Posts | Comments | Email

Author Archive

The Good, the Bad, and the Cranky: A Review of Gran Torino

I tend to be cautious about movies produced and directed by their stars. Turning the camera on oneself begets temptations to egotism that few can completely resist. The worst of such films fetishize their leading men, and even the best, like Braveheart, feel a bit top-heavy. Mel Gibson might have be

11.23.2009| Books and Arts, Volume 5, Issue 1 | Jim Shirey

1 Comment

The Indie Bible

Neon Bible by Arcade Fire. Merge, 2007. I must confess that I had absolutely no intention of liking Neon Bible. Indie rock, that non-genre with which the Montreal-based Arcade Fire is usually affiliated, often strikes me as self-important and musically uninteresting, and as such I was beyond skepti

04.1.2008| Books and Arts, Volume 4, Issue 1 | Jim Shirey

No Comments