Wednesday, November 16 2011
All That We Learned About Livin’: John Mellencamp’s Legacy
At nearly every level of his career, John Mellencamp used his great music to send the message that quarry workers, farmers, single mothers, and everyday people are just as important as rock stars with supermodel wives.
Tuesday, November 15 2011
The ‘Down-Low’ Is Still Kept Down and Low in Black Communities
Despite gay rights progress on many fronts, the problems of black LGBT people are still largely invisible, as they are often shunned by the black communities from which they come.
Monday, November 14 2011
Symbolic Weight & the Def Jam Aesthetic
A coffee table book about rap does not sound too "hardcore" or "gangsta", does it? Well, that's because it's not. What it just might be is sincere.
Friday, November 11 2011
Let’s Get Physical: In Praise of Kay Kendall’s Joie De Vivre
Kay Kendall's mercurial performances in George Cukor's Les Girls and Vincente Minnelli's The Reluctant Debutante highlight a romantic Englishwoman and her knack for graceful physical comedy.
Thursday, November 10 2011
How Would You Like It, a Little More Off the Top?
Makeup and special effects artist Genevieve Garner can transform the average beast into a beauty—or vice versa.
Wednesday, November 9 2011
Does Angelina Jolie Owe Bosnia More Than Blood and Honey?
When making a movie about the horrors of the Bosnian War, what is Angelina Jolie's responsibility as an artist?
Tuesday, November 8 2011
Humor vs. Religion: An Unholy War. Part Two: Dispatches from the Front Lines
For comedians like Ricky Gervais, Bill Maher and others, the non-rational beliefs and behaviors that religion fosters are, from a “material” perspective, manna from heaven.
Monday, November 7 2011
The Battle to Stay Relevant
Watching your favorite band become irrelevant is like watching Michael Jordan unable to elevate high enough to dunk in his final year in the NBA.
Friday, November 4 2011
Occupy Everywhere
The Occupy Wall Street and the 99% movements have gone viral. We are everywhere, indeed.
The Quest to Understand Tribe
This is supposed to be a documentary, not a fan letter. So how about some balance? It's big picture time when it comes to telling the story of hip-hop.
Thursday, November 3 2011
This Show Just Got a Little Too Real: Bravo’s ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’
Bravo’s schadenfreude is such a fundamental part of Real Housewives that every episode unavoidably concerns a tragic figure that never appears on screen and cannot defend the character assassination the show perpetuates.
Wednesday, November 2 2011
Before There Was ‘The Exorcist’, There Was ‘The Possession of Joel Delaney’
Once again, the film industry came in and took a perfectly creepy book and upped the sensationalism because nothing can ever be too shocking in Hollywood.
Tuesday, November 1 2011
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or Shame?
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recently announced its 15 nominees for its 2012 induction class. Once again, that means the blogosphere is abuzz with complaints about the Hall's irrelevancy. Are they legitimate?
Monday, October 31 2011
Art from Protest
From the art inspired by America's Civil Rights movement to today's Occupy Wall Street / Occupy Everywhere demonstrations art, like taking to the streets, is a form of rebellion -- and expression.
Friday, October 28 2011
Art Endures, Capitalism Degenerates: The Evolving Career of Amanda Palmer
The arts have always suffered and survived in times of economic depression. Amanda Palmer has forged a career that has not only weathered the recession, but rejects the received wisdom of the music industry. Is she an exception to the rule, or an example other artists should follow?
Thursday, October 27 2011
The Celestial Railroad: Shifting Debates on the Immigrant Experience in ‘Sin Nombre’
Illegal immigration is a hotly contested topic in American society and politics. Sin Nombre opens up important questions about migration that documentaries often ignore: there is no such monolithic category as "the immigrant", and migration is not solely an economic decision.
Wednesday, October 26 2011
Tough Guys Recite: The 5 Best Poetry Spittin’ TV Characters
Every generic hero on TV can finish a poetic quotation or identify a poignant quatrain (down to the line numbers). But few can spit Tennyson or Yeats with such venom as these guys.
Tuesday, October 25 2011
Other Princesses, Other Castles: The Problem with Playing Romantically in Video Games
The insensibly repetitious nature of romance present in both video game plots and in their mechanics leads to all too familiar storytelling.
Monday, October 24 2011
Michael Moore vs. Jon Stewart: The Self-Destruction of the American Left
Michael Moore is a populist and Jon Stewart is an elitist. The blind liberal embrace of the superficial smugness of Stewart and detachment from the heroism of Moore is the most powerful and convincing illustration of the suicidal tendencies, moral bankruptcy, and spiritual decay of the American left.
Friday, October 21 2011
The World’s Favourite Parlour Game: The Quite Interesting Brilliance of ‘QI’
We rarely equate television game shows with admirable life philosophies, but the BBC's QI with host Stephen Fry pulls it off by making us think as well as laugh.
