Beltmann

Oh, M. Chris, I meant to write this earlier: I totally agree with the above.

Same here. TC never quite won me over the way the first two did--those were albums that, when I wasn't listening to them, I was eagerly trying to get back to them. While I really liked TC, I never felt that way about it--but I do feel that way about Challengers.

If two children were in a burning building, and one belonged to you, which would you save? Obviously, you would choose to save your loved one, but does that choice, based on subjective emotion, imply that the other child's life is somehow less worthy? Of course not... all it does is reveal our human tendency to make decisions based on subjective emotion. That's the problem with your scenario--it asks people to make a subjective, emotional choice, and, as humans, we can hardly be blamed for choosing the being that most closely resembles ourselves. But subjectivity and emotions should have n

Seems about right. I was there.

Did you catch her on Letterman last night? She played "1 2 3 4."

Bump... reminder: Wilco on Leno this Thursday, August 30th.

Disquieting documentary about the 24 people who leaped off the Golden Gate Bridge during 2004, most of which were captured by a film crew staking out the bridge for an entire year. The money shots--people dropping to their deaths--are plentiful and morally questionable, but they are countered by ironically serene images of this grandiose red structure and painful interviews with friends and family who ruminate about illness, suicide, and loss.

Sold!

I'm fascinated by Cronenberg, but I wasn't keen on Shivers. For my money, it's his worst movie (excluding shorts like The Lie Chair and The Italian Machine). I know a lot of people would vote instead for Fast Company, and while it's certainly a poor movie, I still think Fast Company has certain virtues--especially the greasy details of drag strip life, and the way motors are used as a metaphor for how the human body functions and needs repair.

Yeah... I thought it was crap. It isn't Linklater's only misstep--I also thought Bad News Bears, SubUrbia, and Fast Food Nation were mediocre or worse--but it's the most flabbergasting of his failures.

I saw that when it first came out, and have been a huge Linklater fan ever since--at this point, I'd describe him as one of the most vital voices in American movies. (Before Sunset is one my desert-island movies.) I'll have to check out the Criterion DVD, since I've been trying to track down It's Impossible... for years. I've never seen it. Speaking of lesser-known Linklater stuff, have you seen his short documentary Live from Shiva's Dance Floor? In that one, Linklater follows performance artist Timothy "Speed" Levitch on an off-kilter tour of NYC. The movie's most memorable bit consist

I always thought the same thing! True story.

No kidding... I have a couple of their albums, and I can't figure out what the big deal is.

I actively resist imposing such black-and-white principles upon art; strict adherence to preconceived notions too often leads us to miss what's truly happening in an artwork, or miss what's most vital about it. Sometimes a song is great for its music, sometimes for its lyrics, and sometimes for both--but a work that finds harmony between the two is not automatically better than the others, because art isn't about piling up points, or about filling out a rubric.

Based on that alone, I'm going to check that album out. NP: I already like it more than Twin Cinema, which was a very good album but still a let-down for me compared to earlier NP stuff. This one, though, I am really really diggin'. For starters, "Challengers," "Myriad Harbour," and "Unguided" are ridiculously good.

I don't think the Pabst is large enough... but perhaps the Riverside?

I've had that catchy "Drivin' Me Wild" in my head for weeks, and finally picked this up today. Upon first listen, it strikes me as even more immediately pleasurable than Be (which I loved).

I remember that when I saw that in the theater, I was the only one there. Pity.

That holds up, doesn't it?

The upper level does have a few seats, but nearly all of them are reserved. There's plenty of standing room up there, though. Frankly, the Eagles Ballroom is not the greatest venue. Its best virtue is that it's, um, large.

Madison on Sep. 11, Milwaukee on Oct. 9... sounds like it's going to be a good Wilco month for me. (And in between, 11 days of the Milwaukee International Film Festival!)