Beltmann

Canoa: A Shameful Memory / dir. Felipe Cazals / Mexico / 1976 One of the key works of Mexican cinema. In 1968, several university workers are killed by a rural mob convinced they are Communists in a movie that effectively combines docudrama with ethnography and horror. By relaying the real-life incident through several unusual structural methods, including allegory and an occasional mock documentary style that partly functions as parody, director Felipe Cazals goes beyond analyzing mob mentality. He indicts much larger cultural and political dynamics. Watching it as an American in 2017, it’s

Missed you, Paul. We were there, but didn't see you... afterwards Stacy said she thought she glimpsed you from afar but wasn't sure. Our seats were on the first floor (Row S) and it was indeed weird with the sit?/stand? awkwardness in the middle. I've seen Wilco in Milwaukee plenty of times and I don't think the floor has ever been so reluctant to stand. (We like to stand, and were grateful when people finally were up on their feet.)

Thanks, Paul! Sounds like a fantastic night with fantastic people.

Brian Wilson Presents Pet Sounds

Good read at the AV Club: "A great time to be alive and own a guitar": Chicago's 1990s alt-rock explosion This era of Chicago alt-rock was formative for me. How can it be that it's already time to reminisce? Wasn't all of this happening last week? The piece also contains minor Wilco connections, as Lounge Ax is mentioned and at one point Joel Spencer of Menthol says, "I remember being at Lounge Ax and Jeff Tweedy showing up with his son, and we were sound-checking, and he came up and asked [drummer] Colin [Koteles] if he could let his little boy get behind the drums for a second. Colin’s l

Good to hear. I'm taking my 12-year-old daughter to the Pet Sounds show in April. Her favorite band is the Beach Boys; she's seen the Mike Love version of the band, but never Brian. She knows what to expect, though... she saw the movie "Love and Mercy" and read a biography about Brian.

My main interest is cinema, specifically the history of global film. I also spend a ridiculous amount of time watching baseball and playing softball. I suppose I should include the endless hours I put into local political issues.

Just bought both EPs by Rolling Blackout Coastal Fever. Thanks for the tip, PopTodd!

I'm on my third listen, and it keeps sounding better. Might be my favorite since Gimme Fiction.

Thanks for sharing!

“Silence” never slips into sensationalism, which might be why its violence is fairly easy to stomach--it proves to be a searching, rewarding riposte to the kind of suffer-porn found in “Unbroken” or, um, any movie directed by Mel Gibson. I especially admired the way the film re-examines what it means to follow Jesus’ example. Rodrigues, like many modern evangelicals, believes his faith is defined by purism and pedantry, but I think Scorsese wants viewers to consider how that definition has limitations and, by reducing something complex to something like a checklist, perhaps damages real faith.

Good call on Dazed, Winston. That's one of my favorite music-in-film moments, too. I remember watching that in the theater and being instantly mesmerized by Linklater's rhythm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAH-0GKvIrM The Mama & the Papas' "California Dreamin'" in Chungking Express (1994).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EswVqcgc5M Tommy Roe's "Sweet Pea" in Jesus' Son (1999).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNVPJGehzfk The Velvet Undergound's "Pale Blue Eyes" in The Vertical Ray of the Sun (2000). Gorgeous.

You people.

Those two tunes are the first things by Jay in years that I really dig. Super promising.

Not cool, A-man. Not cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skXXFgvzaK8 My wife said the boos reminded her of a famous movie. Indeed.

So far the only person I've been able to shock with the gum is, uh, me.

Sorry, Yaz. I was annoyed (okay, more than annoyed) when my CD/T-shirt didn't arrive until Monday. (Tracking had a similar "in transit" freeze for me, too.) You are still waiting? Sheesh.

Thank you for this. Artworks can, of course, become important facts in our lives, and you have, in short order, explained the how and why. Hang in there!

I very much enjoyed the regionalism and unique tone of the first episode of Atlanta. Strong stuff. Now I just need to find the time to stay caught up with the rest.

Still waiting for my pre-ordered CD / T-shirt to arrive. The mail was already delivered today, so now I guess I'm waiting until Monday.

I love how the guitar tones on "Cry All Day" at 2:51 and 2:55 sound a little like the band took the tiny boing in "Far Far Away (2:39) and amplified it by 20. (Not to suggest that was intentional. I'm just choosing to hear the song the way I want to, dammit.)