In this conversation, we decide to get away from the arts for a minute and go back to sports while they’re still hot. We draft new teams for every franchise in the NBA, chat about which teams interest us most, take you through the playoffs, and of course decide where LeBron is going. (Here’s the… Read More Baumann and Burch Conversations #6: NBA Fantasy Draft, 2018-19 Edition
The following is from my series of Oscar Best Picture rankings, as well as my strongly worded suggestions for what should have won from among the nominees. For an introduction to the project, click here. For a way to vote on some Oscar-related ideas, click here. If I’ve written a review on any of the… Read More Better than the Oscars: 50-46
Dir. Brad Bird. Starring Holly Hunter, Craig T. Nelson, Catherine Keener I never write about movies on their opening weekend, but because I am here…spoilers. Many spoilers. In the abstract, an Incredibles 2 seems as heinous as a Toy Story 4. Both The Incredibles and Toy Story 3 end, in my opinion, quite completely and… Read More The Incredibles 2 (2018)
The following is from my series of Oscar Best Picture rankings, as well as my strongly worded suggestions for what should have won from among the nominees. For an introduction to the project, click here. For a way to vote on some Oscar-related ideas, click here. If I’ve written a review on any of the… Read More Better than the Oscars: 55-51
The following is from my series of Oscar Best Picture rankings, as well as my strongly worded suggestions for what should have won from among the nominees. For an introduction to the project, click here. For a way to vote on some Oscar-related ideas, click here. If I’ve written a review on any of the… Read More Better than the Oscars: 60-56
The following is from my series of Oscar Best Picture rankings, as well as my strongly worded suggestions for what should have won from among the nominees. For an introduction to the project, click here. For a way to vote on some Oscar-related ideas, click here. If I’ve written a review on any of the… Read More Better than the Oscars: 65-61
The following is from my series of Oscar Best Picture rankings, as well as my strongly worded suggestions for what should have won from among the nominees. For an introduction to the project, click here. For a way to vote on some Oscar-related ideas, click here. If I’ve written a review on any of the… Read More Better than the Oscars: 70-66
Another week, another conversation. The latest conversation in our series considers what it means for a band or a director, specifically, to age. How do we reevaluate them? What do we look for? Do they fade away entirely? What is their (gulp) legacy? What follows is a lightly edited conversation in lieu of a podcast.… Read More Baumann and Burch Conversations, #5: How Media Changes As It Ages
Dir. John Badham. Starring John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney, Donna Pescow The cry comes out. “Give the kid some room! He’s taking over again!” Tony Manero (Travolta), to the tune of the Bee Gees’ “You Should Be Dancing,” has broken off from his erstwhile partner and decided to go it alone. What Tony does on… Read More Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Dir. Hal Ashby. Starring Jack Nicholson, Otis Young, Randy Quaid The Last Detail, with its frustrated young men, faithfully rendered milieu, and miles of walk-and-talk, screams “Linklater movie.” It’s no wonder that Last Flag Flying borrows from this movie; the guidebook is right here in Hal Ashby’s direction and Robert Towne’s screenplay before either of them lost… Read More The Last Detail (1973)
Seeing Things Secondhand 