• Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

November 2022: Reading, Watching

2 years ago

Some transcendent moments. In reading Brontë, Borges, Sebald, Masters. Watching "The Getaway" and "Breaking Away". Others, not transcendent even a…

  • On Film, Movies, Cinema

Realism Lite: “Midnight Run” (1988)

2 years ago

Realism lite, how film and television suggest serious violence without actually including it, is exemplified in the 1988 buddy film…

  • Idle Reflections

Female Friends: Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s "Happy Hour" (2015)

2 years ago

Three curiosities about the lovely 2015 Ryusuke Hamaguchi film about female friendship, "Happy Hour"

  • On Literature, Books

Pleasures in Reading: Edgar Lee Master’s “Spoon River Anthology”

2 years ago

From the "Spoon River Anthology" by Edgar Lee Masters, excerpts and commentary on the experience of its reading

  • Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

Odious October 2022: Reading, Watching

2 years ago

Started reading W.G. Sebald, for the first time. Who turned me to "The Hunter Gracchus," by Dr. K. Also, Edgar…

  • On Literature, Books

Tyrannical Imagination: Henry James’ “An International Episode”

2 years ago

A passage from Henry James' novel "An International Episode" displays the tyranny of the imagination

  • On Literature, Books

Suburban Micro-Aggressions: Shirley Jackson’s short story “Flower Garden”

2 years ago

Shirley Jackson's "Flower Garden" will mystify readers expecting horror, but civil discord is in no short supply

  • Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

Saturnine September 2022: Reading, Viewing

2 years ago

Greatest hits of September: "Lord of the Rings," "We Are the Best!" (2013), "The Hunt" (1966)—and I finished James Joyce's…

  • Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

August-alia 2022: Reading, Watching

2 years ago

Birthday months are great for watching Antonioni trilogies, Premingers' "In Harm's Way," reading "The Haunting of Hill House" and "The…

  • On Film, Movies, Cinema

2 Missing Details in Richard Linklater’s Epic Before Trilogy

2 years ago

The Before Trilogy is an elegant, conversational set of romantic films, notably missing some important details.