Published in The Screen Beat·May 12Lupin the Third: The Castle of CagliostroHayao Miyazaki’s first feature film leaves Netflix on May 14 — Why not start at the beginning? That’s rarely, if ever, a bad idea, and it’s a natural conclusion for me as I explore the films of Hayao Miyazaki, the founder and creative mind behind the famed Studio Ghibli. It’s a massive blindspot in my film life. I could have started…Film3 min read
Published in The Screen Beat·May 11‘New Jazz’: Atlanta S3, Ep. 8 Made Me a Believer AgainAn unsteady but enjoyable season of TV got a boost in its latest episode — We were all longing for its return, and to be honest, I worried that so much time away would ruin our ability to be critical of one of TV’s best, most original and inventive shows. Atlanta returned to FX and Hulu after four years away, due in part to the…Television5 min read
May 11End of the iPod GenerationA tip of the hat to a simplistic-yet-brilliant product with a genius design. — Apple announced that it would discontinue the iPod after more than 20 years. It’s hard to imagine a device that more radically changed the way the world looks and feels and operates but has almost been forgotten about, despite its clear influences on our everyday lives. I’m old enough to…Technology3 min read
Published in The Screen Beat·May 9Marvel’s Strange Trip into the MultiverseAn enjoyable time at the theater, but one that left much to be desired. The biggest anticipated Marvel blockbuster of 2022 thus far was more than a little lackluster. Don’t get me wrong: Sam Raimi showed up and definitely put his stamp on the film to the extent possible within…Film4 min read
Feb 25, 2020Do Not Pass Go: McMillion$ and Journalism’s Big PaydayIf you’re not following along with HBO’s McMillion$, the six-part docu-series about the man who rigged the McDonald’s Monopoly game, and the FBI investigation that brought him and a sprawling criminal conspiracy down, you’re missing out. …Long Reads4 min read
Oct 28, 2019Sadness as ArtThere is no novelty in making art out of one’s sadness. It’s an oft-traversed path for artists of all stripes, like the blues guitarist or the writer. …Bo Jack Horseman5 min read
Oct 13, 2019Member-onlyTrump vs. ClintonIf you blinked in the past week, you’d be forgiven for missing one or two or ten news stories related to President Trump and the ongoing impeachment inquiry. …Politics8 min read
Sep 30, 2019Member-onlyBefore the World Series, reconnect with the beauty of baseballThere’s just something about October. In the South, it’s the tease of crisp air, a slightly less direct pummeling by the sun, a change in the color palette when gazing at a forested landscape at a distance, the distinct smell of woodsmoke that bonfires create but can never quite be…Baseball11 min read
Sep 18, 2019One Great Sentence: Michael PaternitiThe inimitable Jacqui Banaszynski, now the editor at Neiman Storyboard, formerly a professor at my very own University of Missouri School of Journalism, and forever a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and master storyteller, had a section she repeated in her early versions of the Storyboard newsletter that I greatly admired. She…Life Lessons2 min read
Sep 17, 2019Saved by the Beer: Trusting your muse will find youIt was a Monday. All day long, as his mother always says. Nothing terrible had happened nor had anything remotely redeeming happened either; it had simply been another day for Brad. But it was behind him now, as day had faded into night, and he remembered that he was a…Fiction6 min read
