Robert Davis
@davisre.bsky.social
Lurking cinephile, active programmer, background writer, once at Erratamag, Plastic Podcast, Paste. Obsessive curator of Year-End Lists for the last twelve years.
http://yearendlists.com/faq
http://yearendlists.com/faq
So László Krasznahorkai, notable to cinephiles as the author of Satantago, has won this year’s Nobel Prize for literature. I’ve been mildly curious to read Tarr’s inspiration, but this is a big nudge to finally crack it open.
October 9, 2025 at 2:51 PM
So László Krasznahorkai, notable to cinephiles as the author of Satantago, has won this year’s Nobel Prize for literature. I’ve been mildly curious to read Tarr’s inspiration, but this is a big nudge to finally crack it open.
An incredible series just started in Chicago: 33 Frederick Wiseman films in 4K restorations of original elements.
I wish I could camp out, but the one I’ll catch, for the first time, is Near Death, screened without interruption (but with an optional box lunch).
www.siskelfilmcenter.org/wiseman
I wish I could camp out, but the one I’ll catch, for the first time, is Near Death, screened without interruption (but with an optional box lunch).
www.siskelfilmcenter.org/wiseman
The Worlds of Wiseman | Siskel Film Center
The Worlds of Wiseman
January 1–February 5, 2025
www.siskelfilmcenter.org
January 4, 2025 at 6:44 PM
An incredible series just started in Chicago: 33 Frederick Wiseman films in 4K restorations of original elements.
I wish I could camp out, but the one I’ll catch, for the first time, is Near Death, screened without interruption (but with an optional box lunch).
www.siskelfilmcenter.org/wiseman
I wish I could camp out, but the one I’ll catch, for the first time, is Near Death, screened without interruption (but with an optional box lunch).
www.siskelfilmcenter.org/wiseman
I saw The Flick at Steppenwolf in 2016 and vowed to catch anything I could by Annie Baker. Which was nothing until Janet Planet, a fave for me this year.
Its controlled momentum is driven by visual mysteries (where are we? who’s that?). Baker is a very good playwright *and* — turns out — filmmaker.
Its controlled momentum is driven by visual mysteries (where are we? who’s that?). Baker is a very good playwright *and* — turns out — filmmaker.
November 27, 2024 at 6:25 PM
I saw The Flick at Steppenwolf in 2016 and vowed to catch anything I could by Annie Baker. Which was nothing until Janet Planet, a fave for me this year.
Its controlled momentum is driven by visual mysteries (where are we? who’s that?). Baker is a very good playwright *and* — turns out — filmmaker.
Its controlled momentum is driven by visual mysteries (where are we? who’s that?). Baker is a very good playwright *and* — turns out — filmmaker.
The best ginger ale is Bruce Cost Original, and I don’t know of a close second.
I mention this because I buy a few cases of it every spring, I’ve now finished my last bottle, and Chicago is expecting flurries this week. Ginger ale season is over, and I thought you should know.
I mention this because I buy a few cases of it every spring, I’ve now finished my last bottle, and Chicago is expecting flurries this week. Ginger ale season is over, and I thought you should know.
November 20, 2024 at 2:51 AM
The best ginger ale is Bruce Cost Original, and I don’t know of a close second.
I mention this because I buy a few cases of it every spring, I’ve now finished my last bottle, and Chicago is expecting flurries this week. Ginger ale season is over, and I thought you should know.
I mention this because I buy a few cases of it every spring, I’ve now finished my last bottle, and Chicago is expecting flurries this week. Ginger ale season is over, and I thought you should know.
Sault released* a new record this year, “Acts of Faith,” and I hope we’ll be forgiven for not noticing ASAP.
It’s low-key and lovely, similar in tone to Cleo Sol’s last few. My favorite 3-song stretch: “Turn It Around”, “Lessons”, “Only For You”
(* discreetly uploaded as a wav file somewhere)
It’s low-key and lovely, similar in tone to Cleo Sol’s last few. My favorite 3-song stretch: “Turn It Around”, “Lessons”, “Only For You”
(* discreetly uploaded as a wav file somewhere)
November 17, 2024 at 6:44 PM
Sault released* a new record this year, “Acts of Faith,” and I hope we’ll be forgiven for not noticing ASAP.
It’s low-key and lovely, similar in tone to Cleo Sol’s last few. My favorite 3-song stretch: “Turn It Around”, “Lessons”, “Only For You”
(* discreetly uploaded as a wav file somewhere)
It’s low-key and lovely, similar in tone to Cleo Sol’s last few. My favorite 3-song stretch: “Turn It Around”, “Lessons”, “Only For You”
(* discreetly uploaded as a wav file somewhere)
The last section of Rachel Cusk’s new book, Parade, seems to be about Éric Rohmer, although she identifies him (as she does all the visual artists in this braid of observations) as G.
