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Real Life, Modern Romance, Lost in America, Defending Your Life. That quartet of films possesses so much DNA that I witness in today’s comedy. I love Brooks’ melding of earnest, trenchant, and silly. He’s always exploring the pitfalls of idealism and exposing self-awareness as a curse. Yet his films aren’t cynical, they’re heartfelt.
Related Recs
funny documentary about a working class midwestern guy just trying to get his film made. feels like a mockumentary but it’s real. bittersweet with a looming sadness, but if anything it’s hopeful. definitely inspired napoleon dynamite and hot rod
one of my new favorites methinks…
Feb 7, 2024
Sep 25, 2024
90s robert altman entertainment biz satire/thriller - v good viewing after last year’s writer‘s strike. tim robbins plays a hollywood exec who’s receiving death threats from disgruntled screenwriters. great snapshot of LA in this era (tho altman gets LA right in every movie he does) and endless massive cameos. one of my fav little details is the background conversations, they have nothing to do with the plot - they just add to the ambience and enhance getting immersed in the show biz deal schmooze-control zone.
Jan 26, 2024
Top Recs from @carrie
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I know, it’s obnoxious to be part of this trendy bandwagon. For all I know, you’re someone who has called to complain about the sound of people playing the game, which I’ve heard happens in certain neighborhoods. I get it. It’s essentially very loud and very big ping pong. If I can make one argument for taking up the sport, I’d say it’s that the age range of people with whom you hang out will expand greatly. The other day, I played with a 10-year old, a 30-year old, and a 70-year old. Plus, it’s a real-life interaction, and it’s easy to come up short on those sometimes.
Jan 16, 2024
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If someone asked me to list the greatest living American novelists, Ward would be in my Top 5. Sing, Unburied, Sing is an absolute stunner, both lived-in and otherworldly, such aching and beautiful prose. And Ward can be blunt too, evincing the steps and steepness of life. Her most recent novel, Let Us Descend, is profound and painful, the story of an enslaved girl, of conjured humanity despite brutal circumstances. I love how Ward’s stories fuse generations, those living and beyond; I’m always transfixed as a reader.
Jan 16, 2024
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I’ve never understood why this band is relatively obscure in America. Amber Webber is one of my favorite contemporary vocalists; her voice has body and ooze and just generally captures that forlorn hauntedness I like in a singer. “Antonia Jane” is a song I return to annually, then listen to on repeat for a few weeks. Their latest album, Nostalgia Killer, has another song that sounds like an instant classic called “Wrecked.” Lightning Dust started out as an offshoot of Black Mountain, who have more psychedelic leanings and who are worth checking out as well. Basically, take a figurative musical detour to Vancouver BC and see what’s going on.
Jan 16, 2024