Chris Barsanti's Blog, page 77
April 6, 2019
Nota Bene: What They Have Done Right
As a riposte to all the post-Mueller hand-wringing about “the media” (some justified, most not a bit), Steve Coll provides in the current New Yorker a handy reminder of what it is that journalists do all day and how it impacts real life: “While covering the Administration’s “zero tolerance” policy of removing immigrant kids from their …
April 2, 2019
Screening Room: ‘Combat Obscura’
During 2011-2012, cameraman Miles Lagoze tracked the lives and deaths of his fellow Marines as they battled the Taliban, boredom, rage, ennui, and bafflement at what the hell they were even doing in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. When he came back home, there was a lot of footage the Corps didn’t want the public to see. …
April 1, 2019
Screening Room: ‘Babylon’
Back in 1980, a movie about West Indian youths in London scrapping for a piece of something to call their own premiered in Cannes and promptly disappeared from sight over concerns about its controversial treatment of racism and violence. Babylon is just now getting its American release. My review is at PopMatters: It’s in many ways …
March 31, 2019
Writer’s Desk: What Does Mark Bowden Think?
Sure, Mark Bowden is a bestselling author (Black Hawk Down, Hue 1968, among others). But for many years, he was also a regular journalistic scribe trying to spin gold out of hay. So he knows something about the daily grind and making it work for you, your editor, and your audience. To wit, here are …
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March 30, 2019
Screening Room: ‘The Brink’
In Alison Klayman’s new documentary The Brink, she follows ex-Trump strategist and burgeoning nationalist power broker as he trots the globe fomenting populist revolt. The Brink just opened in limited release and should be expanding soon. My review is at Slant: To paraphrase Fran Lebowitz on Donald Trump, conservative firebrand Steve Bannon is a nitwit’s idea of …
March 24, 2019
Writer’s Desk: Outlive Them All
They say everyone is their own worst critic. A quick glance at the Internet will confirm that that is not, and never will be, true. Criticism is all part of being an artist. You write, you record, you paint. Then you put it out there into the world and see what people think. Sometimes the …
March 20, 2019
Screening Room: ‘Us’
In the latest horror/satire/commentary from Jordan Peele (Get Out), a family on vacation faces a terrifying threat: themselves, only not. It’s early, of course, but there is already some, likely justified, award buzz for star Lupita Nyong’o. Us opens wide this week. My review is at PopMatters: Us takes pieces from a few different genres, particularly home-invasion …
March 17, 2019
Writer’s Desk: Let Your Characters Talk
Occasionally some notable literary discussions take place in less-notable places. Take, for one example, the MidAmeriCon, 34th World Science Fiction Convention, which took place over a few days in 1976 at the (historic) Muehlebach Hotel in downtown Kansas City. There, the great science-fiction author Alfred Bester (The Demolished Man, The Stars My Destination) was doing …
March 15, 2019
Screening Room: ‘The Inventor’
The latest documentary from the ever-prolific Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, Going Clear) digs into the dark, weird, and ultimately all-too-familiar story of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who promised a miracle. The Inventor premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and will be broadcast this Monday on HBO. My review is at Slant: Elizabeth …
March 14, 2019
Screening Room: ‘Ash is Purest White’
The latest release from the great director Jia Zhang-Ke (A Touch of Sin, Mountains May Depart) is an ambitious modern-day Chinese crime epic. Ash is Purest White opens this week in limited release. My review is at PopMatters: When Qiao (the everyday elegant Tao Zhao) sweeps into the grey and smoky mahjong parlor at the start …