Most of the biographical details I didn’t know — pseudonyms and secrecy — and it made me want to revisit his films.
Most of the biographical details I didn’t know — pseudonyms and secrecy — and it made me want to revisit his films.
November 11, 2024 at 4:17 PM
The last section of Rachel Cusk’s new book, Parade, seems to be about Éric Rohmer, although she identifies him (as she does all the visual artists in this braid of observations) as G.
Most of the biographical details I didn’t know — pseudonyms and secrecy — and it made me want to revisit his films.
Most of the biographical details I didn’t know — pseudonyms and secrecy — and it made me want to revisit his films.
One of my lasting regrets will be missing Low when they played in Chicago in 2022. Four blocks from home. When I had tickets.
I don’t remember what came up, but I know I’ll be at the Salt Shed tonight to see Alan Sparhawk open for GY!BE, who I haven’t seen in years. Hoping for a cleansing evening.
I don’t remember what came up, but I know I’ll be at the Salt Shed tonight to see Alan Sparhawk open for GY!BE, who I haven’t seen in years. Hoping for a cleansing evening.
November 8, 2024 at 6:36 PM
One of my lasting regrets will be missing Low when they played in Chicago in 2022. Four blocks from home. When I had tickets.
I don’t remember what came up, but I know I’ll be at the Salt Shed tonight to see Alan Sparhawk open for GY!BE, who I haven’t seen in years. Hoping for a cleansing evening.
I don’t remember what came up, but I know I’ll be at the Salt Shed tonight to see Alan Sparhawk open for GY!BE, who I haven’t seen in years. Hoping for a cleansing evening.
Apropos of nothing, remember when Trump introduced the Space Force and assured us repeatedly that it would be a separate but equal branch of the military. Separate but equal. My god the depths.
one thing to remember is that the central holding in plessy v. ferguson was not “segregation good” but that the constitution neither recognized social inequality as a fact in the world nor gave courts the power to remedy it. the constitution, under plessy, could neither see nor touch racism.
Clarence Thomas attacks Brown v. Board ruling amid 70th anniversary
Thomas suggests the court overreached its authority in the landmark decision.
www.axios.com
May 27, 2024 at 1:46 AM
Apropos of nothing, remember when Trump introduced the Space Force and assured us repeatedly that it would be a separate but equal branch of the military. Separate but equal. My god the depths.
Reposted by Robert Davis
I had the thought when Paul Auster died that I'd like to read @davidjroth.bsky.social writing about him and sure enough @flaminghydra.com delivered. flaminghydra.com/issue-76/
May 14, 2024 at 9:22 PM
I had the thought when Paul Auster died that I'd like to read @davidjroth.bsky.social writing about him and sure enough @flaminghydra.com delivered. flaminghydra.com/issue-76/
This barely qualifies as a cocktail, but I’ve been enjoying:
- two parts mezcal
- one part Ancho Reyes Verde
If you add lime juice, agave nectar, cucumber, and a spritz of absinthe, you get what a local bar calls Fire in the Hole, also lovely. I hit on the simpler variation through sheer laziness.
- two parts mezcal
- one part Ancho Reyes Verde
If you add lime juice, agave nectar, cucumber, and a spritz of absinthe, you get what a local bar calls Fire in the Hole, also lovely. I hit on the simpler variation through sheer laziness.
May 10, 2024 at 9:06 PM
This barely qualifies as a cocktail, but I’ve been enjoying:
- two parts mezcal
- one part Ancho Reyes Verde
If you add lime juice, agave nectar, cucumber, and a spritz of absinthe, you get what a local bar calls Fire in the Hole, also lovely. I hit on the simpler variation through sheer laziness.
- two parts mezcal
- one part Ancho Reyes Verde
If you add lime juice, agave nectar, cucumber, and a spritz of absinthe, you get what a local bar calls Fire in the Hole, also lovely. I hit on the simpler variation through sheer laziness.
I like the part of a show when Stephen Metcalf says, “Now is the moment in our podcast when we endorse Dana.”
January 24, 2024 at 10:21 PM
I like the part of a show when Stephen Metcalf says, “Now is the moment in our podcast when we endorse Dana.”
Mitski’s new album is just great. I can’t get over how that three-song run in the middle — “When Memories Snow,” “My Love Mine All Mine,” and “The Frost” — feels like the album’s epic heart while each track is under three minutes. And one of them is under two.
