Tag: spectrum review

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

It felt like I had a far busier week with Spectrum than I actually did, but I know it’s because I was also scrambling to get ready for everything that needs to be written in the week ahead. In terms of what went up, my output was fairly modest. I had a new film review up, evaluating a documentary that managed to provide a breakneck recap of the evolution of the New York City club scene before segueing into a true crime story with unexpected doses of lurid elements. It’s one of those documentaries that can succeed by simply telling … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

My posted work came entirely from the movie beat this week. I started with a French film that was a little wisp of of a thing. It may have sometimes felt like a foreign film softened into an American sitcom but it also featured Gérard Depardieu, who remains a marvelous actor, at least in his mother tongue, despite his recent unseemly exploits that made him the fodder for silly jokes. I also reviews a documentary about the Black Power Movement of the late-sixties and early-seventies. It had some basic structural flaws, but much of the footage was amazing. Angela Davis, … Continue reading Spectrum Check

Film, MusicLeave a comment

Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

Ah, here’s Spectrum Check, back at it’s regularly scheduled time. So the first piece I had go up this week happened as a direct result of the intervention of my friend, a fabulous babe who a generation of Madison music fans know as Casino Queen. Somewhere around the midpoint of my ongoing countdown of the best films of the nineteen-eighties, she emailed me with the gentle but firm assertion that our friendship might be in jeopardy if the 1981 cinematic extravaganza The Great Muppet Caper wasn’t included somewhere on the list. I sheepishly informed her that it indeed would not … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

Sheesh. I just realized that this didn’t post on Saturday as I intended. I’m inclined to pile this into this weekend’s Spectrum post, but I’ve actually got a lot of background to add to the things I wrote this week. On top of that all, I don’t think I’m going to have time to finish my intended post for today, so…that’s that. Here a bonus, delayed midweek Spectrum Check. There was a stretch in the early-nineties when it felt like crossover foreign cinema–to the degree that foreign cinema ever truly crossed over to broader audiences–was defined by crusty old-timers bonding … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

This week, my Spectrum movie review duties absolutely gave me the chance to see a fine film that I probably wouldn’t have gotten to otherwise. I’m pleased as can be that John Sayles still gets to make movies, and clearly make them in exactly the fashion he pleases, but it’s been all too easy to let his most recent offerings go by as inconsequential. Beyond the growing unlikelihood that he’ll ever again make a film that crosses over enough to become necessary viewing for those who want to engage in spirited debates over the current state of cinema, there’s a … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

I’ve been running behind on my music reviews and the studios have been running behind on getting me screeners, so I only had one piece up at Spectrum Culture this week. It was my second contribution to our Best Living Directors series, this time offering an evaluation of Pedro Almodóvar. I wasn’t part of the selection process for our list, but I’m very pleased with it. For one thing, there’s good diversity and a strong sense of history to it. These sorts of tallies are so often of the moment and crassly devoted assembled choices that are perceived as ever … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

There are a few things I will always, always, always be ready to do. One of them is expounding on my admiration for the films, artistry and general cinematic passion of Martin Scorsese. I was given the opportunity to do just that for the current Best Living Directors series. I did the best I could, but it always feels like there’s more to say, more to write about the way he both honors and reshapes classic Hollywood narrative storytelling. Someday I’ll get it right. I also wrote a new film review about a film that’s about as grimly nutty as … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

This week, I had the chance to write about one of those dark indie sensations with the stuff to become an instant cult classic. This is exactly the sort of film I would have probably missed out on without this side writing gig, so it was a nice reminder of the ample perks that go along with the banging out a few hundred words a week for the site. I also contributed to a feature about the best movies of the past ten summers, getting a welcome opportunity to profess my affection for Toy Story 3. I would, however, like … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

This week, I did my duty on the film side of the site, reviewing a new French thriller, which largely served as a reminder that same curve of quality applies across all facets of film. There are just as many drab, by-the-numbers movies available for the art houses as there are in the multiplexes. I also wrote about the latest Lykke Li album for a feature on the best music of the year so far. If pressed, I’d probably still designate the latest PJ Harvey record as the best of the year, but I’ve already written about that one for … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

Only a couple of things from me this week. First, I reviewed a new documentary about El Bulli, the famed Spanish restaurant that revolutionized gourmet food, essentially expanding the parameters of how it could be prepared and the level of creativity that could show up on each plate. Every time someone on Top Chef makes a “foam” or drags liquid nitrogen through the kitchen, there’s a dotted line leading back to El Bulli. I’m especially grateful that I reviewed Frederick Wiseman’s Boxing Gym last year because that gave me a vital vocabulary to use in discussing the structure of this … Continue reading Spectrum Check