I think the problem with The Cardigans, which is typified by 'Lovefool' is that they shared in that weird Swedish knack for Pop hooks (see also Abba, Ace of Base, Roxette). Nothing wrong with that in itself, but it's something worth looking into. Is it part of a national character? Why are Scandinavians so good at…

'Dreamcatcher' the film
I'm going to make an observation as someone who's not really a Stephen King fan but who has read a number of his books over the years and seen probably all the adaptations—People will probably disagree with me, but I think the adaptation that best captures what it's like to read a Stephen King…

Then there are the Hatfields and McCoys—a bunch of films have been made about that real life feud using the Romeo and Juliet hook, and I understand that it's not even a fictional embellishment:

It's not really fair to blame the play for those who misread or misteach it. It's not Shakespeare's best play for sure, but there's a reason why it resonates so much, especially among the young—he absolutely nailed the petulance and self-important solipsism of the early teen years, when each new love carries the…

I've already said my peace about 'West Side Story' after the Musical feature last week, but in case you missed it, it's really all about Rita Moreno's hips:

'Abie's Irish Rose' has a special place in my family history since my grandfather was Jewish and my grandmother was Irish. He used to call her his "Irish Rose". That's the best I've got for Valentine's day.

A number of things—

"'cause Lexicondevil is posting amen"

not according to all music guide.

Watching it again just now—It struck me that the song 'Stay Cool' would be at home on any contemporaneous Charles Mingus album. How's that for hip?

Forget Sondheim (if that's where your objection lies)—a significant portion of what we call standards have their origin in Broadway musicals and with good reason—a good song is a good song. I'm going to suggest 'West Side Story' as a starting point again, if only because it's atypical of musicals generally, and yet…

Here's another one 'Wire' inspired:

You know, I may have to revisit Milton. When I was an undergrad English major we had to do one "Author Course"—Chaucer, Shakespeare or Milton. Well, the popular choice, Shakespeare, I figured I'd get enough of elsewhere (and I certainly did by the time I'd earned my MFA AND taught a hella Shakespeare in high school)…

Stipe and Merchant doing "To Sir with Love" at the Clinton inaugural ball.

No criticism of Taschen intended. I really do love them. They let a wage slave retail bookseller like myself attend an exclusive party at Frank Lloyd Wright's Freeman House. And while their reps were never as foxy as the ones from Fantagraphics, they were also always much friendlier.

And then there's also the underlying Situationist rhetoric which is not incompatible with what he said—And since I'm nearly 40 myself and a school testing coordinator who fundamentally doesn't believe in standardized testing as a measure or a predictor of anything, but who plays his part everyday in a system he…

Having wondered myself
I'm glad he spoke about the XBox ad. It was…I guess the word is…striking—and I wanted to know what the thinking was there—because unlike a lot of bands, I had to believe there was some.

"the motif-laden, rhyming, mirroring structure"

I had a friend in grad school who maintained that there were two sequels to 'Time Bandits'—The first was 'Brazil' and the second was 'Baron Munchausen'. According to his thesis it's a thematic trilogy about the role fantasy plays in three distinct stages of human life. I don't know if Gilliam has ever gone on the…

JFK the president was a Jerry Lewis fan? Take that, hagiographers!