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Author Appreciation: Historian Stephen B. Oates

August 31, 2021
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No writer, historian, or filmmaker ever took me nearly as close to Abraham Lincoln the man as did Stephen B. Oates. I have always been indebted to him for that.

Music Remembrance: Gospel singer Lee Williams

August 31, 2021
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A household name in Black America, Lee Williams had little need for the kind of crossover project that can earn a gospel act attention from the secular music media.

Book Review: “Was It Yesterday?: Nostalgia in Contemporary Film and Television” — Looking at the Past, Fearlessly

August 31, 2021
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The essays in this excellent volume consistently show that nostalgia is about something, and it matters.

Rock Album Review: “Gold-Diggers Sound” — Lulling to the Max

August 30, 2021
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Leon Bridges is the master of soft sensual tones, particularly when he intermingles the romantic and the steamy.

Music Remembrance: Don Everly (1937-2021)

August 29, 2021
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The Everly Brothers’ close harmony work was so sinuous it sometimes seemed close to witchcraft.

Watch Closely: “The Killing”/”Forbrydelsen”: Original Sin

August 28, 2021
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This is the Danish series that may well have inspired a juggernaut of provocative stories generated by life in these cold, civilized, but often dark Scandinavian lands.

Film Review: “He’s All That” — An Unnecessary Retread

August 27, 2021
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Is Gen Z this nihilistic? If so, a much darker, even zanier version of She’s All That would have been more fitting and far more entertaining.

Film Review: “Together” — (Two Can Be as Bad as One)

August 26, 2021
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A mismatched couple, trapped at home by government decree, try to maneuver and bicker their way through a COVID lockdown.

Rock Concert: Wilco and Sleater-Kinney — Honoring the Spirit of Charlie Watts

August 26, 2021
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Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein gave Charlie Watts a shout-out, while Wilco’s Glenn Kotche displayed the words “Charlie is my Darling” (the title of a 1966 Stones tour documentary) on the head of his bass drum.

Music Remembrance: Charlie Watts (1941-2021)

August 25, 2021
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Watts’ relentlessly unembellished drive on dozens of classic songs, from “Satisfaction” and “Shattered” to “Connection,” is what makes them so danceable.

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