his ability to take on … Continue reading From the Archive — Rachel Getting Married
One for Friday — Edie Brickell and New Bohemians, “Circle”
Thirty years ago, in the summer of 1988, Edie Brickell and New Bohemians released the album Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars. Without their lead singer’s name out in front, the band had spent a couple years gigging around the Deep Ellum … Continue reading One for Friday — Edie Brickell and New Bohemians, “Circle”
Beers I Have Known — Coney Island Brewing Company Merman IPA
This series of posts is dedicated to the many, many six packs, pony kegs and pints that have sauntered into my life at one point or another. I’ve discovered that when it’s brutally hot outside in New York City, there are ample solutions available, often served in pint-sized doses. Previous entries in this series can be found by clicking on the “Beers I Have Known” tag. Continue reading Beers I Have Known — Coney Island Brewing Company Merman IPA
Playing Catch-Up — The Deadly Affair; Dear Ruth; Breathless
The Deadly Affair (Sidney Lumet, 1967). Only the second film adaptation of a John le Carré work (it’s based on his novel Call for the Dead, although rights reasons prevented the studio from using its main character George Smiley), this … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — The Deadly Affair; Dear Ruth; Breathless
Now Playing — The Miseducation of Cameron Post
In The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Chloë Grace Moretz plays the title character, a high school girl who is caught outside the homecoming dance making out with one of her female friends (Quinn Shephard) in a parked car. Cameron’s aunt … Continue reading Now Playing — The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Mr. Success”
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. in 1958, Frank Sinatra expertly divided him … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Mr. Success”
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #872 to #869
872. Sting, …Nothing Like the Sun (1987) These days, I’m as prone as anyone to treat the performer born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner as a punchline of uncoolness, sitting swaddled in a couture turtleneck on some sprawling, misty English estate. … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #872 to #869
