[Update: 2010 is here] Here are my favorite new movies of 2009, like you care. I’m drawing from the films I saw in the theater this year, some of which were “officially” released a year or two ago. But they’re all new. …So, Mr. Cranky, what did you like?
Archive for December, 2009
My Favorite New Movies of 2009
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Agnès Varda, Andrzej Wajda, Antichrist, Bill Murray, Bradley Beesley, Bright Star, Bruno Delbonnel, Chaos Reigns, Chris Marker, Christian Petzold, Christmas on Mars, Christoph Waltz, David Mamet, David Yates, Fanny Brawne, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Frank Miller, George Salisbury, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Hayao Miyazaki, Il Divo, Inglourious Basterds, J.J. Abrams, Jane Campion, Jerichow, John Keats, Katyń, Lars von Trier, Les Plages d’Agnès, Mike Stoklasa, Nicolas Roeg, Nightwatching, Oren Peli, Paolo Sorrentino, Paranormal Activity, Peter Greenaway, Ponyo, Puffball, Quentin Tarantino, Redbelt, Rembrandt, Richard Kelly, Ricky Jay, Rita Tushingham, sexism, Star Trek, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Review, The Beaches of Agnes, The Box, The Spirit, torture porn, Tsai Ming-Liang, Visage (Face), Watchmen, Wayne Coyne, Wes Anderson, Whatever Works, Woody Allen, Zack Snyder on December 31, 2009 | 21 Comments »
Sometimes I have trouble balancing what I read…
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged reading on December 31, 2009 | 4 Comments »
I feel like I am constantly battling with myself over what I’m reading. I started thinking about this because of everyone’s fancy “Best of 2009″ lists, and how full they are of bright and shiny new books. I love to read lit that’s brand new. It feels exciting to watch all of this happening first-hand, [...]
Ringing in the New
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged A Son's Burden, Mary Caponegro, Ring in the new on December 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I can’t keep gushing about Mary Caponegro. A few days ago, I found this timely passage from her novella A Son’s Burden which is narrated by Thomas Smalldridge, an “ever-aspiring” inventor. The story is basically a conversation between him and his nutty family, and it once again displays Caponegro’s psychological acuity as well as her [...]
5 Books Published in 2009 that Wrecked My Brain a Little
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Adam Robinson, Brandon Downing, Catherine Kasper, Easter Rabbit, Fence, Joseph Young, Justin Sirois, Lake Antiquity, Light Boxes, MLKNG SCKLS, Noemi, Notes From the Committee, Publishing Genius, Shane Jones on December 31, 2009 | 7 Comments »
Easter Rabbit, Joseph Young. This is an IMPORTANT book. Some reviewer predicted early in Richard Brautigan’s career that he was creating a new genre, that one day we’d read novels, poems, short stories, and “brautigans.” He was right, even if common parlance has yet to catch up. Enter the new mode of writing: ‘joe-youngs.’ These [...]
Write Poems, Eat Carrots, Listen to Slayer
Posted in Uncategorized on December 30, 2009 | 4 Comments »
though Steve Shea is the angry, yelling, loud, frontman of a band which generally plays in under-permitted, under-ground venues around Boston, is the fact that he unequivocally loves Katherine Mansfield
Paula Bomer’s Best of 2009
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Paula Bomer on December 30, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Don’t Cry, by Mary Gaitskill Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, by Wells Tower Brandi Wells Review Josh Kleinberg editing Slipshot Review Barry Graham and Greg Gerke reading at Freebird Books, Brooklyn, NY The New York Tyrant Blood Bank, by Bon Iver When the Devil’s Loose, by AA Bondy Come with Me If You Want to Live, [...]
sad to hear, but you know, it happens
Posted in Uncategorized on December 30, 2009 | 1 Comment »
James Kaelan is leaving the flatmancrooked family to spend a bit more time on his teaching & writing. read the farewell post here.
Big Other Contributors’ News #9
Posted in Uncategorized on December 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
A D Jameson‘s story “Waste Extraction” is up at Necessary Fiction. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Stacy Muszynski: Q&A with Laura van den Berg at American Short Fiction. She’s still taking entries for “Best of Austin” winning Five Things New Year contest. Winners read in Austin Jan 29. Must be available to read in order to enter. More info HERE. [...]
Look, It’s Not You, It’s Me
Posted in Uncategorized on December 29, 2009 | 13 Comments »
I have come to this conclusion: I cannot read straight narrative anymore. When I hit phrases that explain, that justify, that preface, that highlight, that draw lines for me from A to B, I just can’t go on. Don’t worry, you have done all the right things. I know, I know, that is how some [...]
Fifty of the Most Inspiring Authors in the World
Posted in Uncategorized on December 29, 2009 | 14 Comments »
The staff of Poets & Writers magazine came up with this list of fifty of the most inspiring authors in the world. Less than twenty are women. Seems to me this rather tepid list needs some redressing. What do you think of the authors on this list? And who are some other living writers you [...]
Stephen Burt On Reviewing
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Lemon Hound, Stephen Burt on December 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Stephen Burt, as part of a series at Lemon Hound, offers some sound ideas on the art and craft of reviewing. Reviewers should describe the book accurately in a way that makes clear which (if any) readers will likely enjoy it; reviewers should say what’s interesting, what’s well done, what stands out (for good or [...]
Louder Than Words: Real Girls. Real Words. Real Life.
Posted in Uncategorized on December 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
My alma mater, SCPA, is soon to be the nation’s only K-12 public school of the arts. The new facility, which the students will move into for the 2010-2011 school year, is less a school than a campus. It is only fitting that they have such a great new facility, as the school (currently located [...]
Gchat about James Cameron’s Avatar (with spoiler alert).
Posted in Uncategorized on December 29, 2009 | 12 Comments »
Below is a grammatically corrected version of a Gchat I had with Jacob S. Knabb, editor of Another Chicago Magazine, which is, right now, reading for its all-Chicago issue (so if you’re a Chicago writer, click that link and send ‘em your best).
Best of 2009 Part Three: Miscellany
Posted in Uncategorized on December 28, 2009 | 2 Comments »
I’ve taken you through books and music. I haven’t had a chance to go out to many movies this year so I decided not to scrape together a post about them. Instead, here’s a little bit of books, music, movies, and nonsense.
Respect for Reprints
Posted in Uncategorized on December 27, 2009 | 19 Comments »
Literary journals are a hydra-headed monster offering more and more opportunities to publish with each tick of the clock (and dying off at a slightly slower rate). Every time I finish a new piece, I have found twenty new and interesting places where I want to send it. And, of course, I want to read [...]
Mary Caponegro
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged All Fall Down, Mary Caponegro, Star Café on December 26, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Mary Caponegro’s All Fall Down, her latest collection of stories and novellas, was, for me, one of 2009′s most powerful works. It is often baroque, expansively philosophical, and darkly comic. Caponegro is a virtuoso. Not having read any of her earlier books, I recently picked up her first book, Star Café. It’s such a strong [...]
When people ask you what you write about, what do you say?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged explaining yoursef on December 25, 2009 | 16 Comments »
People ask me this question all the time and it never gets easier to answer. This query has been fueled by Greg’s post featuring the Kubrick quote, and, also, Chuck Klosterman’s theory that, when asked a question (particularly of opinion or experience specific to one’s own life), a person will try to answer, even if [...]
Hope everyone’s having a good one
Posted in Uncategorized on December 25, 2009 | 9 Comments »
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