One for Friday: The Atlantics, “When You’re Young”
Today, as must happen from time to time, this space is turned over to a song–and, by extension, the primary knowledge I have of said song and the artist attached to it–that I originally discovered of the first true treasure trove of hidden musical wonders that I found out there among the twists of the information superhighway. I spent weeks tracking through the entirety of the now-defunct Little Hits blog, stocking my iTunes with the catchy, joyous, punky and perfect obscurities that were shared there. It was like discovering a funhouse mirror version of my beloved 90FM C Stacks (the … Continue reading One for Friday: The Atlantics, “When You’re Young”
Top Ten Movies of 2013 — Number Six
There’s a widely-shared view that Alfonso Cuarón delivered the sort of virtuoso directing job with Gravity that should end with a mic drop at the close of the credits. Even the film’s detractors typically can’t help but marvel at the … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2013 — Number Six
Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Forty-Eight
#48 — Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Richard Brooks, 1958) I believe the current consensus is that Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is supposed to be viewed as, at best, a compromised adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play of … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Forty-Eight
Top Ten Movies of 2013 — Number Seven
There are few things in cinema more pleasurable than a movie that manages to signal from the very beginning that it’s something special, that it’s been put together with care and honesty. Short Term 12, directed by Destin Cretton, does … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2013 — Number Seven
Philip Seymour Hoffman, 1967 – 2014
Without exception, it was a pleasure to watch him meet a role. Even in those rare instances when the ideal dynamics of the part eluded him or there simply wasn’t enough there–not necessarily there on the page, since there’s reason to believe he was capable of bringing more than he found–for him to build a fully-realized, deeply-felt character, it was clear that Philip Seymour Hoffman took to his roles with a deep integrity designed to gain him insight. He was a character actor in the truest sense, including the predilection to disappear into roles, changing his physical appearance to suit … Continue reading Philip Seymour Hoffman, 1967 – 2014
College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 26
26. Bruce Springsteen, Darkness on the Edge of Town If there’s a single album that defines who Bruce Springsteen is, especially to his most devoted fans, it’s probably Darkness on the Edge of Town. This is partially due to … Continue reading College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 26
Spectrum Check
When I joined the writing staff at Spectrum Culture, I was probably most looking forward to having access to the sorts of small, independent films that either took months to get to my humble mountain town or bypassed our local … Continue reading Spectrum Check
One for Friday: Wire, “Come Back in Two Halves”
First impressions can be a strange thing, especially when personal first impressions are out of whack with actual chronology. Those with a deeper musical knowledge than I generally greeted the 1988 appearance of the Wire album A Bell is a Cup…Until It is Struck and its immediate predecessor, 1987’s The Ideal Copy, with a mixture of surprise and confusion, perhaps joined with the adhesive of derision. For them, the reunion of this founding father band of the post-punk movement sounded so far removed from beloved early works like Pink Flag and Chairs Missing–all rawness and jagged sonic challenges–that the newer … Continue reading One for Friday: Wire, “Come Back in Two Halves”
The New Releases Shelf: Too True
Sometime during the making of Too True, the third full-length from Dum Dum Girls, frontwoman Dee Dee (also known as Kristin Welchez) literally lost her voice. According to her, that caused a slow-down in the creative process, giving extra scrutiny … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf: Too True
Top Ten Movies of 2013 — Number Eight
In some quarters, the effectiveness of 12 Years a Slave was attributed to the emotional distance director Steve McQueen had from the specter of American slavery, since he was born and raised in England. That theory ignores McQueen’s own record … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2013 — Number Eight
Coffee for Two 