Reposting in loving memory of FOW’s late great Adam Schlesinger, a casualty of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic: If you know or remember alternative rockers Fountains of Wayne at all, it’s most likely for their massive[…]
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Category: Reviews
Long Division
I first encountered author Kiese Laymon when I read his essay “You are the Second Person,” an unapologetically bridge-burning reckoning of his encounter with a assimilationist editor who tried to deracinate his work. What stuck[…]
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The Incredibles
In honor of the recent release of Incredibles 2, a repost of my look at the philosophical implications of the original movie. While I found it impossible not to like and enjoy Brad Bird’s animated[…]
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Both Eyes Open: Remembering James Alan McPherson
I first discovered James Alan McPherson when I read his masterful novella Elbow Room, in a collection of stories by black authors called The African American West. I traced it back to his Pulitzer-Prize winning collection, also[…]
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Roma-nticized
I want to preface this by saying Alfonso Cuaron is a genius. Not only did he write and direct Children of Men, my own pick for top film ever, he also wrote and directed Y[…]
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Top 10 Movies: #1 – Children of Men
Repost: Just rewatched this amazing film recently, and what once felt like a warning from the near future now feels ripped from the headlines… Today, most people know director Alfonso Cuarón as the first Latino[…]
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Kindred
Repost in honor of Butler’s birthday, and her selection for a Google Doodle: The late, great Octavia Butler was best-known as a rare black female superstar in a genre –science-fiction –largely dominated by white men.[…]
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Alt Classical: The Innovators
Reposted from 2015 This week brings a new installment of my series on alt-classical music –music that combines the instrumentation, elegance and sophistication of classical music with the vitality of newer and more modern approaches[…]
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Stevie Wonder: Philosophical Music
It occurred to me recently that in my survey of philosophical music I had too long overlooked perhaps the premiere philosopher of transcendent pop music, Mr. Stevland Wonder (an artist I had the exquisite pleasure[…]
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Alt Classical: The Jazz Connection
Repost from 2014 A month or so ago, I explored the “cover songs” side of alt classical music, a genre that combines the pleasures of classical music with the vitality of more modern forms. This[…]
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