This was always the tricky double feature of this exercise, and, once I decided that I wasn’t going to watch all six of these movies in one sitting, it was actually the reason I didn’t really want to do three back-to-back viewings. Doing Episodes I and II together made sense, even if it’s a nasty… Read More Star Wars I-VI Project: Episodes III-IV
When I used to teach The Crucible, I would inevitably have at least one student who was aghast that John Proctor let himself be taken into custody at the end of Act 3 when he knew that he would be executed. “I’d never let that happen to me,” the kid, who is almost always a… Read More Brief Thoughts on Firearms in America
In another podcast that occurred much more recently than Episode 11! Our intro music doesn’t work as we talk about the musical we’ve “written!” (We didn’t write a musical.) We embrace irony at the podcast. Today, we channel our deep and abiding affection for Hamilton by talking about who is at the top of our depth… Read More Baumann and Burch, Episode 12: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Makes Your Life-story in a Musical
In this podcast! More books are on the docket: more Robertson Davies, and a Booker Prize-winning novel; Matt finally talks about a favorite author, and Tim reaches back into his early high school days to talk about a sequel that’s even better than the first in the acclaimed series. Don’t be scared if you don’t… Read More Baumann and Burch, Episode 11: In Which Matt’s Predictive Powers Exert Themselves
Last hour, which was more than a year ago, we discussed how goblins fit into the Potterverse, the curious road to redemption for Draco Malfoy, and the surprising choice to off Dobby but not Kreacher. Hour #5: p. 519-658 (“Gringotts” through “The Elder Wand”…and just short of “The Prince’s Tale.” Sigh.) –At this point in… Read More Live Blogging Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Fifth Hour
It’s almost time, God help us all, for The Force Awakens. In honor – in dread? – of the upcoming film, I’m undertaking a project that I’ve wanted to complete many times in my life but never had the sand to attempt. The goal is to watch all six films in a series of tight windows –… Read More Star Wars I-VI Project: Episodes I-II
Dir. Gus van Sant. Starring Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin There are some real howlers in the history of Best Picture winners. One thinks The Artist in 2011. 2011 wasn’t a terribly strong year, but Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy were at least viable options. (Bridesmaids and A Separation, for their own reasons, would… Read More Milk (2008)
Dir. Martin Scorsese. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, John C. Reilly In the Lindsay Lohan Parent Trap, once Hal and Annie have both been sent to the “Isolation Cabin” to work out the problems the two of them have with one another, a storm breaks out and the window gets stuck. The wind swirls. The girls work… Read More The Aviator (2004)
Dir. Nicholas Hytner. Starring Richard Griffiths, Stephen Campbell Moore, Samuel Barnett The film adaptation of The History Boys manages to bring everyone back, as it were, for another term. Alan Bennett wrote the play and the screenplay. Nicholas Hytner directed the play and the film. The cast of the play and the film is identical. (Nearly… Read More The History Boys (2006)
During my student teaching (it was technically a “practicum” and not “student teaching,” but that’s another kettle of sardines), I made it to school every day. On one day, though, I couldn’t stay long enough to teach anything. I managed to get up at 6:30, throw on my clothes, drive over to the school, and… Read More Freaks and Geeks S1E7, “Carded and Discarded”
Seeing Things Secondhand 