Wednesday, December 14 2011
Truth is Fiction: The Work of Haskell Wexler, Part 2, ‘Medium Cool’
Medium Cool is the ultimate amalgamation of reality and illusion. Fictional characters live in real situations; real characters exist in fictional situations.
Tuesday, December 13 2011
A Slice of Berlin in Los Angeles
Time takes away the meaning of an object. But then again, it also imbues an object, such as fragments of the Berlin Wall, with another.
Monday, December 12 2011
A Holiday Mix Tape, YouTube Style
Who hasn’t sat through those holiday parties with the cozy but yawn inducing classics of Burl Ives playing ad nauseam? I can help with that.
Hollywood’s Steep Hills: Gender Inequality and ‘Miss Representation’
Gender inequality in Hollywood reigns supreme, but as Miss Representation shows, the male/female binary is so insidious that it even makes its way into productions that aim to counter it.
Friday, December 9 2011
As the Spirit Moves Mary: The Life and Art of Mary J. Blige
If My Life gave people insight and empowerment who shared the singer’s despair, My Life II is the amplification of three of the most important words in the English language: It is possible.
Thursday, December 8 2011
Art for the Hip-Hop Generation
The Legends of Hip Hop chronicles 50 deserving pioneers of the culture, and ultimately transforms and humanizes them.
Wednesday, December 7 2011
Walkin’ to the Beat, the Rhythm in My Feet
Walking around a new city is a good way to get to know its nuances -- the sights, the smells, and especially, the sounds. Boston taught me its rhythm, and I kept in step.
When the Music’s Over: Greil Marcus on the Doors
Apparently seeking to account for every important rock act of the '60s, Greil Marcus turns his critical attention to the Doors.
Tuesday, December 6 2011
Showing My References: On Reading Too Much About TV & Watching Too Much TV
I still yearn for a hefty volume of pages to take down from the shelf, to leaf through at my leisure or to zero in on that relevant fact.
Monday, December 5 2011
Subversive Sexology!: A Conversation with Annie Sprinkle!
With a pure heart and a heavy dose of body politic rebellion, Annie Sprinkle re-invents ecology in the age of eroticised digital culture.
Friday, December 2 2011
‘Caligula’s Ghost: Why Cinema Needs Epic Failure More than Mediocre Success
Obscene, grandiose and artistically worthless -- such is the monstrous reputation of the 1979 art-porn blockbuster Caligula. Is this most shocking of Roman epics worthy of reappraisal?
Thursday, December 1 2011
Herman Cain and the Myth of Acceptable Black Behavior
Called a 'Stepin Fetchit', an 'Uncle Ruckus' and worse by black pundits, I have to wonder... Has Herman Cain found a way to talk about racism in America without actually saying that word?
Wednesday, November 30 2011
Hard to Make a Living: Kickstarter and Comics Creators
Comics writers and artists are turning to Kickstarter both to fund specific projects and to buy themselves time to create.
Tuesday, November 29 2011
Cold Wars End, Betrayal is Forever: ‘Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy’
What is espionage if not getting into bed with people -- physically or ideologically -- for purposes of betrayal?
Monday, November 28 2011
Simon Reynolds Redux: A Conversation from the Past About Post-Punk
Simon Reynolds discusses Joy Division and The Ramones, sex and politics, and punk's blatant localism and latent racism around the time of the release of Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984.
Wednesday, November 23 2011
On Making that Holiday Music List and Checking It Twice
It's that time of the year, again. Music fans are making their lists of what they hope to find wrapped in pretty paper at Christmas, and music publications are making their lists of what should be on those lists. Now, I have something to say about lists.
Tuesday, November 22 2011
Sympathetic Vibrations
There's a renaissance for the vibraphone in jazz, even though many folks don't even know this instrument exists.
Monday, November 21 2011
When Indie Musicians “Go Country”
A lot of these indie musicians who wouldn’t call themselves "country" sound more country to me than Rascal Flatts or, for that matter, than Fleet Foxes, who are described as “alt-country”.
Friday, November 18 2011
If You Can’t Help Me, Just Die: Survival in ‘Dead Island’
Dead Island is old-school survival-horror game, a subgenre that seems to have largely disappeared from the medium with the ascension of the action-horror game.
