Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Forty-Two
#42 — High Noon (Fred Zinnemann, 1952) Beware the film critic who has stumbled upon a thesis. This isn’t automatically a problem, but it does lead to an overvaluing of certain films over others, sometimes for fairly questionable reasons. For example, Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, which we will get to before this feature has run its course (although more quickly than most writers about film would consider prudent), has been elevated to the consensus pinnacle among The Master’s works perhaps as much because of how neatly it fits into pre-existing narratives of the his predilections and obsession than of any exhibited … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Forty-Two
Beers I Have Known: Guinness
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. The perennial. The standby. Mother’s milk. What one drinks for strength. Hell, what one drinks for glory. It is a meal. It actually may be healthier than most meals. It’s famously a booster of strength. And it’s a full-bodied brew for able-bodied men. Of late, it’s been on the right side of history. It’s an amazing elixir: creamy, rich, and hearty. It’s difficult to get it to the proper temperature, which is mildly … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: Guinness
Now she walks through her sunken dream to the seat with the clearest view and she’d hooked on the silver screen
I once posited in this space that Veronica Mars was one of the unsung (or at least under-sung) creations in the long transformation of the television series model from collections of loosely connected episodes to the mythology-heavy novels divided into … Continue reading Now she walks through her sunken dream to the seat with the clearest view and she’d hooked on the silver screen
College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 20
20. Joe Cocker, Luxury You Can Afford In the late nineteen-seventies, Joe Cocker was going through one of those rocky stretches that were the accepted territory of raspy-voiced rock ‘n’ roll singers. He spent a decent portion of the decade bouncing around different managers and cultivating a reputation as a self-destructive alcoholic with an occasional penchant for vomiting mid-set onstage. In 1978, he was further trying to rebound by some significant commercial disappointment, and he had to prove himself to a new label. Luxury You Can Afford was his first for Asylum Records, after a long stretch with A&M Records. … Continue reading College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 20
From the Archive: V.I. Warshawski
It’s girl detective weekend at the movies, isn’t it? The main thing that strikes me about this review from an August 1991 edition of The Reel Thing is the rapid way that certain film careers can crumble away, especially for actresses of, shall we say, a certain age. When we started doing the radio show in 1990, Kathleen Turner was a performer of great significance and acclaim. By the time we were done, three years later, her career was reeling from a series of commercial missteps. Her wonderfully wicked and wackadoo turn in John Water’s 2004 film, Serial Mom, was … Continue reading From the Archive: V.I. Warshawski
One for Friday: Lyle Lovett, “Step Inside This House”
I have enough invested in the idea of perfect artistic finality that occasionally I can drift into the mental parlor game of selecting the best last album for an individual artist. This doesn’t necessarily mean identifying their very best work under the theory that everyone should go out at their absolute peak. Instead, it’s about finding those releases that feel just right as a sort of summation, a proper closing statement of artistic identity and intent. To shift the topic to movies for a useful illustration, Robert Altman probably made at least a dozen movies that I consider plainly better … Continue reading One for Friday: Lyle Lovett, “Step Inside This House”
Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Forty-Three
#43 — Stalag 17 (Billy Wilder, 1953) I like to think that Billy Wilder is the only filmmaker — hell, maybe the only creator — who could make a film like Stalag 17 work, but that’s clearly not the case, on the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Forty-Three
My Misspent Youth: Fantastic Four by Marv Wolfman and John Byrne
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 became a dedicated reader of superhero comic books, the … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: Fantastic Four by Marv Wolfman and John Byrne
Top 40 Smash Taps: “Livin’ in the Life”
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. As 1977 began, the Isley Brothers could claim a total of nine Top 40 hits across their fifteen years as a charting artist, beginning with the seminal “Shout,” which reached the Top 20 in 1962, and climbing all the way to #4 as recently as two years earlier, with “Fight the Power (Part 1).” That year, the line-up consisted of actual siblings Ernie, … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Livin’ in the Life”
Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Forty-Four
#44 — Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957) “I’d hate to take a bite outta you. You’re a cookie full of arsenic.” There. I’ve completed one of the necessities of writing a piece of any amount of skill and … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Forty-Four
Coffee for Two 