Laughing Matters — The Pink Phink
Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. When moviegoers went to … Continue reading Laughing Matters — The Pink Phink
Then Playing — Triangle of Sadness; The Whale; Black Adam
Triangle of Sadness (Ruben Östlund, 2022). Swedish writer-director Ruben Östlund’s initial inspiration for the film Triangle of Sadness was the world of fashion, as reflected by the title’s reference to the furrowed brow that earns a male model (Harris Dickinson) … Continue reading Then Playing — Triangle of Sadness; The Whale; Black Adam
Now Playing — Boston Strangler
In the summer of 1962, Boston newspapers started printing stories about a series of seemingly connected murders in the city. The victims were found strangled to death in their apartments. After trying out a few other monikers for the killer, … Continue reading Now Playing — Boston Strangler
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #65 to #63
65. Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Punch the Clock (1983) As he did from time to time, Elvis Costello decided he wanted to make an album with broader appeal. Following the critical drubbing and commercial disappointment of his 1981 country … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #65 to #63
Outside Reading — The Balcony Is Closed edition
Critic, Critique Thyself by A.O. Scott I think A.O. Scott is a good film critic. I also think he’s great at writing about being a film critic. Upon the announcement that he’s stepping down from the co-lead position assessing the … Continue reading Outside Reading — The Balcony Is Closed edition
This Week’s Model — Drugdealer, “Lip Service”
The band Drugdealer, which is mainly an outlet for Los Angeles singer-songwriter Michael Collins, manages to make it seem like the pop-rock music of the nineteen-seventies never really went away but remaining in a blissful state of perpetual, gentle revision … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Drugdealer, “Lip Service”
Medium Rotation — The Waeve; New York City
THE WAEVE The Waeve (Transgressive) — Maybe no one out there was wishcasting into being a pairing of mad-genius musician about town Graham Coxon and former Pipette Rose Elinor Dougall, but their debut together under the name the Waeve is … Continue reading Medium Rotation — The Waeve; New York City
Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Superman”
These posts are about the songs that fell just short of crossing the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. After being raised in Brooklyn, New York, … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Superman”
The Art of the Sell — Dirty Rotten Scoundrels teaser trailer
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. I’m sometimes nostalgic for the era when I could be surprised by a trailer the first time … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Dirty Rotten Scoundrels teaser trailer
Everything Everywhere All the Oscars
The last time the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences asked Harrison Ford to present the award for Best Picture, they were clearly confident that the Steven Spielberg–director war picture Saving Private Ryan was bound for victory, and it … Continue reading Everything Everywhere All the Oscars
Coffee for Two 