My Misspent Youth: Fantastic Four #176 by Roy Thomas and George Perez
I read a lot of comic books as a kid. This series of posts is about the comics I read, and, occasionally, the comics that I should have read. When I committed to superhero comics, I was all in. I was even proud to put aside the childish comics that had previously commanded my attention, believing that my newfound preference for spandex-clad do-gooders represented a version of growing up. And yet I wasn’t fully able to turn my tiny back on the sort of loose-limbed high jinks that once enthralled me so. Sometimes I wanted something a little wacky, … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: Fantastic Four #176 by Roy Thomas and George Perez
Top 40 Smash Taps: “We’re Free”
These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. Beverly Bremers began her music career early, appearing on television programs and recording her first singles when still a teenager. She experience only the mildest success until she found herself in the middle of a sensation, joining the cast of Hair during its original Broadway run. That led to other stage work, including a featured role in the Tony-nominated musical The Me Nobody … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “We’re Free”
Tomorrow’s sun with buildings scrape the sky
For a sizable portion of his career — at least since Back to the Future first positioned him to be able to take pricey risks in his projects — director Robert Zemeckis has been most enlivened by material that allows him some opportunity to bend the latest cinematic technology to the needs of classic Hollywood narrative. At its best, this has led to films where the exuberance of Zemeckis’s relentless invention gave truth to the overused term movie magic. It also led to an unfortunate stretch of years that found him stuck in the Uncanny Valley. Even at the most dire, the … Continue reading Tomorrow’s sun with buildings scrape the sky
College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1995, 5
5. Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Brainbloodvolume As happens from time to time in this crazy endeavor of mine, I find myself downright startled by the high placement of an album on the chart being scaled through. The U.K. band Ned’s Atomic Dustbin had a couple of enormous hits on 90Fm during my time there. The band released their debut album, God Fodder, in 1991, and the singles “Kill Your Television” and “Grey Cell Green” were as constant of a presence on our Central Wisconsin airwaves as station policy would allow. Their follow-up, Are You Normal?, also did well, though I don’t recall … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1995, 5
From the Archive: Into the Wild
This review was first posted at my original online home. As I’ve since established in this space, Jon Krakauer is among my favorite writers, and his intricate, methodical, deeply felt Into the Wild was the instigator of that. I may have come … Continue reading From the Archive: Into the Wild
One for Friday: Fire Town, “Turn To Me”
When I was a teenager, just starting to hone my musical taste into something respectable, I wanted to believe in a local music scene. As I read through my biweekly subscription copies of Rolling Stone with the sort of intense scrutiny others save for the Bible, I became enamored with any write-up about a town that was exploding with an influx of great new bands that were garnering national attention. The mixture of civic pride and being ahead of the curve was potently appealing to me for reasons I still can’t quite identify. Of course, I couldn’t truly take advantage … Continue reading One for Friday: Fire Town, “Turn To Me”
The boys are worried, the girls are shocked, they pick the sound and let it drop
Sicario, the new drug war drama directed by Denis Villeneuve, is delivered with the certainty that it has all sorts of profound things to offer about the dire state of the world. It is serious and intent, a brave face with just the merest hint of a quiver. Unfortunately, despite it’s stalwart intentions and clear self-regard, Sicario is a movie without much to actually say, a problem compounded by an overly stylized approach that makes its relative emptiness become almost unbearable. Written by Taylor Sheridan, the film purports to examine the cross-border drug trade with a barbed focus on the widespread … Continue reading The boys are worried, the girls are shocked, they pick the sound and let it drop
Top Fifty Films of the 40s — Number Thirteen
#13 — The Red Shoes (Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell, 1948) I’m less likely than most who turn themselves over to cinema to become hopelessly enamored of a film strictly on the basis of its visuals. I’m not immune to such affections, and I certainly believe that striking imagery is one of the vital tasks of a great piece of moviemaking. Still, my patience is tested whenever I feel that a film is overemphasizing the scenery with a disregard for the fundamentals of narrative storytelling. The Red Shoes is something of a refutation of my prejudice. To be clear, the story … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 40s — Number Thirteen
We have just discovered an important note from space
Ridley Scott has been directing feature films for nearly forty years, doing so at a reasonably prolific rate. Included among his films are a pair of science fiction efforts (Alien and Blade Runner) that are widely considered classics and have absolutely influenced the similar genre efforts that followed with a pervasiveness that only Star Wars can rival. He’s received three Best Directing Academy Award nominations and presided over a Best Picture winner. While I think even his most fervent adherents would acknowledge that he’s signed his name to more than a few clunkers, by any fair estimation Scott has had … Continue reading We have just discovered an important note from space
Beers I Have Known: Green Man ESB
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. As I wind down my time in Beer City, USA, I’m thinking a lot about my standby beers over the eight years I’ve called this wondrous mountain town home. I’ve had plenty of beers that I’ve chased, but I’m referring to the beverages that were my defaults, always available and guaranteed to please with equal consistency. The downtown bar Jack of the Wood was one of our haunts, especially in the early days, … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: Green Man ESB
