Friday, April 16 2010
Backyard Fiction a.k.a. the Great American Myth of Suburbia
Suburban discontent in Richard Yates' Revolutionary Road, John Updike's Couples and Richard Ford's Independence Day. The idea or myth of suburbia is just as real as the actual shopping centers, schools, etc.
Thursday, April 2 2009
Richard Yates: Everyman’s Library
This is fiction that follows its characters to the grave with a sad and all-too-knowing cigarette-roughened chuckle.
Friday, January 16 2009
The New Classics - The 30 Best Films of 2008
Unlike previous years, where classics came crawling out of the celluloid woodwork with regular reckless abandon, 2008 was more calm… and considered. That's not to say that choosing 30 top titles was hard. The difficulty in placing them in some manner of rank order suggests the actual depth of quality involved.
Wednesday, January 14 2009
Iconic - The Top 20 Male Performances of 2008
Like the gladiators of old, 2008 resembles a battle of formidable acting gods, especially when looking over the 20 choices presented below. Indeed, if anything, choosing a winner requires more of a leap of faith than any amount of critical skill - they all were that good.
Tough and Tender - The Top 20 Female Performances of 2008
Twenty talented ladies, 20 performances worthy of multiple little gold men. Unfortunately, as in all years, someone has to come out on top. But after looking over this impressive list, picking the preeminent turn of 2008 seems almost impossible.
