I’m a fan of both Blood Meridian and the Coen Brothers film of No Country for Old Men, both by Cormac McCarthy, without fully understanding them. They are dense pieces of uncomfortable art that transgress what is expected, that show the world as it is, happy endings be damned. Over the long weekend, I happened… Read More Explaining Cormac McCarthy
No Wave was a bunch of avant-garders in late 70’s-early 80’s NYC who decided that Punk Rock wasn’t obnoxious enough for them, so they made abrasive atonal music that no one cares about. Nobody even knows what it is. In 2023 most folk barely remember The White Stripes. You have to be a art-house historian,… Read More The Weird History of No Wave
The idea of art as a didactic thing, a thing intended to serve the community, was absolutely commonplace in the Renaissance: Of course, in order to have a society in which public art serves the good, true, and beautiful, it is necessary to have the following things: And the state is nothing more than the… Read More The Purpose of Art: School of Life discussing the Renaissance
Jazz is, or is supposed to be, a wild idiom, invented on the fly by trained professionals, a masterpiece by midnight. Certain ontological limits exist: Jazz is a form of music, made with instruments, by people. You can have any number of people, and any instrument you want, and still call it jazz. The aesthetic… Read More Screeching Jazz, Punk Provocateurism, and Flaunting Whiteness – A Pondering of James Chance
I wish today, for no good reason, to write about Captain Beefheart. I am not, or at least not yet, an affirmed fan of Captain Beefheart, and given my stands on the concept of fandom in general, I am unlikely to become one (especially if there’s a tribal name attached to it, like “Beefheads”… the… Read More Radar Station Blues – Let us now Praise Captain Beefheart By Slapping His Fat Face
Since abusing Georgia Lucas has become a habit of mine almost as common as abusing George R.R. Martin (what is it with Georges?), occasionally I take the time to look at his non-Star Wars filmography. This is easy, as there are only two other films he’s directed, both before Star Wars froze his auteur vision… Read More The Original Member Berries: American Graffiti
I have been cruel to Wes Anderson on this blog, without really meaning to. At the time, I was annoyed at the Oscars, for being the wacky inflatable arm-waving tube-whore it is, and I made the point, repeatedly, that Wes Anderson was never going to get an Oscar. Hollywood enjoys Wes Anderson’s work but does… Read More Every Time You Call Wes Anderson “Quirky”, God Kills a Kitten: A Cinematic Retrospective
I could spend a lot of time re-writing Variety headlines to make them not gibberish. Quentin Tarantino has been making the international press rounds in support of his “Cinema Speculation” book tour, recently speaking to Spain’s Diari ARA about how one of his only box office bombs shook his confidence as a film director. That bomb would be “Death… Read More Quentin Tarantino Discusses his Flop
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. Oscar Wilde As of this writing, “Doomcock” is trending on Twitter. This is occurring because there is a self-titled “supervillain who critiques popular culture” under the name of Dicktor Van Doomcock. He has… Read More Star Trek, Doomcock, And Fandom Shenanigans
For reasons that will probably be clear in retrospect, I have begun listening to the Doors again recently, especially their final album. The popular wisdom has it that L.A. Woman, despite having the worst of all the band’s album covers, was a powerful comeback that ranks among their best. Which, considering they only had six,… Read More The Lord is a New Creature – On Jim Morrison’s Poetry
Content Blues 