So far from the ordinary things I once knew while I wait for the chance to tell you what is true
It’s always a unique disappointment to see an excellent performance shellacked into the misery of a bad movie. In the new film My Week with Marilyn, Michelle Williams is consistently sensational as Marilyn Monroe. She’s charged with not only playing … Continue reading So far from the ordinary things I once knew while I wait for the chance to tell you what is true
Bad Movie Night — Predators/Season of the Witch
One of the many household goals during the holiday season involved clearly material off of our heavily burdened DVR, a task with which, I must admit, we only had limited success (we seriously have about twenty hours of Boardwalk Empire … Continue reading Bad Movie Night — Predators/Season of the Witch
College Countdown: First Billboard Top 20 Modern Rock Tracks, Fall 1988, An Introduction
By the fall of 1988, the influence of college radio was at an early peak, which meant that the music that had stirred its rebellious, off-the-beaten-track spirit was in the process of being finally and fully co-opted. MTV’s Sunday night excursion into left of the dial fare, 120 Minutes, was popular enough to produce a nightly spin-off called PostModern MTV and major labels were scouring playlists of humble, student-run broadcasters in the hopes of discovering the next U2 or R.E.M., a band that had breakout potential. In September, the ultimate marker of the accepted institutionalization of the sound was printed … Continue reading College Countdown: First Billboard Top 20 Modern Rock Tracks, Fall 1988, An Introduction
Top Ten Albums of 2011
While my predilection for movie-related lists is all over this corner of the Interweb, it’s been a long, long time since I’ve tried to craft a ranking of the best albums of any given year. Part of the reason is that I think those sorts of music preferences are a little more slippery, with opinions subject to change as albums age. Songs that sounded fresh and amazing become tired, even hackneyed and annoying as repeated plays mercilessly erode their charm. The reverse is equally true, as there have been plenty of albums that I initially dismissed, only to have them … Continue reading Top Ten Albums of 2011
One for Friday: Stealin’ Horses, “Turnaround”
I wish I could claim to be one of those kids who was wisely immersing myself in the jagged, angsty splendor of the likes of Joy Division and Jesus and Mary Chain. I wasn’t, though. Most of my record collection was taken up by the same touchstones of regrettable pop conformity that were on a lot of teenage bedroom shelves in the mid-eighties, or so the sales figures and MTV airplay assured me. These records were so resoundingly mediocre that I can’t even impose a retroactive, post-ironic coolness on them. I had the capacity for a more sophisticated musical palette, … Continue reading One for Friday: Stealin’ Horses, “Turnaround”
Shiver and say the words of every lie you’ve heard
Throughout his lengthy career, Steven Spielberg has consistently been dogged by criticism that his films are overly manipulative, as if appealing to the audience’s emotions wasn’t a wholly relevant goal in making a movie. Considering he’s almost certainly the most … Continue reading Shiver and say the words of every lie you’ve heard
Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number One
#1 — Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980) By his own account, Martin Scorsese thought Raging Bull could be his final film. His previous fiction feature, 1977’s New York, New York, was widely considered a disaster. A costly “film noir musical,” as … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number One
She has eyes that men adore so, and a torso, even more so
Though I’m far less enamored with the bulk of his filmography than most, I completely understand the logic in choosing David Fincher to preside over the American studio film adaption of Stieg Larsson’s stunningly successful novel The Girl with the … Continue reading She has eyes that men adore so, and a torso, even more so
They climbed off their pedestals and then they sang this song
As I noted recently, I’m charged with contributing to various year-end assessments over at Spectrum Culture, including the list we came up with of the Top 25 Songs of 2011. Last year, my preferences were solitary enough that some of my personal picks for the best single songs didn’t make the final tally, so I made a point of highlighting a few of them in a separate post in this space. As I sat down to revive the tradition, I realized that I had far more in common with my colleagues this year and eight of my top ten made … Continue reading They climbed off their pedestals and then they sang this song
College Countdown, The Trouser Press Top 10 of 1981, 1
1. Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Trust Trouser Press wrote: “A confident show from Mr. Reliable before plunging into Nashville terra incognita.” Trust was the first of two albums Elvis Costello released in 1981, and, as the review implies, the … Continue reading College Countdown, The Trouser Press Top 10 of 1981, 1
