Tag: spectrum review

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

The first I had up at Spectrum Culture this week was a review of a new film starring Linda Cardellini. I’m particularly proud that I managed to avoid invoking Freaks and Geeks, which seems to be cited in every other review I’ve seen of the film. It certainly says something about the lingering brilliance of Paul Feig’s high school series that it remains the main touchstone for Cardellini despite the fact that she’s been a part of some notable films and spent several seasons as a central cast member of E.R., many of those years coinciding with the time that … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

I was all over the place at Spectrum Culture this week. First of all, I had a piece in the music section, reviewing something that was definitely outside of my usual range. The super-secret DVD backstory of this review is that I wrote it while flat in my back while suffering with an ailment that really needs not be elaborated upon. You should appreciate my discretion, believe me. I also reviewed the new film from director Ti West, which I actually made a point of requesting months in advance. For one thing, I have a marital obligation to get horror … Continue reading Spectrum Check

FilmLeave a comment

Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

I reviewed two very different films for Spectrum Culture this week. First, I tackled a new release, writing a review of the new film from Valérie Donzelli, which was France’s official entry to the Best Foreign Film category at this year’s Oscars. Like everyone else, I’m certain that A Separation is going to win the trophy, and I trust the critical consensus that deems the film the worthiest of the honor. But the other nominees must have been damn good to keep this effort from the final nomination list. The other film I covered couldn’t have been more different. We’re … Continue reading Spectrum Check

Film, MusicLeave a comment

Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

I had a more reasonable week at Spectrum Culture, contributing just a couple things and only one full-length review. The latter was for the film Miss Bala, which I’ve been anxious to see since it drew rave reviews at Cannes. In general, I’ve been trying to keep a closer eye on various festival reviews so I can snap up the more obscure potentially strong offerings after they’ve gone through the arduous circuit. That’s starting to pay dividends and Gerardo Naranjo’s incisive film was one of the first prizes of that effort. I also contributed to our weekly List Inconsequential feature, … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

I knew was a little extra stressed out this week for a reason. It just occurred to me, as I prepared this post, that I actually wrote a lot for Spectrum Culture this week. I’ll start on the movie side, where I claimed responsibility for reviewing the directorial debut of Vincent D’Onofrio. This was in part because he’s enough of an oddball that I was very curious as to what he’d do behind the camera. I also have a marital obligation to acquire a horror movie for review from time to time and this one had the added curiosity of … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

Spectrum Culture was back in full wing this week, which meant that my words were all over the place as well. I was especially busy on the movie review front. First I weighed in on a highly problematic drama built around grief and guilt and contrived tension. We’re in that weird stasis zone in between the end of year Oscar fodder (much of which I can’t get screeners of because they’re being highly protective of pirating, even though they send them out as freely as Bed Bath and Beyond coupons to major critics and guild members) and the launch of … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

After a customary end-of-the-year rest, the Spectrum Culture site returned with a spiffy new redesign this week. It was fairly low-content for the first week back, so my contributions were limited to pitching in on a couple of lists. First, I wrote on the latest Black Keys albums for our collection of the “honorable mentions” when it came to the best albums of last year. Besides that, the site has an annual tradition–in keeping with the features built around assessing older albums and films with fresh eyes–of kicking off the new year by looking back to the best pop culture … Continue reading Spectrum Check

Music5 Comments

Top Ten Albums of 2011

Dan Seeger

While my predilection for movie-related lists is all over this corner of the Interweb, it’s been a long, long time since I’ve tried to craft a ranking of the best albums of any given year. Part of the reason is that I think those sorts of music preferences are a little more slippery, with opinions subject to change as albums age. Songs that sounded fresh and amazing become tired, even hackneyed and annoying as repeated plays mercilessly erode their charm. The reverse is equally true, as there have been plenty of albums that I initially dismissed, only to have them … Continue reading Top Ten Albums of 2011

Music3 Comments

They climbed off their pedestals and then they sang this song

Dan Seeger

As I noted recently, I’m charged with contributing to various year-end assessments over at Spectrum Culture, including the list we came up with of the Top 25 Songs of 2011. Last year, my preferences were solitary enough that some of my personal picks for the best single songs didn’t make the final tally, so I made a point of highlighting a few of them in a separate post in this space. As I sat down to revive the tradition, I realized that I had far more in common with my colleagues this year and eight of my top ten made … Continue reading They climbed off their pedestals and then they sang this song

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

Once I started writing music reviews for Spectrum Culture, one of my goals was to eventually branch out and try to cover material that’s somewhat outside of my normal range. So for my last album review of the year, I made a point of grabbing a hip hop release. Lucky for me, it just so happens to be one of the best records of the year. I did the best I could, but I wish I’d had a little more concentrated time with the album before I wrote on it. I have a feeling this one is going to age … Continue reading Spectrum Check