Left to my own devices

During the mid-late 1980s, I read a ton of comic books, most of them Marvel. There were a few DCs in the mix. Frank Miller's The Dark Knight , and 1989's Batman movie with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, were popular enough to have me check out some of their stuff. But Marvel seemed to have the fuller, more compelling universe of superheroes and villains (as it does now in the cinematic world). I used to read and compare the comics with my friend Derrick. Thor was our favorite. This was during the Walt Simonson era, which featured some powerful storytelling and unique artwork. Spider-Man was another good one, along with  The Silver Surfer , Secret Wars , and of course The Avengers . My interest in reading and collecting comic books ended about as abruptly as the intensity of my liking for them had burned. After a few years of enjoyment, and the end of a few tenures of creative teams across various titles, it became apparent that these stories would never end. Duri...

The late, great film critic Roger Ebert once noted (and I'm paraphrasing because I can't find the exact quote at the moment) that one of the benefits of relationships is that the other person acts as a sort of mirror to our lives. He was mostly referring to romantic couplings, though I think this can be expanded to encompass parents, friends and other platonic relationships. Indeed, sharing experiences with people helps create a collective memory, or sorts. These shared memories can help us bond, both in the moment and later on down the road, as the memories are recalled, hopefully fondly. What happens, however, when age and time begin to ravage the memory banks of our compatriots? Or, perhaps, ourselves? In reality, memory is often variable, and no two people will have exactly the same recollection of events. And yet, when one of those involved in the same situation begins to have no remembrance of it at all, then that is truly saddening. It is depressing for them, and...

      A s the magnificent, authentic voice of Aretha Franklin rang out across the Virgina Theatre, my mind found itself drifting to thoughts of my father. The screening of Aretha's long lost 1972 concert recorded at a Baptist church in Los Angeles sounded excellent, though something about it reminded me of a vinyl record. Despite its crisp, remastered production, there were elements of the listening experience that sounded real, down to earth, and warm. Perhaps it was the visual cues to go along with the sound? Directed by a then less-experienced Sydney Pollack and his crew, the picture would sometimes zoom in and out, coming into and out of focus at a frenzied pace. We saw some banter and  discussions of the musicians between songs. And then the lovely gospel music, brought to life by Ms. Franklin and the choir and musicians sharing the stage, was, well, divine. Going back many years, roughly a decade after Aretha Franklin's  Amazing Grace recording wa...

We're in April now, so it seems rather late for my annual Top 10 Songs of the Year list , and yet, here we are. It's been a busy year so far, so apologies for the delay (though it's doubtful many of you were waiting with bated breath for the reveal). Here, then, are my favorite songs from last year, starting with... 10. I Promise You , by Ezra Koenig The lead singer for one of the best bands out there, Vampire Weekend, sings this sweet little tune from the Peter Rabbit soundtrack. It's kinder than the movie was, thankfully. 9. Chances , by Backstreet Boys The older I get, the more personal nostalgia seems to play a role (as will be evident with a few other choices on this list). Hence, the inclusion of this track off the latest Backstreet Boys album. It isn't bad, and it reminds me of the '90s, when the group was first coming on the scene, and I enjoyed so much of their music. 8. Heart to Love , by Passenger Passenger (or, re...

I received an e-mail from one of the theater chains, announcing an upcoming screening of Cruel Intentions , to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The movie, originally released in March of 1999, and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon (at the height of their popularity), screams '90s to me. Perhaps it is just the moment in my life when I saw it, or the people I knew then? Regardless, seeing the e-mail about it's 20th anniversary re-release induced a wave of nostalgia that gave me pause. The screening of Cruel Intentions in 1999 is a particularly wistful memory, as one of us is no longer here. There were four of us -- Jared, Karmen, Amanda and myself -- and I think we may have actually watched it at a theater in Bloomington, where Amanda was living at the time. I remember it being a fun occasion, mostly because we seemed to enjoy one another's company, and the movie was a tad ridiculous. We laughed at it, sometimes because the movie ha...

The Oscars are this Sunday, so of course it's time for the 22nd Annual Matt Awards! I love going to the movies. It still holds the same excitement as when I was a kid. Of course, I have opinions about the films I see (check out the podcast here ), and so, in the late 1990s, I began my own little exercise to satiate my ego by having my own awards, wherein I selected the best in film, as a sort of counter to disappointment with the Academy Awards. All told, I saw 80-plus 2018 movies, and so many of them were above average. It is therefore difficult to winnow them down to just one winner in each category, but I have done so. Here, then, are the 2019 Matt Awards , honoring what yours truly believes to be the best in film from 2018.... Best Horror Film:  Hereditary The horror genre was strong in 2018. And, in my opinion, its definition expanded a bit last year (in a good way), Films like our winner, and A Quiet Place, Bird Box, Unsane , the Suspiria remake, and even Ann...

Recently, I felt a pull of '90s nostalgia, and decided to watch some music videos from that era (as you do). One of them was for Ondina's Into the Night , a fairly obscure Eurodance gem that was featured on one of those dance music compilations that proliferated throughout much of the decade. Reading the comments section of the video, I was initially nodding my head at a lot of the positive comments being made about the music and the decade, that is until I read one that said, "It was a simpler time." Reading that created the equivalent of a record scratch in my head. I was in my teens and early twenties during the 1990s. It was a fun decade, to be sure, though I am not as certain that it was because it was the '90s, so much as the age I was at the time. Indeed, we tend to romanticize our younger years, and that's okay. What we should be wary of is using nostalgia to cloud our objective view of the past, using it to look askance at the present. My lat...