Tessera

Every Film Now@everyfilmnow.bsky.social · yesterday

Cueing the release of Jadis to a "Stairway to Heaven" needle drop is a choice.

The first trailer for Greta Gerwig’s ‘NARNIA: THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW’ has been released. In theaters next February. #Narnia #GretaGerwig

I reviewed PRIMETIME, a sweaty film with a sweaty Robert Pattinson. Its conclusions? Obvious. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/10/13/t...

To catch a hypocrite: ‘Primetime’

Lit to look in close-up like Laura Dern in Inland Empire, Robert Pattinson yields to phantasmagoria in Primetime. As Chris Hansen, the rigid sanctimonious host of the 2000s Datelline offshoot To Ca…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

Reading David Browne's FIRE AND RAIN elevated my respect for Simon & Garfunkel, but Simon's tunes, Garfunkel's voice, and their harmonies err on the twee side for me. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2025/10/13/r...

Ranking Simon & Garfunkel and Paul Simon’s U.S. top forty singles

I’ve written often about Paul Simon, and I got nothin’ much to say except to share the conventional opinion about needing Art Garfunkel as a phase he needed to re-think during the inevi…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

One of these covers of a Paul Simon song is one of the greatest ever and a fabulous single. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2020/01/08/t...

The best Paul Simon covers

Garrulous at worst and chatty at best, Paul Simon’s songwriting doesn’t often lend itself to covers, so when an act rips past the words and concentrates on his chords and melodies I&#82…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

The Paul Simon I discovered in 1990 coincided with an idea of dad rock whose potency looked ascendant and unstoppable. Happy birthday. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2018/09/08/r...

Ranking my favorite Paul Simon’s albums

When this list goes live, I’ll be watching the Dangler of Conversations in a hockey arena. But let me preserve the following in amber. You won’t find 1975’s Grammy-winning Still C…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

Reading David Browne's FIRE AND RAIN elevated my respect for Simon & Garfunkel, but Simon's tunes, Garfunkel's voice, and their harmonies err on the twee side for me. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2025/10/13/r...

Ranking Simon & Garfunkel and Paul Simon’s U.S. top forty singles

I’ve written often about Paul Simon, and I got nothin’ much to say except to share the conventional opinion about needing Art Garfunkel as a phase he needed to re-think during the inevi…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

The Paul Simon I discovered in 1990 coincided with an idea of dad rock whose potency looked ascendant and unstoppable. Happy birthday. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2018/09/08/r...

Ranking my favorite Paul Simon’s albums

When this list goes live, I’ll be watching the Dangler of Conversations in a hockey arena. But let me preserve the following in amber. You won’t find 1975’s Grammy-winning Still C…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

Look into my eyes, pretty woman, and tell me you wouldn't prefer Rufus and Steely Dan, in that order. wp.me/pzXeC-lNd

Ranking #11 ,U.S. edition: 1973-1975

There will never be a moment when Steely Dan and Rufus don’t dominate a list: literate, sharp, poised, always funky. The weirdo song is “The Need to Be,” an example of a ’70…

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Look into my eyes, pretty woman, and tell me you wouldn't prefer Rufus and Steely Dan, in that order. wp.me/pzXeC-lNd

Ranking #11 ,U.S. edition: 1973-1975

There will never be a moment when Steely Dan and Rufus don’t dominate a list: literate, sharp, poised, always funky. The weirdo song is “The Need to Be,” an example of a ’70…

wp.me

"The best and most important actor in the history of movies," David Thomson once claimed. I won't disagree. Inspired by watching ARSENIC AND OLD LACE last night -- I hate it!! humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/10/12/o...

On Cary Grant

I sympathize with Roger Thornhill’s plight in North by Northwest: all he wants in the first third of the movie is to make his date at the Winter Garden Theater in Manhattan. After spending an anxio…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

"The best and most important actor in the history of movies," David Thomson once claimed. I won't disagree. Inspired by watching ARSENIC AND OLD LACE last night -- I hate it!! humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/10/12/o...

