Playing Catch-Up — Storm Warning; Pickpocket; Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
Storm Warning (Stuart Heisler, 1951). This drama about the power of the Ku Klux Klan in a small U.S. town plays as a odd hybrid of courtroom potboiler and lurid thriller. A woman named Marsha Mitchell (Ginger Rogers) is passing … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Storm Warning; Pickpocket; Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
The Art of the Sell — Alvin Ailey’s “Revelations”
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. One of the most thrilling things about transformative works of art is that it’s desperately rare that … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Alvin Ailey’s “Revelations”
Now Playing — I, Tonya
Craig Gillespie’s Lars and the Real Girl is a small marvel of gracious, empathetic filmmaking. Centered on a lonely, withdrawn man who engages in a tender love affair with a life-size doll, the film is primed for harsh mockery. Instead, … Continue reading Now Playing — I, Tonya
Laughing Matters — The Kids in the Hall, “A Visit from Santa”
Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. Merry Christmas, all! Previous … Continue reading Laughing Matters — The Kids in the Hall, “A Visit from Santa”
College Countdown: CMJ Top 40 Cuts, March 16, 1990 — 4 – 1
4. Sinead O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U” The tip-off about the identity of the songwriter in there in title. When Sinead O’Connor released “Nothing Compares 2 U” as the lead single from her sophomore album, I Do Not Want What … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 40 Cuts, March 16, 1990 — 4 – 1
From the Archive — The Sopranos finale
Since I invoked (via hyperlink) this old chunk of writing when I shared my thoughts on Star Wars: The Last Jedi the other day, it seems reasonably appropriate to drag the whole essay straight over. That’s what this Saturday feature … Continue reading From the Archive — The Sopranos finale
One for Friday — Stars, “Fairytale of New York”
When the Canadian band Stars recorded their cover of “Fairytale in New York,” just in time for Christmas 2005, I don’t think the Pogues song was yet considered an unavoidable holiday classic. It certainly wasn’t prominent enough in the cultural … Continue reading One for Friday — Stars, “Fairytale of New York”
The Art of the Sell — Spike’s Joint
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. At his very best, Spike Lee is a helluva filmmaker: daring, uncompromising, and astute. He’s precisely the … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Spike’s Joint
Now Playing — Star Wars: The Last Jedi
It’s been a little more than forty years since simple letters in a crystal blue font first informed audiences they were about to see a story that happened in a distant galaxy quite some time earlier. Conceived and directed by … Continue reading Now Playing — Star Wars: The Last Jedi
My Writers — Emma Cline
Emma Cline has only published one novel, but it’s a dandy. The Girls, which first hit shelves in 2016, in the late nineteen-sixties. It centers on a young teenager named Evie, who falls in with a group of slightly older … Continue reading My Writers — Emma Cline
