Chris Barsanti's Blog, page 75
June 2, 2019
Writer’s Desk: Zen and the Art of Being Bradbury
The late, awesomely great Ray Bradbury should be remembered as not just one of the greatest voices in 20th century American fiction, but as one of the most enthusiastic writers ever anywhere. Case in point comes from this piece in which Writer’s Digest dug into their archives and unearthed some phenomenally energetic Bradbury truisms: Just …
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May 26, 2019
Writer’s Desk: Let the Magic Happen
When graphic novelist Alan Moore (Watchmen, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) was asked by a fan what “happens” to him when he writes, this is in part how he replied: I know that my consciousness, if I am immersed in writing something demanding, is moved into a completely different state than the one which I inhabit …
May 22, 2019
Screening Room: ‘Woodstock’
No, not that movie called Woodstock. This is a different documentary, much shorter, and more about the planning and execution. So, less music. But, still: Hendrix. Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation opens this week in limited release, and should be broadcast in August on PBS’s American Experience. My review is at Slant: According to Woodstock: Three …
May 20, 2019
Nota Bene: Movies About Writers, Why?
From Anthony Lane’s despairing review of the biopic Tolkien: Why do people keep making films about writers? And why do people watch them? It’s not as if writers do anything of interest. Unless you’re Byron or Stendhal, a successful day is one in which you don’t fall asleep with your head on the space bar. …
May 19, 2019
Reader’s Corner: Don’t Give Up
Novelist, poet, and writing professor Chuck Kinder passed away recently. Known in many circles as the inspiration behind Michael Chabon’s glorious novel Wonder Boys (and its highly underrated film adaptation), Kinder sometimes had a hard time finishing things. Per Shelf Awareness: Chabon, who studied under him in the 1980s at Pitt and published Wonder Boys …
May 17, 2019
Reader’s Corner: Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered
Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, hosts of the true-crime podcast My Favorite Murder, are currently bringing their show to thousands of “Murderino” fans around the country. They also have a book publishing at the end of May. My review of Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered was published in City Pages: Stay Sexy is a two-handed memoir, …
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May 15, 2019
Screening Room: ‘John Wick 3’
The latest of the bonkers John Wick action series hits theaters this weekend. Is it better than Avengers: Endgame? Let me ask you this: is Keanu Reeves one of the Avengers? My review of John Wick 3: Parabellum is at Slant: At the end of another knock-down, drag-out pummeling in Chad Stahelski’s John Wick 3: Parabellum, the man …
May 13, 2019
Screening Room: ‘Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile’
Taking a break from true-crime documentaries (the Paradise Lost trilogy, among others), Joe Berlinger directed a narrative adaptation of Elizabeth Kendell’s book The Phantom Prince, about her relationship with the serial killer Ted Bundy. My review of Berlinger’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, running now on Netflix, was published at Eyes Wide Open: Of all …
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May 12, 2019
Nota Bene: Joy Division
Last month in the Los Angeles Times, Henry Rollins published a beautiful appreciation of Jon Savage’s brilliant new oral history of Joy Division: This Searing Light, the Sun and Everything Else. He included this description of the band’s music, which sums it up better than just about anyone else ever has: Joy Division’s music doesn’t …
Writer’s Desk: Deadlines Can Be Your Friend
James Parker in The Atlantic, reviewing a collection of great sports writers, noted that sometimes being rushed isn’t a bad thing for getting good material: We’re all on deadline, of course, at all times and in all places. The last judgment, as Kafka pointed out, “is a summary court in perpetual session.” But a print …
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