Now Playing: Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange is an especially odd entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though not exactly for the reasons that would be expected from the perpetually trippy source material. Yes, the film sets itself apart by embracing the reality-bending possibilities inherent in the adapting the adventures of the master of the mystic arts to the big screen at a time of unparalleled CGI artistry, but that’s not precisely what I’m referring to. I don’t recall any other time when I’ve encountered a film that veers so dramatically in terms of its engagement. Doctor Strange is often dull, until the moments arrive, … Continue reading Now Playing: Doctor Strange
The New Releases Shelf: AIM
I’m not sure M.I.A. has ever made a single album that’s great from start to finish. Her muse has too much wanderlust for that. Running freely can lead an artist to cross entirely new landscapes, but it can also result in a mad rush into a blind alley or two. It can also lead to a sort of artistic exhaustion, which isn’t quite what M.I.A. copped to in suggesting that AIM, her fifth full-length overall, will be her final album. Still, she’s said she’s ready to move onto other projects, and there are times when AIM betrays a sense … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf: AIM
Greatish Performances #28
#28 — Kevin Kline as Dave Kovic (and Bill Mitchell) in Dave (Ivan Reitman, 1993) I default to cynicism, enjoying the safety of a reflexive irony when it comes to the most important matters. Believing in institutions — or in the will of the people in a shaky, overlarge republic — is a pathway to disappointment. Isn’t it? I am consistently braced for some sort of collapse, a withering of our sprawling, gnarled tree of humanity. As a citizen of the U.S., I am a patriot, albeit of the partly-cloudy variety defined by Sarah Vowell. The guarded suspicion of that … Continue reading Greatish Performances #28
Now Playing: Moonlight
In its particulars, the new film Moonlight comes perilously close to the sort of lurid fetishization of misery with the financially-downtrodden portions of the broader African-American community that makes films such as Precious into tedious slogs that simultaneously congratulate and exploit liberal empathy while compounding stereotypes. Within this story of a young black male who struggles with matter of identity as he grows into manhood there is a drug dealer with a heart of gold (Mahershala Ali), an addicted mother (Naomie Harris), a supposed intimate friend who delivers the ultimate betrayal (played by different actors at different ages, but by … Continue reading Now Playing: Moonlight
College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 124 – 122
124. Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Cities in Dust” One of the indicators that the nineteen-eighties was a time of very different expectations around bands’ productivity, there was some anxiety around how long it had been since new Siouxsie and the Banshees music had hit record store shelves when “Cities in Dust” was issued as a single, in August of 1985. This was despite the fact that had put out a full-length album and an EP the prior year. A trio of singles had been drawn from those two releases, each of which performed with the usual level of respectability on … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 124 – 122
From the Archive: Hear No Evil
This was written in late March of 1993, putting it near the end of my five years as an undergraduate college student and my three years as a film critic on radio station WWSP-FM. As for the latter experience, the weariness was clearly starting to show, at least when it came to sitting through the steady procession of drab thrillers that followed the runaway success of The Silence of the Lambs. Since I use the Academy Awards as an entryway into the review, it’s worth noting that the four freshly-named acting winners at this point were Al Pacino, Emma Thompson, … Continue reading From the Archive: Hear No Evil
One for Friday: De La Soul, “A Roller Skating Jam Named ‘Saturdays'”
When I reviewed De La Soul’s gratifyingly strong new album, and the Anonymous Nobody, I wrote about my own journey with the group, from initial hesitance to cheerful embrace, a trajectory that spanned from their debut to their sophomore effort. As I noted, 3 Feet High and Rising was one of those records that completely flummoxed me during my college radio years. It got rave reviews and was clearly sparking with creativity, but it also provoked heightened ambivalence in me when I tried to figure out how it might fit onto our station’s airwaves, especially since the playlists were typically … Continue reading One for Friday: De La Soul, “A Roller Skating Jam Named ‘Saturdays’”
The Art of the Sell: “Someday”
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. I’ve cycled back to this Nike ad repeatedly today. I get choked up every time. Bravo. Other entries in this series can be found by clicking on the “Art of the Sell” tag. Continue reading The Art of the Sell: “Someday”
The Chicago National League Ball Club
To Ernie Banks, who I never saw play but who I knew was Mr. Cub… To Billy Williams and Ron Santo… To Ferguson Jenkins, who I did see pitch, and who improbably hit a triple in a game I watched in 1983, his last season. I remember that extra base knock being cited in a WGN package as proof that anything could happen, maybe even the Cubs making the postseason… To every last member of that 1984 team, who provided happiness and heartache like I’d never know when they did actually make the postseason… To Ryne Sandberg, still my favorite player… To Jack Brickhouse, who I’m … Continue reading The Chicago National League Ball Club
Beers I Have Known: Revolution Brewing Bottom Up Wit
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. It’s fun to chase after certain potables at beer festivals, whether established personal favorites or those grand rarities that will perhaps only ever be sipped in the strange rugby scrum of park-bound tipsiness. I think I’m most fond, however, of those completely unexpected discoveries, the instances when no particular hype or corresponding anticipation precedes a head-turning drink. When I attended the ludicrously abundant Great Taste of the Midwest this past August, I had utterly fantastic … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: Revolution Brewing Bottom Up Wit
Coffee for Two 