Shaun of the Dead was clearly a take on zombie movies, and Hot Fuzz took direct aim at action films, even calling out Michael Bay by name. According to star and co-writer Simon Pegg, the third film in the loosely … Continue reading Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn
I was irritated that I had a day this past week when I plainly gave up on writing a post for this space. Here’s part of the reason why: I wrote an awful lot for Spectrum Culture this week. First, I wrote about the new album from Washed Out, which I think is a significant improvement on the full-length debut from a couple years back. I asked for the release because it’s a little different material for me, and I thought it would be a good stretch for me. When I sat down to write the review last weekend, I … Continue reading Spectrum Check
This was a typical week at Spectrum Culture for me: one movie, one album. On the film side of things, I reviewed the Kid-Thing, which has inspired other critics to all sorts of quasi-surreal interpretations but which I found to be a middling drama with a virulently indie sensibility. As I alluded on Twitter, I was inordinately pleased that I worked in the term “dirtbag kitsch” in writing about the film. I wrote about the debut album from Rose Windows for the music section. I’m not certain what inspired me to raise my hand for this one in the first … Continue reading Spectrum Check
Sarah Polley has directed two prior feature films, but Stories We Tell represents her first foray into the documentary form. It’s not hard to fathom what led her to explore this particular story as a non-fiction effort. A skilled screenwriter, … Continue reading And if you ever wonder why you ride this carousel
My week at Spectrum Culture started with a review that took an atypically long time to show up, or at least longer past the original release than is usual for us. I received my copy of Andrew Bujalski’s Computer Chess after it opened, not at all the norm. Plus it arrived before a short week where the site took a couple days off, so there’s a layer of dust on the movie by the time the review showed up. Of course, that’s always the case here on the good ol’ Coffee for Two page, but it felt weird for me … Continue reading Spectrum Check
As I consider Pacific Rim, one question nags at me: would I be as charitable towards this film if it were from a director other than Guillermo del Toro? Not that I feel all that charitable towards the film, but as I sat through the procession of overblown digital spectacle populated by thinly conceived characters and driven by a plot holey enough to zing like a Wiffle ball, I had to admit that the damn thing won me over by the end, even as that end indulged in every goofy trope imaginable, including the sort of big, dumb, rousing speech … Continue reading I hear the human race is fallin’ on its face and hasn’t very far to go
We had another shortened week at Spectrum Culture, because that’s the way the summer goes sometimes. It coincided nicely with my own week away, but I still managed to slip in one major review, writing on a unique new documentary covering mass killings in Indonesia. It’s a complicated topic and, amazingly, an even more complicated movie, which caused me to put an awful lot of effort into the piece at a time when it would have been handier to dash one off. I hope I did it justice. I also pulled together a few words for our feature on the … Continue reading Spectrum Check
I pitched it with loads of words this week at Spectrum Culture. First off, I contributed a review of the new Smith Westerns album, an effort I’ve been sitting on for a while because of a shifting release date. I wish the extra time had helped me like the album more, but it wound up being one of those reviews where I really wanted to write, “Pretty dull, huh?” and move on. Too bad, as I liked their previous album quite a bit. Things were a little better for me on the film side, which is my main home on … Continue reading Spectrum Check
After so many years of struggling to maintain his distinctive voice in an entertainment industry that instinctively wants to exploit it (and the fan base that responds to it with Pavlovian fervor) but doesn’t truly understand it, Joss Whedon finally … Continue reading Baby, we’re the king and queen of nothing
The holiday led to slightly shortened week at Spectrum Culture, but I got a few words up. First off, I contributes a new film review, covering a documentary about the process behind being dubbed a Master Sommerlier. As usual, any time my interest drifts towards win, I have one person to thank. I also contributed to our list of the best albums of the year, so far, a practice that has apparently become a requirement for all review sites. As this little corner of the web regularly attests, I’ve no problem making lists, but I do think the midpoint tallies … Continue reading Spectrum Check
Coffee for Two 