Chris Barsanti's Blog, page 71
September 22, 2019
Writer’s Desk: Get Past the Terror
David Simon (Homicide, The Wire, The Deuce) on writing the character of Creighton on Treme, a frustrated novelist who committed suicide: … there were some underlying fears that as a creative soul Creighton had shot his bolt. That fear is probably latent in every writer. You stare at the page for the first time and if …
September 20, 2019
Scene of the Day: ‘Instrument’ (1999)
From Jem Cohen’s must-see 1999 documentary on the band Fugazi (you can see the whole movie here), this clip lays audio for their instrumental “Guilford Falls” over a hypnotic, electrifying montage of concert clips from their all-out performance at an anti-apartheid benefit concert:
September 15, 2019
Writer’s Desk: Take Your Time
One piece of advice that many new writers get is to write as much as possible. That way you can publish more often. And the more you publish, the more people get to know your work, success breeds success, and so on. But at what point does that approach start to feel less like art …
September 13, 2019
Screening Room: ‘Where’s My Roy Cohn?’
How do you get from the McCarthy era to the Trump presidency via one black-hearted individual? Find out in the new documentary Where’s My Roy Cohn?, opening next week. My review is at Slant: For those wanting to stare into the face of misery personified, look no further than Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary about “legal executioner” Roy Cohn. …
Scene of the Day: ‘Woodshock’ (1985)
Richard Linklater’s first movie, Woodshock, was a 7-minute documentary short from 1985 about the Texas indie music festival. A couple minutes in, you can see a very shy Daniel Johnston getting ready to perform (“I work at McDonalds. This is my new album.”). Later diagnosed with schizophrenia, Johnston recorded some of the greatest, oddest, most heartbreakingly …
September 10, 2019
Screening Room: ‘The Goldfinch’
The long-awaited movie of Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch is here in a very messy, trying-too-hard, but at least very well-acted and gorgeous-looking adaptation from John Crowley (Brooklyn). The Goldfinch premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and opens this week. My review is at Slant: Streamlined by Peter Straughan from Donna Tartt’s overwrought Pulitzer-winning 2013 novel …
September 8, 2019
Writer’s Desk: Write, Write, Talk, Write, Get Lucky
Among the many questions that young writers have, besides “How do you make a living at it?”, is what they should do and what should they read to help them hone their craft. There is no good answer. But embedding yourself in an ecstatically committed community of writers or at least people who love writing …
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Writer’s Desk: Tell Your Story
The next time you are not sure what to write about, maybe take a crack at your own story. It doesn’t have to be a biography, or a college essay about an adversity that you overcome, maybe just a few pages on a childhood memory, or a piece about the chasm between what you thought …
September 5, 2019
Scene of the Day: ‘The Muppets Take Manhattan’ (1984)
Witness the wisdom of Pete, the diner man from Frank Oz’s The Muppets Take Manhattan, as he explains life to Kermit. Peoples is peoples. Okay?
September 3, 2019
Nota Bene: Are You in the Midwest?
In David Montgomery’s great CityLab article, he tries to delineate the boundaries of that fungible region known as the Midwest. In response to a survey, he finds broad agreement: …there is a core area that most everyone agrees is Midwestern, including cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Omaha, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, St. Louis, and Kansas City. …
