Sometimes, writing about popular culture feels frivolous, as it did this weekend. I heard the news about the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and others over a late brunch with a friend. This being Washington, our waitress turned out to know a number of Giffords’ DC-based staffers. The whole bar went quite, and we watched the subtitles on CNN. But I woke up on Sunday morning and... 

As someone who sort of followed her father into a field, I cannot imagine how absurdly hard it is to be Justin Townes Earle. I assume it’s gratifying, and probably reassuring, for Earle to get the reception he’s been getting lately. This is a really terrific song: I am profoundly not a musician (stabs at violin and trumpet aside), but I assume it’s more satisfying to write a genuinely... 

Welcome to the first installment of the Cryptonomicon book club! I’m thrilled to be discussing this novel with you. The usual rules apply: the post and discussion below the jump will contain spoilers up to, but not beyond, the section entitled “Nightmares.” Please don’t spoil beyond that for your fellow readers, or for that matter, me! There are a lot of things I like about... 

I’d completely how funny Ang Lee’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility is. A great deal of credit’s due to Emma Thompson, who wrote the often-uproarious screenplay. One of my favorite moments, certainly, is the moment when Edward tells Elinor, of Elinor’s younger sister, “She’s heading an expedition to China shortly. I’m to go as her servant. But only on the... 

Dude, between the key role it played in this most recent arc of Questionable Content and its appearance on Community, is this an all-time high moment for an “Africa” resurgence or what? Great, GREAT song.  Read More »

Perhaps because I’ve been finding myself feeling more like an actual grownup than I usually do, I’ve been more highly aware than usual of shows and movies that do a good job of showing adults making difficult choices. Y’all know I’m quite fond of Covert Affairs, but I thought the show did an especially nice job in the finale when one character was given the opportunity... 

Is there a happier moment in movies than the beginning of Much Ado About Nothing? Lots of nonsense (so beautifully executed) is to follow, but in this moment, everyone is happy, and excited, doing their best to look their best for each other and for the occasion, flush in victory, in health, the beauty of the day. Nothing’s ever that simple any more, and it won’t be for very long in this... 

Like Kay, I was at the Arcade Fire/Spoon show at Merriweather last Friday. All of it was fantastic, but the most surprising moment was Spoon’s cover of “Modern World” by Wolf Parade. Apparently they’ve being playing it for much of the Transference tour; here’s them with Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade at Radio City Music Hall: Wolf Parade has sort of fallen off the radar;... 

So, I want to like Welcome to the Rileys. I love me some James Gandolfini. I love me some Melissa Leo (and it’s awesome to see her back and having a massive moment, in between Treme, Conviction, The Dry Land and Mildred Pierce). I love the idea of pairing them up. Gandolfini has had possibly the best run of actresses playing his fictional wives of any living actor: Edie Falco, Susan... 

Image used under a Creative Commons license courtesy of Loren Javier. SPOILERS, IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN TOY STORY 3. SERIOUSLY. THIS IS ABOUT THE END OF THE MOVIE. STOP HERE IF YOU DON’T WANT THE END TO BE SPOILED, AND THE END MATTERS. DON’T COMPLAIN YOU WEREN’T WARNED. So, I completely lost it towards the end of Toy Story 3, and my only real consolation was that the person...