Music & Culture
Classical Music Posts
Reeder’s Movie Reviews: C’mon C’mon
The writer, director and graphic artist Mike Mills loves to explore family. His own family, to be precise. In Beginners (2010), for which the late Christopher Plummer won an Academy Award, Mills dramatizes his elderly father’s gay relationship with a much younger man. In 20th Century Women (2016), for which Mills himself earned an Oscar nomination for Original Screenplay, he focuses on his mother, portrayed by Annette Bening, and her unconventional lifestyle as a single mom in late 1970s California. Of course, the characters of Oliver and Jamie in those films serve as Mills’ alter egos. His latest project, C’mon C’mon, is the most existential and least coherent in his trilogy (to date), despite its many strengths.
Reeder’s Movie Reviews: Belfast
“The Irish are built to leave,” as one character ruefully observes in Sir Kenneth Branagh’s new film, his twenty-second behind the camera. Indeed, many have departed the home soil, but their abiding attachment to it has prompted a wealth of insight and inspiration. You can add Belfast to the mix.
Reeder’ Movie Reviews: Dune: Part One
The risk of the project was destined to match the scale of journalist-turned-author Frank Herbert’s Dune. Denis Villeneuve’s conception has arrived in theatres (and HBO Max), and its sequel has already been greenlighted by Warner Bros. After two viewings, his intentions have become more clear and convincing.
Reeder’s Movie Reviews: Last Night in Soho
“I’ve got this kind of gift. I can see people, places. Things others can’t.” Eloise (a wide-eyed Thomasin McKenzie) can, indeed, have experiences denied to others, especially when it comes to swinging London of the 1960s, her obsession. In Edgar Wright’s psychological thriller, her gift becomes a nightmare.
Reeder’s Movie Reviews: The French Dispatch
A movie review of The French Dispatch.
Ever had beer soup? Bach did. And you can too!
There’s a recipe for just this baroque-era staple included in The Little Bach Book by the Oregon-based tenor, Bach specialist and book designer David Gordon (Lucky Valley Press, 2017). Only 160 pages, including maps, glossary, timeline, recommendations for further reading and, yes, recipes, Gordon’s little book reveals the magnificent Johann Sebastian Bach as a man of his time, a hardworking family man whose daily life included a great deal of beer.