As if: what more needs to be said?
As if: what more needs to be said?
January 23, 2024 at 10:44 PM
Mitski’s new album is just great. I can’t get over how that three-song run in the middle — “When Memories Snow,” “My Love Mine All Mine,” and “The Frost” — feels like the album’s epic heart while each track is under three minutes. And one of them is under two.
As if: what more needs to be said?
As if: what more needs to be said?
“Because you like biographies…”
Do I, Amazon algorithm? Like biographies?
I do read maybe one per year, but it needs to be unsparing, deeply curious, exhaustively researched.
2022: The Power Broker (finally)
2023: Prairie Fires
2024: hard to match those two, but I may try The Marriage Question.
Do I, Amazon algorithm? Like biographies?
I do read maybe one per year, but it needs to be unsparing, deeply curious, exhaustively researched.
2022: The Power Broker (finally)
2023: Prairie Fires
2024: hard to match those two, but I may try The Marriage Question.
January 13, 2024 at 8:58 PM
“Because you like biographies…”
Do I, Amazon algorithm? Like biographies?
I do read maybe one per year, but it needs to be unsparing, deeply curious, exhaustively researched.
2022: The Power Broker (finally)
2023: Prairie Fires
2024: hard to match those two, but I may try The Marriage Question.
Do I, Amazon algorithm? Like biographies?
I do read maybe one per year, but it needs to be unsparing, deeply curious, exhaustively researched.
2022: The Power Broker (finally)
2023: Prairie Fires
2024: hard to match those two, but I may try The Marriage Question.
Here’s that list.
He read twice as many books as I did in 2024, and I didn’t stop to make any movies. (I did other things. But still.)
He read twice as many books as I did in 2024, and I didn’t stop to make any movies. (I did other things. But still.)
January 12, 2024 at 9:18 PM
Here’s that list.
He read twice as many books as I did in 2024, and I didn’t stop to make any movies. (I did other things. But still.)
He read twice as many books as I did in 2024, and I didn’t stop to make any movies. (I did other things. But still.)
Soderbergh is fun talking about reading — and free will, and Hitchcock, and The Hot Rock — on this new episode of the New York Times Book Review Podcast, a conversation spurred by his annual log of media consumed.
A takeaway for me: read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
A takeaway for me: read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Steven Soderbergh’s Year in Reading
Each January, the director Steven Soderbergh lists his previous year’s cultural consumption — every movie and TV series watched, every book read. On this week’s episode, we talk books!
www.nytimes.com
January 12, 2024 at 9:16 PM
Soderbergh is fun talking about reading — and free will, and Hitchcock, and The Hot Rock — on this new episode of the New York Times Book Review Podcast, a conversation spurred by his annual log of media consumed.
A takeaway for me: read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
A takeaway for me: read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
I watched the first season of Mad Men more or less contemporaneously and expected I might revisit and finish the series at some point. The return of The Relentless Picnic, at long last, is the major nudge I needed.
www.patreon.com/posts/introd...
www.patreon.com/posts/introd...
Introducing the Mad Men Project | Stanley Picnic
Get more from Stanley Picnic on Patreon
www.patreon.com
January 6, 2024 at 8:31 PM
I watched the first season of Mad Men more or less contemporaneously and expected I might revisit and finish the series at some point. The return of The Relentless Picnic, at long last, is the major nudge I needed.
www.patreon.com/posts/introd...
www.patreon.com/posts/introd...
I’ve so missed Paul Muldoon from the original version of the New Yorker poetry podcast that I’ll listen to Paul McCartney tell the same half-genuine stories behind his songs that he’s been telling for decades if Muldoon is the one guiding the conversation.
McCartney: A Life in Lyrics - Paul McCartney Podcast - Pushkin
McCartney: A Life in Lyrics is a combination master class, memoir, and improvised journey with one of the most beloved figures in popular music. Hosted by Paul McCartney and Paul Muldoon.
www.pushkin.fm
November 23, 2023 at 3:30 PM
I’ve so missed Paul Muldoon from the original version of the New Yorker poetry podcast that I’ll listen to Paul McCartney tell the same half-genuine stories behind his songs that he’s been telling for decades if Muldoon is the one guiding the conversation.
Even at my advanced age, people still get me books for my birthday. And really interesting ones, too.
October 21, 2023 at 3:42 PM
Even at my advanced age, people still get me books for my birthday. And really interesting ones, too.
There’s an interview with (and illustration of) Nathaniel Dorsky in the new issue of The Believer.
