Outside Reading — Women Helming
For the First Time Ever, I’m Optimistic About Women in the Movie World by Manohla Dargis Writing for The New York Times, Manohla Dargis surveys the state of the entertainment industry’s openness to women filmmakers and, for maybe the first … Continue reading Outside Reading — Women Helming
This Week’s Model — The Rural Alberta Advantage, “Plague Dogs”
In need of some big, room-filling rock ‘n’ roll that’s laced with the sort of dread that can only be inspired by a novel written by the author of Watership Down? Don’t worry, Canadian trio the Rural Alberta Advantage is … Continue reading This Week’s Model — The Rural Alberta Advantage, “Plague Dogs”
Top Ten Movies of 2022 — Number Nine
Understandable as the broadly adopted choice might be, it’s been strange to settle in with movies set in contemporary times and places and see how little the COVID-19 pandemic weighs on them. The fantasy of film fiction has rarely felt … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2022 — Number Nine
Sundance 2023 — Part 3
In her summary piece on this year’s Sundance Film Festival, The New York Times‘s Manohla Dargis lauded the documentary line-up, noting a greater consistency of quality this year and most years, also allowing that the films “were more intellectually engaging … Continue reading Sundance 2023 — Part 3
Sundance 2023 — Part 2
D. Smith’s documentary Kokomo City flouts all sorts of rules of nonfiction filmmaking. The primary mission of the film is to point the lens at several different Black trans women who make their living as sex workers and allow them … Continue reading Sundance 2023 — Part 2
Sundance 2023 — Part 1
My most reliable of reliable sources on the ground in Park City, Utah reports that the first in-person staging of the Sundance Film Festival since 2020 was a full return to the halcyon days of old in at least one … Continue reading Sundance 2023 — Part 1
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #86 to #84
86. INXS, Listen Like Thieves (1985) Chris Thomas introduced himself to INXS by telling them they were recording their music all wrong. When the Australian band played the Palladium in Los Angeles during the tour to support their 1984 album, … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #86 to #84
Outside Reading — Be Cruel to Your School
When Public Money Becomes Private by Lyz Lenz Writing in her own newsletter, Men Yell at Me, Lyz Lenz details how the longstanding right-wing crusade to divert public education funds towards charter schools has other private institutions does irreparable damage … Continue reading Outside Reading — Be Cruel to Your School
This Week’s Model — Steve Mason, “The People Say”
ROB AND DICK stand behind the counter. Rob holds a CD in his hand. Rob leans over to Dick. ROB I will now sell five copies of Brothers & Sisters by Steve Mason DICK Do it. Rob pops in the … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Steve Mason, “The People Say”
Top Ten Movies of 2022 — Number Ten
In Fire of Love, director Sara Dosa traces the collaborative career of Katia and Maurice Krafft, who gained renown in the nineteen-seventies and nineteen-eighties for their daring pursuit of volcanic eruptions. The married couple exhaustively filmed and photographed their exploits, … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2022 — Number Ten
Coffee for Two 