Chris Barsanti's Blog, page 175

Readers’ Corner: America’s Top Ten Books

“Reading the Bible,” Currier & Ives (Library of Congress)

The Bible is still the number one book in Americans’ hearts. At least, that’s according to a new poll by Harris Interactive that surveyed American adults to find out what their favorite book was. The rest of the top ten books are all fiction (insert atheist gag here), starting with the somewhat curious inclusion ofGone with the Wind at number two. Here’s the list:

The Bible
Gone with the Windby Margaret Mitchell
Harry Potter(series) by J.K...

Readers’ Corner: Whiskey and the Dylan Thomas Centenary

Dylan Thomas drank here: The White Horse Tavern, circa 1961 (Library of Congress)

The thunderously great poet Dylan Thomas would have turned 100 years old yesterday. So of course the date was used as an excuse to announce that Rhys Ifans would be playing the writer of “Do not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light” in an upcoming film.

Whether Thomaswas done in by poor medical attention or the demon drink back in 195...

Department of Weekend Reading: May 2, 2014

So, has the whale exploded yet?
Drunkards and the British Isles, a brief history.
The drones are coming! And other tales of idiocy from the Nevada militia hootenanny.
Glorious things that won’t happen after he takes Letterman’s spot: Colbert vs. the anti-vaccinators.
City living, now with more sinking.
America, circa 2014: the isolationists have it.
Poison, rust, and danger: the shipbreakers ofBangladesh.
Bourbon, misogyny, and the fairer sex.
Weapons to Syrian rebels probably are ending up in the ha...

Quote of the Day: May Day, 2014

May Day Parade, New York (Library of Congress)

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

—”The Economic Bill of Rights,” Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Tribeca Film Festival, Awards Dispatch: ‘Zero Motivation’ and ‘Gueros’

(Image courtesy of the Tribeca Film Festival)

Two of the award-winning narrative films at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival didn’t quite fit the fest’s usual mold. NeitherZero Motivation(which won for best narrative feature) orGueros (best cinematography) were the usual small, tightly-focused chamber-piece dramas. Both had large ambitions that might have outstripped their abilities, but were thrilling nonetheless.

My review forPopMatters is here.

Zero Motivationis a deftIsraeli comedy set in a mili...

Tribeca Film Festival, Part III: ‘Match’ and ’1971′

Two common Tribeca tropes in this pair of reviews: an interesting but underwhelming drama with name performers doing their level best and a solid historical documentary that’s practically required viewing. My most recent dispatch from the Tribeca Film Festival is here.

The drama is Stephen Belber’sMatch, a three-performer melodrama about a high-strung, Wildean dance instructor (Patrick Stewart) who gets an unwelcome blast from his wild past:

Matchis a tight, comically uncomfortable little box o...

Tribeca Film Festival, Part II: ‘All About Ann’ and ‘Art and Craft’

(Image courtesy of the Tribeca Film Festival)

In the last weekend of the Tribeca Film Festival, a strong slate of documentaries showedthat covered things southern, eccentric art forgers and brassy politicos. My seconddispatch runs today at PopMatters, here.

First isAll About Ann: Governor Richards of the Lone Star State.Befitting its once-in-a-lifetime subject, this clearly worshipful documentary is big-hearted and loud-mouthed, but gets by on the strength of sheer personality. It’s also screen...

Writer’s Corner: Oates on Oates

In a mostly successful attempt to undermine and interrogate the whole concept of author publicity, the writer as an identity, the interview process itself, Joyce Carol Oates interviews herself for theWashington Post.

One key takeaway:

Is there something frankly embarrassing or shameful about being a “writer”?

The public identification does seem just a bit self-conscious, at times. Like identifying oneself as a “poet,” “artist,” “seer,” “visionary.”

Also, this:

Let’s get back to the crucial questio...

Department of Weekend Reading: April 25, 2014

Here’s a few reasons why the great robot/AI rebellion is inevitable, unless we change programming.
Sad Desk Lunch.
No, the IRS actually didn’t target just right-wingers.
Kids today: Not nearly so tech-savvy as you’d think
Garry Wills on the anti-Obamacare gang: “Facts don’t matter when a cult is involved.”
When mainland Chinese go to Hong Kong it can get ugly.
MoMA as “business-driven carnival.”
The is no stranger to those who pay attention.
“They want life to be better, but they...

Screening Room, Tribeca Film Fest Edition: ‘An Honest Liar’ and ‘In Order of Disappearance’

(Image courtesy of the Tribeca Film Festival)

Getting to the Tribeca Film Festival only in its final weekend, but better late to the festival than never. My coverage will be running in pairs atPopMatters over the next few days, usually a documentary along with a narrative film that has little to no relation to the other. Hopefully the randomness of the pairings will help replicate the festival experience, only without the long lines and well-meaning volunteers.

The initialdispatch runs today, h...