Chris Barsanti's Blog, page 74
July 12, 2019
Reader’s Corner: Summer Graphic Novels
I reviewed three new graphic novels—well, a graphic memoir of self-discovery and heartache by Ulli Lust, one immersive graphic biography about Stephen Hawking, and George Takei’s internment-camp memoir, to be precise—in a summer roundup for this weekend’s book section of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. They’re all smart, absorbing reads and well worth your time. Check out …
July 10, 2019
Screening Room: ‘Sword of Trust’
In the new comedy from Lynn Shelton (Humpday), podcaster, comic, and Glow star Marc Maron plays a disgruntled pawn shop owner who gets sucked into a screwball plot about Civil War truthers when he comes across a rare sword. Sword of Trust opens this week. My review is at PopMatters: Sword of Trust is in many ways …
July 8, 2019
Screening Room: ‘Sea of Shadows’
The new documentary Sea of Shadows uses the incredible story of how environmental activists and the Mexican military are fighting cartels to save an endangered whale to highlight what the extinction of one species means for the future. Produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Richard Ladkani (The Ivory Game), Sea of Shadows opens this Friday. …
July 7, 2019
Writer’s Desk: Walk to Run
In his autobiography Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen explains that when it came time to write that album, he knew it was a make-or-break moment for his career. It couldn’t just succeed, it had to break through. So, he took his time. Per Justin Cox at The Writing Cooperative: It took Springsteen six months to get Born to …
July 1, 2019
Writer’s Desk: Buy Some Cards
When in a bind, creative people do a number of things. Stare at the wall. Fidget. Groan. Panic. Eye the whiskey bottle. Open the whiskey bottle. It’s all stalling mechanisms in the hope that in the midst of all that prevaricating, lightning will strike. Some artists have tried to break those logjams in a more …
June 23, 2019
Writer’s Desk: Write Like You Speak
In one of his last pieces for Vanity Fair before cancer stole him from us, Christopher Hitchens wrote about the loss of his voice and how he advised writers to not just read but listen to their words: I told them to read every composition aloud, preferably to a trusted friend. The rules are much the same: …
June 16, 2019
Writer’s Desk: Death to Cliches
Cliches are irresistible to most people, and particularly writers. Why? They’re easy, people know what you mean, there’s millions of them for the taking. The downsides, of course, are legion. Lazy writing, audience pandering, a lack of originality. There is also the very real chance that you can do a great disservice to the subject. …
June 10, 2019
Nota Bene: Everyday Socialism
A little late for May Day, but still worth reading. This New Statesman piece looks at the rise of non-utopian socialists who redefine the fight as more of a struggle to simply help people survive the time-sucking grind of modern capitalism. Per Freud: “converting hysterical misery into ordinary unhappiness.” From Jacobin founder Bhaskar Sunkara: Imagine ordinary people, …
June 9, 2019
Writer’s Desk: Tell and Delight
In his poem “Tell Me a Story,” Robert Penn Warren lays down a dictum (intended or not) for what all writers should do: Tell me a story. In this century, and moment, of mania, Tell me a story. Make it a story of great distances, and starlight. The name of the story will be Time, …
June 3, 2019
Screening Room: ‘Avengers: Endgame’
My article, “Is Avengers: Endgame a Miserable Bore or Something Worse?” was published at Eyes Wide Open: It’s official: We’ve been had. Avengers: Endgame is many things. A complex web of interlocking character arcs. A masterpiece of corporate synergy. A box office hit whose take various publications simply cannot stop fawning over. It is not a good …