Also: I’m so glad The Believer is back.
Also: I’m so glad The Believer is back.
October 11, 2023 at 12:29 AM
There’s an interview with (and illustration of) Nathaniel Dorsky in the new issue of The Believer.
Also: I’m so glad The Believer is back.
Also: I’m so glad The Believer is back.
It’s hard to think of a band less likely to record a platinum-selling debut record than the young Violent Femmes, but this oral history of how they did is full of humor, introspection, and a surprising amount of internal agreement on how it all went down.
The Making of VIOLENT FEMMES (Self-Titled) - feat. Gordon Gano, Brian Ritchie and Victor DeLorenzo �...
For the 40th anniversary of Violent Femmes’ classic debut album, we spoke
to Gordon Gano, Brian Ritchie and Victor DeLorenzo about how it was made.
Playing on the street, being discovered by the P...
lifeoftherecord.com
August 25, 2023 at 3:11 PM
It’s hard to think of a band less likely to record a platinum-selling debut record than the young Violent Femmes, but this oral history of how they did is full of humor, introspection, and a surprising amount of internal agreement on how it all went down.
I just read The Swimmers. It begins with kaleidoscopic whimsy, gets even a little silly, but then narrows its focus with such emotional precision that I felt sliced open by the second half, emotionally raw.
Do we have a name for literary double features? The one Yong suggests here is outstanding.
Do we have a name for literary double features? The one Yong suggests here is outstanding.
I also think the No One is Talking About This pairs remarkably well with The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka. They’re both books I would have described as singular, were it not for the existence of the other.
August 19, 2023 at 12:15 AM
I just read The Swimmers. It begins with kaleidoscopic whimsy, gets even a little silly, but then narrows its focus with such emotional precision that I felt sliced open by the second half, emotionally raw.
Do we have a name for literary double features? The one Yong suggests here is outstanding.
Do we have a name for literary double features? The one Yong suggests here is outstanding.
It’s nice that KCRW has put together some highlights of old Bookworm episodes while Michael Silverblatt is on an extended health-related hiatus. Those carnivalesque Sparks themes make me smile.
This one with Patti Smith, Fran Leibovitz, and John Waters is fun.
This one with Patti Smith, Fran Leibovitz, and John Waters is fun.
The Confederacy of Bookworms
Guest host Mary Corey, teacher of American history at UCLA and author of "The World Through a Monocle" about The New Yorker Magazine, teaches a course on American popular culture that explores the blu...
www.kcrw.com
August 12, 2023 at 5:58 PM
It’s nice that KCRW has put together some highlights of old Bookworm episodes while Michael Silverblatt is on an extended health-related hiatus. Those carnivalesque Sparks themes make me smile.
This one with Patti Smith, Fran Leibovitz, and John Waters is fun.
This one with Patti Smith, Fran Leibovitz, and John Waters is fun.
One of my favorite beverages this summer is the oxymoronic white Negroni:
2oz London dry gin,
1oz Lillet blanc,
0.75oz of Suze,
stir w/ ice and strain,
garnish with a lemon twist
So grassy.
2oz London dry gin,
1oz Lillet blanc,
0.75oz of Suze,
stir w/ ice and strain,
garnish with a lemon twist
So grassy.
August 12, 2023 at 3:16 AM
One of my favorite beverages this summer is the oxymoronic white Negroni:
2oz London dry gin,
1oz Lillet blanc,
0.75oz of Suze,
stir w/ ice and strain,
garnish with a lemon twist
So grassy.
2oz London dry gin,
1oz Lillet blanc,
0.75oz of Suze,
stir w/ ice and strain,
garnish with a lemon twist
So grassy.
I’m excited that Annie Baker has made a film, and that it’s at NYFF.
https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2023/films/janet-planet/
https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2023/films/janet-planet/
Janet Planet
Set in 1991 in rural Western Massachusetts, the superb debut film from Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Annie Baker is a work of surreal tranquility that follows young Lacy the summer before sixt...
www.filmlinc.org
August 9, 2023 at 3:39 AM
I’m excited that Annie Baker has made a film, and that it’s at NYFF.
https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2023/films/janet-planet/
https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2023/films/janet-planet/
I watched The French Connection just recently. I’m late, I know, but somehow I hadn’t realized that in the chase under the train tracks, Gene Hackman is literally chasing the train. Manic and absurd, famous for a reason.
August 7, 2023 at 10:49 PM
I watched The French Connection just recently. I’m late, I know, but somehow I hadn’t realized that in the chase under the train tracks, Gene Hackman is literally chasing the train. Manic and absurd, famous for a reason.