One of the most rattling news stories to emerge near the end of 2012 noted that reported sexual assaults were up dramatically at U.S. military academies during the year, a rise of 23 percent. That is alarming, but there is … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2012 — Number Six
This week my writerly paw prints were in a few different corners of Spectrum Culture. First, I had a music review of a new reunion album, which I openly acknowledged that I was selecting because I’m one of the older guys on the staff. I usually approach such releases with a hearty dose of skepticism, although I’ve been pleasantly surprised in the past. Not this time around, as my honest assessment was fairly dire, an especially unpleasant scenario given that the band in question has at least one true classic to their credit. On the film side, I reviewed the … Continue reading Spectrum Check
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
Coffee for Two 