Chris Barsanti's Blog, page 111
February 4, 2017
Quote of the Day: Mencken!
The great H.L Mencken wrote the following in 1923:
I have often pointed out how politics, under democracy, invariably translates itself from the domain of logical ideas to the domain of mere feelings, usually simple fear.
And that was before he covered the Scopes monkey trial.
(h/t: MobyLives!)
February 3, 2017
Weekend Reading: February 3, 2017
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So Trump’s first authorized special ops raid went about as well as you would expect. See what you can match on this “Early Warning Signs of Fascism” sign at the Holocaust Museum to the current administration. Garrison Keillor: “‘We’re not going to let people die in the streets.’ No, they’re going to die at home in their bedrooms.“ Things don’t change: Dr. Seuss vs. fascism. One day from Melania’s diary. With new tech for inventing real-looking video and audio, the 2020 election wil...January 31, 2017
Screening Room: ‘Oklahoma City’
In 1995, the biggest domestic terrorist attack in American history to that point took place in Oklahoma City. It wasn’t an isolated incident. Barak Goodman’s documentary shows what lead up to the bombing and along the way provides a thumbnail history of the American white supremacist underground.
Oklahoma City is opening this week in limited release and will be broadcast as part of PBS’s American Experience series on February 7. My review is at Film Journal International:
For all the news in...
January 29, 2017
Writer’s Desk: Carrie Fisher Said Stay Scared
Carrie Fisher at the 2013 Venice Film Festival (Riccardo Ghilardi)
Carrie Fisher was one of the vanishingly few actors to ever come out of the gate as a massive star at an early age and then later transition to a writing career that would have been respected all on its own. As someone who struggled with mental and addiction issues throughout her life in a business that is basically engineered to maximize a writer’s insecurity, she knew what it was like to doubt every one of your own creative...
January 28, 2017
Reader’s Corner: Orwell and Trump
My article “Forget Orwell: No Book Will Prepare You for the Trump Years” was published earlier this week at Medium:
After Donald Trump’s human smokescreen Kellyanne Conway announced that the president was simply presenting the world with “alternative facts,” the connection was quickly made to George Orwell’s 1984. There is good reason for this. (And while one should be happy for any resulting increase in sales of the book, we shouldn’t presume that it will be any guide to the remaining years...
January 27, 2017
Weekend Reading: January 27, 2017
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So how come Gwyneth Paltrow’s website Goop thinks it’s a good idea for women to stick jade eggs in their, well, you know whats? John McWhorter: “I listen to the man who is now president as if he were roughly 12 years old. That way, he is always perfectly understandable.“ Criminalizing dissent: A North Dakota congressman wants to make it legal for drivers to run over protesters. Young Obi-wan Kenobi vs. sexist troll Piers Morgan. “A torqued up man-child, alternatively rageful and fragil...January 26, 2017
Screening Room: ‘I Am Michael’
James Franco and Zachary Quinto in ‘I Am Michael’
Based on a true story,I Am Michaelstars James Franco as a gay activist who turns to Christianity and rejects everything about his past. It’s playing now in limited release. My review is atFilm Journal International:
When we first see Michael Glatze (James Franco), trying to counsel a fellow young Christian terrified of his same-sex attractions, he initially seems supportive and gentle. The kind of preacher who reaches out, rather than condemns...
January 24, 2017
Screening Room: ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’
[image error]In 1976, David Bowie was a rock star, but pretty much still just that. Then Nicolas Roeg cast the singer/songwriter with the alien alter ego(s) as an alien wandering around Earth and having an existential crisis. The film was remembered less for itself
My review ofThe Man Who Fell to Earth, now out in a deluxe new Blu-ray/DVD release with fab new digital transfer,is at PopMatters:
The Man Who Fell to Earth is one of those curious sci-fi projects that are occasionally indulged in by filmmakers...
January 22, 2017
Writer’s Desk: Own the Fear
Plenty of writers out there are anxious about what kind of physical and spiritual damage is going to be wrought on America and the world bytheshort-fingered vulgarian currently inhabiting the White House (or not).
Many (like Stephen King, Salman Rushdie, and Junot Diaz) areagitating and speaking their minds, and some are protesting. They know that civil rights, basic freedoms, and great swathes of the social safety net are already in jeopardy.
But the arts are threatened as well—what with pla...
January 21, 2017
Reader’s Corner: Obama’s Books
Something unlikely to be seen in the next four years: the President out buying books (Pete Souza)
No matter what was going on in the world, President Obama always found time to read, preferably for at least an hour a night, according to Michiko Kakutani. This wasn’t just a habit that relaxed him, it also provided grist for the mill:
In today’s polarized environment, where the internet has let people increasingly retreat to their own silos (talking only to like-minded folks, who amplify their...
