Chris Barsanti's Blog, page 27
February 12, 2023
Writer’s Desk: Be Spontaneous
The somewhat unsung Harlem Renaissance writer Claude McKay was a poet, novelist, and active socialist of the anti-Stalinist inclination. He channeled his passionate beliefs into an impressive series of books that showed his desire to write with spirit and truth rather than formalism. McKay explained why in Harlem Shadows: I have not used patterns, images …
February 5, 2023
Writer’s Desk: Less, Please
Minimalist writing is generally understood as a style that pares away unnecessary words to get at a truer understanding of the story. Think of a writer using minimalism like a sculptor cleaving off marble to expose the piece of art lying underneath. In this essay about the novelist Amy Hempel, Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) described …
January 29, 2023
Writer’s Desk: First By Hand
Yes, in the 21st century, there are still writers who use pen and ink, for their first drafts, at least. Sam Anderson, a staff writer for the New York Times Magazine, told another writer at the paper that he actually composed the first draft of most of his long pieces by pen. He liked how …
January 26, 2023
Screening Room: Sundance Film Festival
Every January it’s the same. You’re still trying to catch up on the November and December releases, and then there are the Golden Globes and the Oscars to dissect, and then comes the Sundance Film Festival with a whole load of new work that’s clamoring for attention. I covered a few of this year’s offerings …
January 22, 2023
Writer’s Desk: Writing Through the Hard Times
Among the writers Charlie Jane Anders spoke with for Never Say You Can’t Survive was Rebecca Solnit, who has written many books (Hope in the Dark) about that very topic. This is Solnit’s advice for how to keep putting words on the page even when everything seems to be falling apart: Your writing doesn’t ignore …
Continue reading Writer’s Desk: Writing Through the Hard Times
January 21, 2023
Screening Room: ‘Aum: The Cult at the End of the World’
One of the new documentaries premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival is AUM: The Cult at the End of the World. My review is at The Playlist: The last few years have been great times for documentaries about cults. That does not mean it is a time of introspection about the questing impulses driving …
Continue reading Screening Room: ‘Aum: The Cult at the End of the World’
January 19, 2023
Screening Room: ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’
Have you ever seen The Adventures of Baron Munchausen? Whatever the answer, the new Criterion edition provides ample reason to watch it now, whether for the first or fifth time. My article about the film, and its place in Terry Gilliam’s career, is at PopMatters: It is not surprising that Terry Gilliam’s film career went up …
Continue reading Screening Room: ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’
January 15, 2023
Writer’s Desk: Keep Making Things Up
Though some people seem to forget this, much of the art of writing is the art of invention. Even journalism and history involve coming up with a story that pulls everything together, the only thing being that you then need to ensure you have the research to back up your story. Nobel winner Isaac Bashevis …
January 8, 2023
Writer’s Desk: Show Your Work
Writing is something we all have to do on our own. But eventually somebody else has to see it. Better that the first person you show it to is not your editor. Zakiya Dalila Harris (The Other Black Girl) suggested showing your work: Share your writing early with other people. Having other eyes on your …
January 7, 2023
Screening Room: ‘Rio Bravo’
Is Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo pretty much a perfect Western? I wrote about it at Eyes Wide Open: In 1958, after decades of directing hits like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and To Have and Have Not, Howard Hawks was in bad shape. Nursing the wounds incurred by his ill-judged directing of the epic flop Land of the Pharaohs (1955), he had …
