I’m publishing this cri de coeur on October the fourth because I’m in Texas. Watching, pondering, and writing about movies from around the globe for the last decade has helped me come closer to the person I want to be: a citizen of the world who thinks hard about the human condition and understanding as many different perspectives within it as possible.
My past and current roots in Texas led me to publish this last plea to get yourself registered to vote for the upcoming US Presidential election. The last day to register to vote in the state of Texas is Monday, October seventh.
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Two years ago – before confirming it, I would have sworn it was at least four – I wrote in this space about attending an incredible re-creation of an important day in US history that has a significant tie to cinema. Each year on November 22, the operators of the Texas Theatre run the original program that was scheduled on the day that Lee Harvey Oswald walked into the theater, without buying a ticket, and was arrested less than an hour later as the man who had assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States.
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The crispness and clarity of digital projection has finally, I believe, overtaken that of the method born in the fin de siècle and used exclusively throughout the 20th century. As someone born in what the kids are now calling “the late 20th century,” it brings me no joy to acknowledge that the old way of doing things is obsolete and will likely fade from cultural memory even before I shuffle off into oblivion myself.
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I’m attracted to the kinds of transgressive, subversive movies that Joe Bob Briggs curates in his TV and live shows because they’re like a pressure release valve. They let us laugh and be shocked and be grossed-out in a safe environment. They, like virtually all movies, allow me to experience the world in a way that is radically different from how I experience it. They overturn the acceptable behavior – or, more often, show it for the hypocrisy it often is – of square society. (And, yes, I realize that I’m about the squarest person you could ever meet, which adds to the appeal of these movies for me.)
I can’t think of a better overseer for these dubious masterpieces than the man, the myth, the legend, Joe Bob Briggs. In his immortal words, “The drive-in will never die!”
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It is the duty of every American to watch the House January 6 Select Committee’s hearings on the attempted coup that Donald Trump and his followers instigated in an attempt to thwart the peaceful transfer of power to the duly and lawfully elected candidate, Joe Biden.
The first of eight planned hearings aired on Thursday, June 9. It served as an opening statement, detailing the actions that Trump took – and in some instances, the actions that he didn’t take – in an attempt to overthrow the seat of American government and the will of the American people. If you missed the first three hearings, I will link to YouTube videos of each.
I’m writing this because we are at a crisis point in American democracy. If you’ve been paying attention, the first congressional hearing probably didn’t tell you much which you didn’t already know. But it also featured revelations about the failed coup that the committee kept secret until now.
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This post is different from anything I’ve ever published on this website. I was compelled to write it due to increasing worries I have about what I believe is an impending authoritarian takeover of our government by rightwing extremists both inside and outside of elected office. I have never hoped more to be wrong. I will return to regular movie reviews with my next post.
TW: Rape
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I don’t think I knew what Ebert Interruptus was until 2013, when Roger Ebert died. In the myriad obituaries and tributes dedicated to the film-criticism titan that I read in the wake of his passing, I saw a few mentions of what was, at the time, still called Cinema Interruptus. What I read seemed to hold an almost mythic quality to it.
Ebert Interruptus is one event of dozens that make up the Conference on World Affairs, which is held each year on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus.
I attended Ebert Interruptus for the first time this year, and I wrote about my experience.
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History, film history, and movies swirled for me into an intoxicating and irresistible event on November 22nd, 2021 at the Texas Theatre. That’s the movie house located on Jefferson Ave. where Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested shortly after John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
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An essay in which I write about my wife (almost) as much as I write about movies.
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I’m taking a little time off, but instead of going silent, I’m publishing something I wrote a few months ago for a pop culture writing class I took last fall. You’ll probably notice that it seems a little dated (because the world we are living in seems to change dramatically every week or two), but I don’t think it’s so dated that it’s not still relevant. A few of the facts and figures are old, but I added one parenthetical aside that addresses the momentous, awful events of this week. Please enjoy, and please be kind to each other. I’ll be back next Friday with a new review.
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