Chris Barsanti's Blog, page 85
August 19, 2018
Writer’s Desk: Stay Curious About Everything
There are writers—some, but certainly not all—whose eyes will glaze over at the mere mention of topics like “science.” (See also: “401K,” “Retirement Planning,” “Job Security,” and “Deadlines” for other unpopular topics.) But stay with me with for this. A couple weeks back, the great George Will turned away from deftly skewering members of his …
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August 18, 2018
Nota Bene: The New Canon
‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ (Focus Features) The Washington Post‘s Ann Hornaday has just addressed an obvious lacuna in movie criticism by declaring first that not only has the Great Movie Canon remained stubbornly fixed for too long (Vertigo, Citizen Kane) but that there are many movies post-2000 that stand up alongside all the greats …
Screening Room: ‘Do You Trust This Computer?’
‘Do You Trust This Computer?’ (Papercut Films) The new documentary from Chris Paine (Who Killed the Electric Car?) takes on a far more mistrusting topic of technology, namely: What’s artificial intelligence going to do to us as a species? Do You Trust This Computer? is playing now. My review is at Film Journal International: The delicious danger …
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August 12, 2018
Writer’s Desk: How About Oranges?
In 1965, New Yorker writer John McPhee met with the magazine’s famously hard-to-please editor William Shawn to discuss his next story idea. According to Wyatt Williams’ Oxford American essay: The writer would suggest subject after subject only to be told that the idea had already been reserved for another writer or that Shawn wasn’t interested in it. …
August 7, 2018
Reader’s Corner: Defend Your Bookstore
This past weekend was business as usual at Bookmarks, Britain’s “largest socialist bookshop.” Then the fascists showed up. According to The Guardian, “the store was attacked by far-right protesters wearing masks who wrecked displays and ripped up books and magazines.” Also: The campaign group Stand Up To Racism, speaking on behalf of Bookmarks, said some of …
Reader’s Corner: Defend Your Store
This past weekend was business as usual at Bookmarks, Britain’s “largest socialist bookshop.” Then the fascists showed up. According to The Guardian, “the store was attacked by far-right protesters wearing masks who wrecked displays and ripped up books and magazines.” Also: The campaign group Stand Up To Racism, speaking on behalf of Bookmarks, said some of …
August 5, 2018
Writer’s Desk: Write the Book You’re Supposed to Write
When Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn was trying to write her very great, very creepy novel Dark Places, she was having trouble with the heroine, who she initially wanted to seem different than her earlier protagonists. According to this article from Fast Company, Flynn showed some pages to her husband. He read them, poured her some wine, and said, “you …
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August 2, 2018
Nota Bene: Film Forum Reopens
August is here and, just in time, Film Forum has reopened after a long-overdue renovation. The place is almost a half-century old. “Not bad” (as their website notes) “for a scrappy non-profit that started with 50 folding chairs and a 16mm projector the size of a breadbox.” More than just another arthouse, Film Forum is …
July 29, 2018
Writer’s Desk: Random It, Like Bowie
One of the more eye-opening bits at the just-closed David Bowie Is exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum—besides that clip from Labyrinth, his tattered Union Jack coat, and all the cultural ephemera that inspired him—is the part focusing on his recurring fascination with automatic and cut-up writing. The technique wasn’t new by the time Bowie started using …
July 22, 2018
Writer’s Desk: Don’t Get Pushed Around
Back when New York had a downtown art scene to be proud of, Fran Lebowitz was one of its singular denizens and chroniclers. When she started branching out from writing on movies or what have you for Andy Warhol’s Interview, she ran into some difficulties. But she didn’t let that stop her. Take this anecdote from …
