Remembering St. Crispin’s Day with Tom Hiddleston

Last updated on: February 16, 2015 at 3:44 pm By Joseph Susanka

I like this. I really, really like this. This Hollow Crown setting is a great deal quieter (and feels more sorrowful) than Bombastic Branagh’s version, which I have long loved (and will continue to love) dearly. And it lacks the spectacular musical spine Patrick Doyle provides for Branagh’s Harry. But the quietness is incredibly powerful — perhaps even more powerful than any number of the more “traditionally” cinematic/stagey versions. And Hiddleston is extraordinary, even in that short clip. It deserves to be better known, methinks.... Read more

SVS: “I Know That Voice”

Last updated on: January 6, 2015 at 5:08 pm By Joseph Susanka

A little (and, perhaps, terrifying) insight into Life at the Susanka House: Whenever I hear a bit of voice-over/voice-acting work, I can’t really think straight until I’ve figured out who it is. Which guarantees that nobody else will think straight while I’m figuring it out. Curious about the guy from Home Depot’s “Let’s Do This” commercials? Easy. That’s Josh Lucas. (Not as good as Ed Harris’ work in their previous campaign, but perfectly serviceable.) Ever wonder why Highlander’s Kurgan sounds so much like “Justice... Read more

Today’s Obscure Baroque Composer? Marco Uccellini. (Toldja he was obscure…)

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 2:57 pm By Joseph Susanka

Well, this certainly woke me up. That’s Marco Uccellini, a composer described by Wikipedia (with the sparseness typical of countless unknown musical creators from that era) as “an Italian Baroque violinist and composer.” And I was immediately reminded of Praetorius’ “Dances from Terpsichore.” (Also really fun stuff, and also sure to get your toes a-tappin’.) Here’s a more complete (and more restrained) interpretation from Il Giardino Armonico. Yes, indeed. I just used the word “restrained” in reference to an Il Giardino Armonico recording. I don’t... Read more

“To God, there is no zero.”

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 2:57 pm By Joseph Susanka

When I look back at the most memorable cinematic experiences of my childhood — a self-indulgence I undertake with almost terrifying frequency — there is one film in particular that strikes me as a real outlier. Titles such as Flight of the Navigator and Blackbeard’s Ghost and The Absentminded Professor and “Zorro” all make sense to me, and while the intensity of my love can be a bit difficult to justify (though it is doubtless heavily tinged by the rosy fingers of nostalgia), the fact that my youthful self enjoyed those films comes as no... Read more

SSF: “Katedra”

Last updated on: January 15, 2015 at 4:31 pm By Joseph Susanka

…The reds, yellows, and blues of Madeleine shine like dawn through the ribs of the Cathedral, everything here is either in shadow or painted with viscous colors. I’ll sit, I’ll quiet my heart. I thought that it would be mainly fear, an animal terror, but I feel only regret now, a great, motionless, heavy regret, the squeezing weight of dark water. No thoughts, no instructions for the body, even my eyes are dry. There is only a little tightening in... Read more

SVS: “Good Eats”

Last updated on: January 14, 2015 at 10:55 am By Joseph Susanka

For a couple of weeks now, I’ve been planning to use today’s post to recommend one of my guilty TV pleasures. But then I realized something. There was no guilt. So, rather than whispering something in your ear with a furtive (almost obsequious) glance over my shoulder to see who might be looking down on me with a shocked expression (and perhaps even a twinge of disdain), I’m gonna say it out loud: “Good Eats” is streaming on NETFLIX INSTANT. Pop culture, comedy, and plain good eating: Host Alton... Read more

Parked By the Jukebox with James Hill and His Ukulele

Last updated on: October 6, 2015 at 5:13 pm By Joseph Susanka

This is amazing stuff. So amazing, in fact, that my instinctive response was: “That’s got to be fake.” And then he dove right into “Billie Jean.” Gosh. His name’s James Hill, he’s a ukulele player (and HOW!), a Canadian, and — as his website describes him — “a man on a musical mission.” I’m not quite sure what that musical mission is, but if he’s playin’ it, I’m in. (There’s no such thing as “too many virtuoso uke players,” as far as I’m... Read more

“What is left is Art. I think we must all admit that.”

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 2:57 pm By Joseph Susanka

If Cooper had any real knowledge of Nature’s ways of doing things, he had a most delicate art in concealing the fact. It’s Wednesday. Which, as I’ve doubtless observed (complained about/whined over) in the past, is not my favorite day of the week. So I’m in the mood for something cathartic. (Translation? I’m on the lookout for something mean. Because misery and company and all that.) And so, in an effort to put this particular Wednesday well-and-truly to rest, I’m going with what is... Read more

“Grim Grinning Ghosts” and the Magic of Thurl Ravenscroft

Last updated on: January 16, 2015 at 11:03 am By Joseph Susanka

For no particular reason other than because it’s a bit October-y and I like to post thematically/seasonally-appropriate music from time to time and because, unlike Tom McDonald, I don’t know country music much, dark or otherwise. Also, because I was recently listening to NPR’s “All Songs Considered” fascinating podcast with John Congleton and he brought it up. And because I was amazed at how instantaneously those first cords brought back (with astonishing vividness) my memories of experiencing that ride for the... Read more

SSF: “L3.0”

Last updated on: January 15, 2015 at 4:33 pm By Joseph Susanka

Today’s short is a beautifully-rendered French bit about a robot struggling to hang on after the “End of Civilization as We Know It.” (Keep an eye out for the glass effects, in particular, because they’re gorgeous. Beautifully done.) In addition to being a) French, and b) beautifully made, the whole thing’s actually a bit creepy. It’s October, though, so “creepy’s” OK, right? Leo, a Hi-Tech ‘pet’ robot, wanders alone in Paris following the mysterious disappearance of nearly all living species. He... Read more