From the Archive — The Man with Two Brains
Continuing with mini-series launched last week that excavates the reviews from the bygone “Movies That Shoulda Been Summer Blockbusters” special episode of 90FM’s The Reel Thing, this is what I wrote about the comedy The Man with Two Brains, directed … Continue reading From the Archive — The Man with Two Brains
One for Friday: Mental As Anything, “Thinking Out Loud”
Crossing over from my relatively sheltered experience with music into the vast open tundra of college radio was joyful and astonishing. It was freeing, intimidating, exhausting, and enlivening all at the same time. When I complain about the difficulty I … Continue reading One for Friday: Mental As Anything, “Thinking Out Loud”
Playing Catch-Up: Cops and Robbers; Murder, He Says; Tower
Cops and Robbers (Aram Avakian, 1973). This jagged comedy of resignation hails from the era of U.S. cinema when depictions of New York City were so gritty that it seemed as if wringing the celluloid like a towel would cause … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up: Cops and Robbers; Murder, He Says; Tower
Top Ten Television, 2016-2017 season
The Emmy nominations will be offered up tomorrow morning. As per tradition, I carve out some room at my little corner of the digital world to weigh on those series that I consider to be the best of episodic storytelling … Continue reading Top Ten Television, 2016-2017 season
Now Playing — Spider-Man: Homecoming
We are now in the tenth year of the Marvel Age of Movies, and who can argue against the astonishing influence of the comic book publisher turned crafter of cinematic crescendos? All through that resounding success, it had to rankle … Continue reading Now Playing — Spider-Man: Homecoming
Laughing Matters: Sniglets
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. I would be overjoyed … Continue reading Laughing Matters: Sniglets
College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 22 – 20
22. The Church, “Under the Milky Way” When Waddy Wachtel and Greg Ladanyi were brought onboard to produce the Church’s fifth album, Starfish, they sought to shift the Australian band away from the soothing, swirling psychedelia that was their defining … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 22 – 20
From the Archive — Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Launching a two-man movie review program in 1990 meant our weekly effort followed the template set by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. There was no question about it. That included the occasional creation of themed shows. In the case of … Continue reading From the Archive — Gremlins 2: The New Batch
One for Friday: The Scruffs, “She Say Yea”
I turn now, as I do on occasion, to the stockpile of songs I once gratefully downloaded from a blog called Little Hits. The page is long-gone, lost to the misty whims of digital media. But at the time I … Continue reading One for Friday: The Scruffs, “She Say Yea”
Now (and Then) Playing: The Beguiled
The Beguiled, the new film from director Sofia Coppola, is based on a novel written by Thomas Cullinan, originally published in 1966. Realistically, though, it probably owes more to the first attempt at taking the story from page to screen: … Continue reading Now (and Then) Playing: The Beguiled
Coffee for Two 