TOP TEN FILMS 2012 POLL
Back in October, I concluded a series of entries on the iconic Sight & Sound Top Ten Films poll, undertaken every decade by the esteemed...
GOLDEN APPLE OF THE SUN
Curiosity, the newly landed Mars rover, took a short drive today on a Martian plain that will forever be known as Bradbury Landing. NASA...
MTV Part III BLASHFIELD BRILLIANCE
Many now prominent directors created initial buzz within the burgeoning form of the MTV video. David Fincher and Spike Jonze come to...
SHUFFLING OFF THIS MORTAL COIL
The theatre world lost two mavericks not too long ago, and I thought they deserved some recognition for their work. The Scotsman Nicol Williamson left us in late January at the age of 75. Cancer. Hard to believe he lasted that long given the way he pretty much grabbed life by the throat and wrestled it to the ground. Playwright John Osborne thought him the greatest actor since Brando and playwright Samuel Beckett opined that Nicol was "touched by genius". As encomiums go...
MTV 1980s Part II (Pool Boys)
Here's Part II of my retrospective of classic 1980s MTV videos. First up is George Thorogood and his band the Delaware Destroyers. In Year Two of MTV, "Bad to the Bone" proved to be one of the most spirited videos in this new format. Many of the directors of music videos were content to show the band in a static environment or create a montage of images and quick edits to catch the eye. Most of them today look pretty lame. Not "Bad to the Bone," the title cut from Thorogoo
CAVETT/BURTON
I have looked wistfully at my earlier days recalling the hours I spent watching prime time and late night talk shows, enthralled by many hours of hilarity or serious, reflective conversation. Nothing like it exists on commercial television today, and public television shows like Charlie Rose seem, more often than not, to be much more about Charlie Rose's views than anything interesting he might elicit from his guests. I fondly recall the free-for-alls on The Dick Cavett Show
BRUCE JAY FRIEDMAN (LUCKY BRUCE)
My learned brother-in-law, Pat, sent me as a Christmas gift a copy of Bruce Jay Friedman's memoir Lucky Bruce . I believe I introduced him to the wonderful writings of Friedman back in the early Seventies, as we delved together into his mesmerizing short stories and his ebon-dark essays. I think our favorite collection was Black Angels , which contained a variety of provocative stories, both witty and disturbing. The title story was a classic of dark, absurdist humor, a tops
80s POP Part I
Thought I'd resurrect some videos from those halcyon days of the early to mid-1980s, when an eclectic group of pop bands, complemented by visuals and performance art, released some wonderful videos to promote their bouncy, catchy tunes. Following a long stretch of disco and punk recordings, musical releases from 1980-1987 were extremely melodic and therefore memorable. There were one-hit wonders (Gary Numan's infectious "Cars"; Devo's "Whip It"; Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy" c
RUSSELL HOBAN, 86, RIP
Depressed to hear of the death last week of the American writer and illustrator, Russell Hoban, who had a unique career, exhibiting an eclecticism rarely paralleled in American letters. Though Hoban grew up in the States, he lived most of his adult life in London, where his output never really won him fame, probably due to the breadth of his oeuvre, which prevented him from finding a niche. I am largely unfamiliar with Hoban's children's literature--the Frances
CHRISTMAS JAZZ Part III
Today we have a look at some legendary jazz performances of holiday standards. Let's begin with the Oscar Peterson Trio. Canadian born, Peterson has been a jazz icon for the last sixty years (Peterson died in 2007 at 82) with a unique and signature style as a jazz pianist. He recorded with Armstrong, Basie, Fitzgerald, Ellington, Gillespie, and countless other greats. His Christmas album, An Oscar Peterson Christmas , is replete with memorable covers, but none better than th
