Month: December 2014
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The Feedback Society’s Top 10 Movies of 2014
And now, we cordially invite you to partake in yet another list: The Feedback Society’s Top 10 Movies of 2014 as chosen by Dan Nicholls. Writing a “Top Ten” list every year is fun yet trivial, and also intimidating due to the increasingly large numbers of noteworthy titles that get unloaded in limited release during…
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The Feedback Society’s Top 20 Albums of 2014
And now, we cordially invite you to partake in yet another list: The Feedback Society’s Top 20 Albums of 2014 as chosen by Dave Scaddan. My annual Top Albums List began as a series of shopping lists of sorts, about ten years ago, when vinyl availability (my preferred format) started to enjoy a surge that…
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The Feedback Society’s Week in Music
Albums we’ve been discussing over drinks this week at The Feedback Society, from Buddy Rich and D’Angelo to Angel Olsen and perennial weirdo Ariel Pink. TV on the Radio – Seeds One of the first bands from that early 2000s’ Brooklyn scene to crack through to public perception, I first glommed onto TV on the…
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The Homesman
Tommy Lee Jones is quietly directing westerns, bringing the classic genre into the 21st century; The Homesman explores mental illness and feminism on the frontier. Living on the prairie, we often mythologize and romanticize our pioneering days as a time where brave souls worked hard, building not only a life, but creating the enduring spirit…
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Wild
Is Wild another lame tale of first world problems wandering into the forest or cunning Oscar bait with special attention paid to Reese Witherspoon’s performance? Coming on the heels of his Oscar-winning hit Dallas Buyers Club, director Jean-Marc Vallée once again takes a Hollywood star and strips them bare of all vanity; in a part…
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Tusk
A lot people have problems with Kevin Smith and his films these days, including his new one Tusk, but our man Dan didn’t mind it. An old man who spent his life at sea holds a young podcaster hostage and slowly begins to transform him into a walrus. That’s Tusk in a nutshell right there,…
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Foxcatcher
The director of Capote and Moneyball is back with another excellent entry, Foxcatcher, based on a true story about Olympic wrestling and deep emotional manipulations. Foxcatcher is a riveting film about men grappling with other men in wrestling rings as well as with their resentment and jealousy outside the court. It’s a slow burn of…
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Whiplash
In the age of coddling, Whiplash asks, how far into physical and mental abuse should a teacher push a student to achieve greatness? Also, duck! “There are no two words in the English language more harmful than ‘good job,’” growls J.K. Simmons as Terrence Fletcher in Whiplash. Fletcher is a teacher and conductor at The…
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Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever
For some bizarre and inexplicable reason, Daniel watches Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever, which we didn’t even know was a thing. Unfortunately, we do now. I love three things in life: 1) Cats 2) Christmas and 3) Television. So, you can imagine my excitement when I learned that not only would Grumpy Cat, the ever…
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Laura Cheadle – Where the Blues Hangs Out
Robert Barry Francos digs deep once more to discover a talent in blues and funk music, New Jersey’s Laura Cheadle and her Family Blues Band. In my last review, I talked about Kimm Rogers, an artist I haven’t been able to see live. Another artist I have not yet had the opportunity to see live…