Chris Barsanti's Blog, page 120

Screening Room: ‘Defying the Nazis’

On the brinkof World War II, a Unitarian minister and his wife were ordered by their community to travel from Massachusetts to Europe with a crucialmission: Help as many refugees escape as you can.

Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War, which was co-directed by Ken Burns, is opening this week in limited release. It will be broadcast on PBS September 20. My review is atFilm Journal International:

Ringing with a vivid moral clarity, Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War is a tightly focused document...

Screening Room: ‘London Road’

The adventurous musicalLondon Road was a smash hit in its brief run at the National Theatre. Now it’s a film, and for just a couple minutes, one can hear Tom Hardy do his level best at singing.

London Road is opening this week in limited release. My review is atFilm Journal International.

Here’s the trailer:

Writer’s Desk: Make Writing Your Life

When giving advice on writing,Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love;Big Magic) takes the approach that this vocation is a calling, not just a job:

…if you are serious about a life of writing, or indeed about any creative form of expression – that you should take on this work like a holy calling. I became a writer the way other people become monks or nuns. I made a vow to writing, very young. I became Bride-of-Writing. I was writing’s most devotional handmaiden. I built my entire life around writ...

Reader’s Corner: The State of American Reading

The latest Pew Research Center poll on the state of American reading is out, and there are few surprises: Print is holding up strong against ebooks, and slightly fewer people are reading overall (yet again).

Some key findings:

The percentage of Americans who read any book in the past twelve months (73%) is down from 2011 (79%) Women read more than men overall and were more likely to read for pleasure City-dwellersread more than people in rural communities Youngsters (aged 18–29) read more t...

Weekend Reading: September 2, 2016

It’s official: the Socialist Workers Party had its act more together than the Minnesota GOP… almost. The great Belgian book hunt. Taking feminism back from the marketing department. Donald Trump just doesn’t understand white people. If there’s no fire and all smoke, can you still call it a “scandal”? The argument for editing the books you read to your kids. Why is it now a lot more dangerous to be a pregnant woman in Texas? Coming soon to the air above your head: CNN drones. Trump’s guy...

Reader’s Corner: ‘The Last Days of New Paris’

In the latest novel from China Miéville, the year is 1950 and World War II is still dragging on. Paris is in Stalingrad-like ruins from years of battle. Oh, and a crack in the fabric of reality has resulted in major works of Surrealist art coming to life and joining in the fight themselves.

My review ofThe Last Days of New Paris is atPopMatters:

Time is a slippery thing in China Miéville’s writing. Reality, too. Whether he’s cracking open the concept of language (Embassytown) or layering dim...

Screening Room: ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’

Meryl Streep’s latest role requires her to do some stretching, as it involves playing a woman who was absolutely terrible at doing the thing she loved most.

Florence Foster Jenkinsis playing now. My review is atEyes Wide Open:

There’s an old joke about the difference that money makes for people suffering from mental illness. Most mentally ill people are just referred to as “crazy.” The ones with money, though, are tagged as “eccentric.” Very few statements have more clearly defined the advan...

Writer’s Desk: Wodehouse Kept It Simple

P.G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) didn’t live to such a ripe age by worrying about things, like directions or keeping cash about the place.

In this 1975 interview from theParis Review, he lays out a brisk but simple writing schedule:

I still start the day off at seven-thirty. I do my daily dozen exercises, have breakfast, and then go into my study. When I am between books, as I am now, I sit in an armchair and think and make notes. Before I start a book I’ve usually got four hundred pages of notes....

Weekend Reading: August 26, 2016

Do black voters really have “nothing to lose“? Yes, she could even win Missour-ah. Rabidpuppies take a hit at the Hugo Awards. Sex, students, and what hookup culture is all about. Here’s what Facebook thinks about your politics. The people who aren’t surprised by what Trump is doing now. Print and read: The tortured relationship between helicopter parentingand binge drinking. More print and read: Too many trolls, or why we can’t have nice Internet things.

Screening Room: ‘Imperium’

In his newest film,Imperium, the increasingly adventurous Daniel Radcliffe plays an FBI agent who goes undercover to infiltrate a white nationalist group that might also be a terrorist cell. The playwright Tracy Letts (August, Osage County) and Toni Collette co-star.

Imperium is playing now in limited release. My review is atFilm Journal International.

Here’s the trailer: