This dead road leads down to that dead road and back
The Road seems like it should work. Cormac McCarthy’s novel is a riveting depiction of life after society has broken down completely, following a bedraggled father and son as they achingly march towards the coast and the indeterminate promise that … Continue reading This dead road leads down to that dead road and back
Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Six
#6 — The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001) Forget for a moment the Oscar attention, the box office tallies, and the awestruck acclaim from unlikely quarters. Think instead about the context when The Lord … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Six
Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Seven
#7 — Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004) Movies often trade in cataclysm and heartbreak, sending characters sprinting down rainswept streets chasing after that one urgent moment destined to change everything. That’s certainly stirring, but there’s also an inherent phoniness to it, … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Seven
Away in a manger, no crib for his bed
In tribute to my favorite post of the holiday season, Twenty-third in a series… (Posted simultaneously to “Jelly-Town!”) Continue reading Away in a manger, no crib for his bed
Great Moments in Literature
“Outside the morning was bright. I liked the holy, rejoicing look of it: the many gray Christmases of my childhood had depressed me. And apparently not just me: one year the holiday card my mother sent out was an October photo of my brother and me, with a caption that read The children. In some dead leaves.” –Lorrie Moore, A Gate at the Stairs, 2009 “SPEAKING IS A PRECIOUS WASTE OF SILENCE. IT IS DIRTY, IMPURE TRANQUILITY. BESIDES, YOU’RE NOT PEOPLE. SO JUST REMEMBER THAT I’M NOT SPEAKING TO YOU. SERENITY, SHATTERED WITH A CHAOS OF SOUND.” –Doug Moench, MARVEL … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature
One for Friday: John Kruth, “Here When You’re There”
As I sit and type, the snow is piling up outside. It’s been nearly nine years since we moved from Wisconsin for parts south, so it’s been nearly that long since I’ve looked out my own window and seen a … Continue reading One for Friday: John Kruth, “Here When You’re There”
Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Eight
#8 — The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004) Those whose entire knowledge of superheroes derives from visits to the cineplex–and I still find it remarkable that a working background acquired through such means could be so much more thorough that I … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Eight
It’s getting kind of hard to believe things are going to get better
Craig Ferguson is my new hero, if only for creating a thematically sensible reason to have the following featured musical performance on his show. (Posted simultaneously to “Jelly-Town!”) Continue reading It’s getting kind of hard to believe things are going to get better
Cassavetes, Dick, Donaldson, Frankel, Mottola
Adventureland (Greg Mottola, 2009). Clearly Greg Mottola decided the Superbad path was the one to follow. He edges ahead a few years, focusing on college-aged youth who are all spun around by their romantic anguish and general horniness. Noticeably autobiographical in nature, the film is set in the late nineteen-eighties and features Jesse Eisenberg as a bright young man whose plans for graduate school are derailed causing him to seek summer work at the crummy amusement park in his hometown. It’s amusing enough, but also shaggy to the point of being aimless. Nothing sticks beyond the suspicion that Kristen Stewart … Continue reading Cassavetes, Dick, Donaldson, Frankel, Mottola
Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Nine
#9 — Up (Pete Docter with Bob Peterson, 2009) Let’s start where everyone starts in discussing Up, with the sequence that seemingly inspires universal agreement about its excellence. With just a few minutes of screen-time, Pete Docter and Bob Peterson … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 00s — Number Nine
