Chris Barsanti's Blog, page 182
February 6, 2014
Writer’s Corner: Word Virus
Language is a virus from outer space.
—William S. Burroughs
Burroughs, who would have turned 100 yesterday, liked to repeat this quote and variations on its theme in his speaking and writing. Like with much else that he put out there, it’s not meant to be taken with complete seriousness, but he certainly believed in the metaphor of words and ideas as a virus that can spread with disease-like rapdity.
Along those lines, check out China Mieville’s science-fiction novel Embassytown, in which (among...
February 5, 2014
Department of Shameless Self-Promotion: ‘Eyes Wide Open 2013′
‘Upstream Color’: One of the year’s great movies that didn’t make it onto the Oscar shortlist
Just in time for the upcoming Academy Awards but way too late for the SAG Awards, Golden Globes, and just about every movie awards ceremony that means anything, here comes the newest iteration of my now-annual Best-Of and Worst-Of compilation:Eyes Wide Open 2013: The Year’s 25 Greatest Movies (and 5 Worst).
The title should be basically self-explanatory, but here’s the gist of it: I pulled together wha...
February 4, 2014
Screening Room: Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014)
“Be honest, and unmerciful.”
Philip Seymour Hoffman was a bandit of an actor. FromThe Talented Mr. Ripley toCharlie Wilson’s Warand The Ides of March, he was rarely better than when committing full-scale larceny on the screen—walking away with an entire film while leaving A-list actors stumbling about in his wake.
With such a rich body of work cut so horrendously short, you would think it would be hard to zoom in on one particular performance that summed up his appeal. But it’s not. Almost ever...
February 2, 2014
Reader’s Corner: 100 Most Requested Out-of-Print Books
Every year, BookFinder.com compiles a list of the 100 most sought-after out-of-print books. Their 11th annual list was just released and it’s quite the read.
For our sins, the #1 title is Madonna’s oh-so-scandalous “book”Sex. Stephen King makes a few high-up appearances, most surprisingly for the little-knownMy Little Pony, which was released as a limited edition in 1989 with illustrations by Barbara Kruger. Some other highlights:
Nora Roberts (?!) – Promise Me Tomorrow
Cameron Crowe – Fast Time...
February 1, 2014
Now Playing: ‘Generation War’
‘Generation War’: A Drink, For Tomorrow We May Die
Five friends meet for one last night together before three of them head off to war. It’s not the newest of premises but what gives the nearly five-hour epicGeneration Warmore of a kick is that it’s about five German youths who will be hurled into the morally-devastating crucible of World War II.
It’s playing now in limited release and should hit DVD soon. My review is atFilm Racket:
Controversial but also hugely popular in Germany, where it aire...
January 31, 2014
Department of Weekend Reading: January 31, 2014
Richard Sherman—He went to Stanford.
Movie with a message: Dear White People .
From Gone with the Wind to The Wolf of Wall Street; a trajectory of censorship.
What the State of the Union didn’t include.
When St. Louis meets New York.
The Mexican “walking fish”: One more extinction.
The eternalpoetry vs. prose argument gets fatal.
Football players at Northwestern University want to unionize.
Once again, pity the billionaire.
Fine literature, boiled down, hip-hop-style: Thug-Notes.
Fine dining, South Kore...
January 30, 2014
Now Playing: ‘Like Father, Like Son’
Are You Really My Son?
Imagine you’re the parents of an adorably well-behaved six-year-old boy. Then the hospital calls and tells you that in fact, your child was switched with another family’s when they were born—your biological son has been raised by somebody else. What do you do? That’s the conversation-sparking premise behind Kore-Eda Hirokazu’s brilliant new melodramaLike Father, Like Son, playing now in limited release.
My review is atFilm Racket:
There’s a Lifetime movie lurking not far b...
New in Theaters: ’12 O’Clock Boys’
’12 O’Clock Boys’: Today, We Ride
Every so often in Baltimore, swarms of teenagers and twentysomethings will come swarming through an intersection, doing paralysis-defying tricks on their bikes or four-wheelers. They’re called “12 O’Clock Boys,” and they’re the subject of an interesting new documentary about hope (or the lack of it) and fantasy in the inner cities.
12 O’Clock Boys opens in limited release this week after playing the festival doc circuit.My review is atFilm Journal International...
January 26, 2014
Reader’s Corner: Jack London
Mostly remembered today as the man who wroteWhite Fang, in his time Jack London was one of the most popular living American authors. He was as celebrated for his wideranging command of styles (adventure stories to science fiction and political polemics) to his wildly wolfish and nomadic lifestyle. London was a heroic striver or sadistic bastard, depending on who you asked. He showed up in last year’s historical gothic horror novelThe Accursedby Joyce Carol Oates as a bullying alcoholic who ap...
January 24, 2014
Department of Weekend Reading: January 24, 2014
Discrimination; now even at Airbnb.
Time to worry?Nearly half of today’s jobs could be automated within two decades.
The positive side of gentrification.
Giving poors what they need: a good kick in the you-know.
Sean Hannity possibly to leave New York because of mean, mean governor.
The folks in Missour-ah seriously need to ramp up their smokin’ and gamblin’.
Enjoy a fine Scandinavian ale, first brewed at least 3,500 years ago.
Fake your way through the classics.
Neurotics get more work done than ext...
