As the 1950s decade continued into ’52, the music industry’s tentative first steps of embracing rock and roll got a bit louder. Not to beat a dead horse on this subject, as I led with my piece on 1951 albums in much the same way, but the genre kind of…

My earliest recollection of Elizabeth Banks the actor was as Betty Brant in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies. Otherwise, Banks has appeared in a million movies and TV shows (she has 94 acting credits on IMDb as of this writing), often providing a welcome, sharp wit in comedies and dramas. I…

As one part of the experimental electronic/pop/freak folk group Animal Collective, Avey Tare (David Portner) first worked with Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) and Geologist (Brian Weitz) in high school, eventually resulting in the earliest works that would retroactively be assigned to the band name. I’ve ranked the Animal Collective albums…

Note: This is the hundred-and-seventieth in a series of historical/critical essays examining the best in film from each year. Essentially, I am watching films from the beginning of cinematic history that interest me and/or hold some critical or cultural impact. My personal, living list of favorites is being created at…

I don’t know if there is a trilogy comprised of three movies as disparate as those under the Magic Mike name. The saga of Steven Soderbergh and Co’s “lonely stripper,” based initially on the real-life experiences of Mike Lane’s portrayer Channing Tatum, has taken some wide tonal and stylistic turns…

Note: This is the hundred-and-sixty-ninth in a series of historical/critical essays examining the best in film from each year. Essentially, I am watching films from the beginning of cinematic history that interest me and/or hold some critical or cultural impact. My personal, living list of favorites is being created at…

The development of rock and roll as the defining genre of the 1950s was still in its infancy in 1951. The term for the style emerging from rhythm and blues paradigms was, if not coined by, at least popularized by radio DJ Alan Freed that year in an attempt to…

Note: This is the hundred-and-sixty-eighth in a series of historical/critical essays examining the best in film from each year. Essentially, I am watching films from the beginning of cinematic history that interest me and/or hold some critical or cultural impact. My personal, living list of favorites is being created at…

I got into left-wing/leftist/liberal/progressive punk band Anti-Flag in high school. Honestly, I don’t think the group’s politics and lyrics were what drew me in. I just heard in their sound an angry rawness, increasingly channeled into catchier hooks, that resonated with me. As time went on, I came to recognize…