Don DeLillo, Americana (1971)
Don DeLillo’s first novel was quite extraordinary. That’s partly because it reads like four or five novels in one (it runs close to five hundred pages). All of them [...]
The X-Files, Season 2, Episode 21: “The Calusari” (April 14, 1995)
“The Calusari” sees The X-Files return to a more conventional register after the singularity of “Humbug.” It draws equally on It and The Omen and revolves around a [...]
Van Morrison, The Prophet Speaks (2018)
Van Morrison’s fourth album of new material in just fifteen months, The Prophet Speaks blends the jazzy sound of his last two albums with the blues of Roll with the [...]
Van Morrison and Joey DeFrancesco, You’re Driving Me Crazy (2018)
Van Morrison continues the jazz tendencies of Versatile on You’re Driving Me Crazy, a collaboration with the late trumpeter, organist and general virtuoso Joey DeFrancesco. [...]
The X-Files, Season 2, Episode 20: “Humbug” (March 31, 1995)
“Humbug” may be the quintessential episode of The X-Files. It revolves around the murder of a carnival worker and unfolds as a series of continual revisions and [...]
The X-Files, Season 2, Episode 19: “Dod Kalm” (March 10, 1995)
Dod Kalm is one of the first episodes in The X-Files where the horror stems from the flipside of network acceleration – analog obsolescence. The setup is both historic and [...]
The X-Files, Season 2, Episode 18: “Fearful Symmetry” (February 24, 1995)
Sometimes The X-Files edges towards absurdity but that’s a key part of its restless quest for the arcane. “Fearful Symmetry” is one of those episodes that seems to be [...]
The X-Files, Season 2, Episode 17: “End Game” (February 17, 1995)
“End Game” continues the extraordinary mythological arc of “Colony.” This new iteration in the extra-terrestrial grand narrative of the series renews the aesthetic [...]
Leigh: Hard Truths (2024)
Hard Truths is the work of a master operating at full capacity. Like most of Mike Leigh’s other films it revolves around a collection of lower-middle class characters. In [...]
Berger: Conclave (2024)
Edward Berger’s Conclave feels like a throwback to two distinct 90s modes: the mid-budget adult thriller and the corporate Vatican thriller. It’s about a papal conclave [...]