Monthly Archives: January 2010
No heart
A few grace notes aside — Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) emptying an orange juice carton of his own urine; the scarily accurate fourth-rate bowling alley updated with an incongruously garish, modern bar; the way Robert Duvall handles a fishing pole; the relief that floods over Bridges when he meets a keyboardist with real promise —Continue reading “No heart”
Thanks.
I’m very flattered that GQ linked to my Roxy/Ferry conversation with Scott Woods. And, wow, that picture of Ferry…
2009: Best Films
Rather late, but I needed to catch up on a couple more films; in the case of Bright Star, I’m very glad I did. I’m not comfortable with the results, particularly the high showing for Inglorious Basterds, but my ambivalences aside, I can’t shake how well its good sequences play, and how audacious and stupidContinue reading “2009: Best Films”
A man of letters: Louis Auchincloss R.I.P.
He was so compulsive a writer that after completing the Roosevelt book, he showed up unannounced at the offices of his publisher with a finished text for Calvin Coolidge, only to be told the president’s life had been assigned to someone else. Pace the AP’s obituary on Louis Auchincloss, dead at ninety-two. Gore Vidal’s appraisal,Continue reading “A man of letters: Louis Auchincloss R.I.P.”
I tried and finally found a way (cont)
Scott Woods posts more updates to our Roxy-Ferry talk. In this installment: These Foolish Things, Another Time, Another Place, Stranded, Country Life, and Siren.
Housecleaning
The last round of Singles Jukebox stand-offs before we start a new year this week: Yeah Yeah Yeahs vs Dirty Projectors and Electrik Red vs DJ Quik and Kurupt.
Whew.
I’m so happy Fred Kaplan is listening to me, as I made this argument last week to a couple of students: the health care bill in its current reform reminds me a lot of the 1957 Civil Rights Act. To get the full story of how Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson cajoled and threatened senators forContinue reading “Whew.”
Like the future was supposed to be: Vampire Weekend and the state of pop
A quick relisten, then I voted to reaffirm: Vampire Weekend’s eponymous debut “is as good as it’s supposed to be and not one note more.” Contra is what I expect from a damn good second album: it consolidates and clarifies. The musical and conceptual vaporousness of “Oxford Comma” is replaced by the fully formed “Run,”Continue reading “Like the future was supposed to be: Vampire Weekend and the state of pop”
I tried and finally found a way, Pt. II
Another edition of the Woods-Soto interview re Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry; this time we address These Foolish Things and Stranded.
News flash: corporations are people too
The consequences of a misreading of this case continue, evinced by today’s Supreme Court ruling. A couple of weeks ago I finished a superb history of the period, Jack Beatty’s Age of Betrayal. Pick up a copy. The Santa Clara County controversy is discussed in full.
Message to Democrats: Don’t turn America into Sweden
Margaret Coakley lost because she was a liberal, and the grand liberal experiment of the last twelve months has failed. Let’s see. Obama is a liberal because he: (a) hired Rahm Emmanuel as chief of staff? (b) filled his Cabinet with former Wall Street and New York Fed scions like Larry Summers and Tim Geithner?Continue reading “Message to Democrats: Don’t turn America into Sweden”