Violent Femmes – “Add It Up” Built to Spill – “Carry the Zero” — n n n {democracy:17} — Two weeks ago, the extraterrestrial hitchhiker Neil Young held off a…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
Recently I’ve been gnawing away at Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World Revisited, a series of ruminations on the state of modern society (modern as in 1958, the year the book…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
I’ll start with the negative: seeing a Vampire Weekend show made me feel old. And that’s really the only thing I found disappointing about the show.Á‚ I’m not one to…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
There are fewer members of the Washington establishment that I detest more than Richard “Dickface” Cohen. I noticed yesterday evening that he’s finally soured on his hero John McCain, but…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
This past weekend I was the best man at my friend Rodger’s wedding. I spent a long time working on my toast, which went well, but there was something I…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
In Mike Judge’s 1999 comedy Office Space, its protagonist Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) is described by the downsizing consultants as a “straight shooter with upper management written all over him.”…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
Basketball owes its success as a spectator sport to the fact that a miraculous shot at the end of the game can change everything in a single instant. ItÁ¢€â„¢s a…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
A number of months ago, Darren Robbins posted a column discussing how brazen arrogance seemed to be the most valuable asset in a playboyÁ¢€â„¢s pickup arsenal. If this is true,…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
For the least two years, the area in front of the Staples Center has been the site of a massive construction project, the behemoth “LA Live” complex. Costing approximately $2.5…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
One of of the most overlooked films of 2006 (a terrible, terrible year for movies; with redemption only brought by the likes of The Departed, Borat, and Casino Royale) was…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
A sizable crowd was already waiting outside the Echo when I arrived at 8:30. One can often forecast how good a show’s going to be based on the enthusiasm of…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
I tend to make a lot of allowances for films that translate classic literature into high school settings. If nothing else, I respect the ambition of such an endeavor. And…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
With another potential Hollywood strike looming (the SAG contract has expired and the actors have yet to reach acceptable terms with the studios), itÁ¢€™s possible that reality television will see…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
A couple weeks ago, I planned a weeknight getaway down to Anaheim to watch the Angels play against their closest rival for the division crown, the Oakland A’s. We took…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
Nobody, and I mean nobody, has demonstrated an ability to manipulate popular culture better than Quentin Tarantino. The pop-culture reference is a staple of modern entertainment. Television shows like The…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
When I was living in Johannesburg, I spent about four months dating a woman who worked as a professional editor for film and television commercials. She put together a video…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
On Tuesday night, clad in a green shirt and gleefully cheering on the Celtics (who I was indoctrinated to support during my childhood in Connecticut) as they humiliated the Lakers,…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
Like practically all Americans with (meager) holdings on the New York Stock Exchange, I watched in dismay as my stocks plummeted on Friday. Oil prices spiked, which caused the Dow…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
It’s the end of the road for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. A few signs lately have pointed towards Hillary finally packing it in, and after Barack Obama sweeps up enough of…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
In Hollywood movies, surfing is basically dealt with in one of two ways. It can serve as the foundation for the film, as in movies like Blue Crush (2002) and…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
In the final few moments of Tony ScottÁ¢€™s True Romance (1993) Alabama, accompanied by an injured Clarence, drives past a sign that reads Á¢€Å“Last U.S. Exit, Mexican Border 5 miles.Á¢€ItÁ¢€™s…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
IÁ¢€™m still reeling from this show. I had heard of Cloud Cult via KEXP, but they hadnÁ¢€™t made enough of an impression on me that IÁ¢€™d been awaiting this show…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
There was an episode of televisionÁ¢€â„¢s Friday Night Lights when a new character plays in his first game and forces a game-changing fumble. The lead-up sequence is unabashedly manipulative, as…
Zack Dennis
2 Min Read
Playing a disabled or mentally ill character seems like it would be one of the most demanding roles for an actor to portray. ItÁ¢€â„¢s probably just as tough for an…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
My ten-year college reunion is this weekend, and while fraternities didn’t exist at Harvey Mudd College, I did spend two years living in our campus’ closest approximation. North Dorm was…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
When The Breakfast Club begins, weÁ¢€â„¢re presented with the five characters as easily defined stereotypes Á¢€” Á¢€Å“a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal.Á¢€ In the…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
Teen angst is one of the most tempting lodes for an ore-seeking filmmaker to mine. ItÁ¢€â„¢s something of a shared experience; the instinct to rebel against authority in any form…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
Like many suburban teenagers, I was first introduced to world of ska by the plaid-clad, Boston-based, masters of merchandising the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. It was the first time I ever…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
The last time I took ecstasy was at a trance party near the beach just north of Durban, shortly after IÁ¢€â„¢d finished reading Matt RuffÁ¢€â„¢s brilliant fantasy novel “Fool on…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
I first learned of Say Hi to Your Mom from a WBAR podcast, when the DJ said: Á¢€Å“The next song is from Say Hi to Your Mom, which is hard…