On Cary Grant

I sympathize with Roger Thornhill’s plight in North by Northwest: all he wants in the first third of the movie is to make his date at the Winter Garden Theater in Manhattan. After spending an anxio…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

The Midge Ure era of Ultravox got boring fast but it's good fo a few album tracks and "Vienna." He celebrated a birthday last weekend. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2021/05/20/t...

Things were different then for the quiet men: The best of Ultravox

My Ultravox is the dour, loud five-piece that fused Bowie’s Thin White Duke blankness and the aggression of punk.

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

The Midge Ure era of Ultravox got boring fast but it's good fo a few album tracks and "Vienna." He celebrated a birthday last weekend. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2021/05/20/t...

Things were different then for the quiet men: The best of Ultravox

My Ultravox is the dour, loud five-piece that fused Bowie’s Thin White Duke blankness and the aggression of punk.

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

I don't want to start any blasphemous rumors, but "Master and Servant" is no dumber than "The Breaks" or "Friends." Rockism shows up in many forms. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/10/11/r...

Ranking #87 singles, U.S. edition: 1980-1986

A friend once said early rap is better appreciated than listened to, a ridiculous point. For one, I have other friend who haven’t listened to rap since 1988 and miss the casual rhyming of a W…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

My coming out story was special. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/10/11/c...

Coming out…like a flower!

My coming out story three decades ago as I remember it on a late summer night, thanks to AOL Instant Messenger: ME: I think I’m gay. GOOD FRIEND WORKING AS A BARTENDER/SERVER: awesome man. we…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

I don't want to start any blasphemous rumors, but "Master and Servant" is no dumber than "The Breaks" or "Friends." Rockism shows up in many forms. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/10/11/r...

Ranking #87 singles, U.S. edition: 1980-1986

A friend once said early rap is better appreciated than listened to, a ridiculous point. For one, I have other friend who haven’t listened to rap since 1988 and miss the casual rhyming of a W…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

trent holograms @steadynappin.bsky.social · 3d ago

The hits piled up for Daryl Hall and John Oates in the 1980s. We often don't rank BIG BAM BOOM among the best examples of sampling technology abetting pop songs. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2019/05/05/r...

Ranking Daryl Hall and John Oates’ top forty hits

Alas, I have no record of my 2016 MoPOP/EMP paper on Hall and Oates; you’ll have to search the archives for other writings. Best to describe them as cynics who can’t see their loss of f…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

for later

Alfred Soto@sotoalfred.bsky.social · 3d ago

The hits piled up for Daryl Hall and John Oates in the 1980s. We often don't rank BIG BAM BOOM among the best examples of sampling technology abetting pop songs. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2019/05/05/r...

My coming out story was special. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/10/11/c...

Coming out…like a flower!

My coming out story three decades ago as I remember it on a late summer night, thanks to AOL Instant Messenger: ME: I think I’m gay. GOOD FRIEND WORKING AS A BARTENDER/SERVER: awesome man. we…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

The hits piled up for Daryl Hall and John Oates in the 1980s. We often don't rank BIG BAM BOOM among the best examples of sampling technology abetting pop songs. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2019/05/05/r...

Ranking Daryl Hall and John Oates’ top forty hits

Alas, I have no record of my 2016 MoPOP/EMP paper on Hall and Oates; you’ll have to search the archives for other writings. Best to describe them as cynics who can’t see their loss of f…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

Laura Bassett @lebassett.bsky.social · 6d ago

Give Jon Langford enormous credit for sticking with his communitarian principles as one of the Mekons. Happy birthday. Their best should be no surprise. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2018/11/12/r...

Ranking favorite Mekons albums

My affection for The Mekons peaked in the early 2000s on discovering Greil Marcus — my first review for the fondly remembered Stylus Magazine was a review of Jon Langford’s All the Fame…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com

“If you don’t like public executions just don’t watch it” says the crowd trying to ban drag shows and books

Give Jon Langford enormous credit for sticking with his communitarian principles as one of the Mekons. Happy birthday. Their best should be no surprise. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2018/11/12/r...

Ranking favorite Mekons albums

My affection for The Mekons peaked in the early 2000s on discovering Greil Marcus — my first review for the fondly remembered Stylus Magazine was a review of Jon Langford’s All the Fame…

humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com