Celebrity-ing While Quarantining During the COVID-19 pandemic, while most of us #shelterinplace, celebrities have been putting out elaborately orchestrated videos to entertain the troops, as it were, and keep up morale. And generally speaking, call me "curmudgeon" if you must, I loathe what feels to me like being pandered to by rich and famous people. … Continue reading Going Off Book: Quarantine Celebrity-ing, + Notions, Late April Edition
Going off Book
Going Off Book: My Christmas Movies
Holiday traditions abound and that includes the various sub-traditions within the larger ones. Sure, most of us give and open presents to celebrate Christmas but whether you do so on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning has divided many a newly-joined couple. We have food traditions but whether you and your family prioritize cookies or dinner … Continue reading Going Off Book: My Christmas Movies
Going Off Book: Memorial to a Glacier
In August, Iceland unveiled the world's first memorial to a dead glacier. Okjökull was thousands of years old but succumbed to fatal warming in less than a century. She is survived by countless sisters and brothers, all of whom face the same fate. Her memorial plaque reads, in Icelandic and English, "Ok is the first … Continue reading Going Off Book: Memorial to a Glacier
Going off Book: Midsommar
There are a couple of different ways to do smart horror movies. The first explores a specific topic, what the film is “about,” and the plot serves as scaffolding to unpack that theme. Ari Aster’s first feature, Hereditary, falls into this camp. It’s a movie about grief and how our parents’ worst traits can be … Continue reading Going off Book: Midsommar
Going off Book: Fleabag
Season one of Fleabag knocked me over, picked me up, and then broke me into a thousand pieces. It seemed semi-criminal that something so awkward and cruel and heart-breaking should also be so funny. It deals with grief and regret and being the family scapegoat and making terrible decisions and punishing yourself because you've done … Continue reading Going off Book: Fleabag
Going Off Book: Avengers and Game of Thrones
Okay, I'm going to go off book, literally, to discuss the two biggest pieces of mass media that came out this weekend: Avengers: Endgame and episode three of the final Game of Thrones season, "The Long Night." It may be a little rough but I'm putting it out there anyway. Both the wrap-up of phase … Continue reading Going Off Book: Avengers and Game of Thrones
