—– The Magnetic Fields – “I Wish I Had an Evil Twin” Good Zack: IÁ¢€™m not a fan of The Magnetic Fields in any particular sense, but this is…
Zack Dennis
151 Articles
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
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…
Popdose Staff
1 Min Read
Animotion – “Obsession” Ladies and gentlemenÁ¢€¦LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!! Next week weÁ¢€™ll be unveiling a new feature here at Popdose: the Song-Off. Two songs about similar topic will be…
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
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
Long Beach is not an attractive city. Downtown, where a shopping mall is under construction, is filled with thick concrete barriers and overhanging chain-link fences.It feels like a demilitarized zone….
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
Explosions in the Sky is possibly my favorite band in the world right now. The first song of theirs that I ever heard was Á¢€Å“Your Hand in Mine,Á¢€ which I…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
Like many students, I was assigned to read Tom StoppardÁ¢€â„¢s existential classic Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead during my junior year of high school. IÁ¢€â„¢ve always hated reading plays Á¢€”…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
Hi all. I’m guest-posting for Jeff today. When I was probably about 13 or so, my Uncle Mark made a series of mixtapes for my family that I’ve tried to…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
In my post about The Rules of Attraction a few weeks back, commenter Idp presented the idea that many of the heroes in action movies fall into a subclass of…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
There’s a certain art to crafting a great movie trailer that is sort of a scale model of the art of crafting the advertised movie itself. Often a trailer contains…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
Most people are familiar with the concept of the alpha male. Aggressive and dominating, he exists in our society as a result of our evolution as primates, when relatively small…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
The last time I went to Tangier, almost two years ago, it was a bit of a disaster. A few weeks before at my first Beverly Hills party, filled primarily…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
Sometimes, when you’re choosing the soundtrack for an adapted screenplay, the source material hands your songs right to you (such as in the novels High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, and…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
I don’t think Michael Mann is particularly interested in popular music. It’s practically impossible to think of Phil Collins’ classic song “In the Air Tonight” without thinking of the iconic…
Jeff Vrabel
2 Min Read
A lot of people are going to tell you that adolescent regression is an unhealthy thing, but few among us are the people who, if given the chance, wouldn’t jump…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
The first time I ever visited Sherman Oaks and saw the childhood home of my old roommate Miles (this was back when we lived in San Diego, before he got…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
As I expect every one of you knows, Heath Ledger died yesterday. I won’t speculate as to the details of his death (I’m sure the tabloids and gossip websites will…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
Exit Music is a sister series to Motion Picture Soundtrack. Yeah, they’re both named after Radiohead songs. So what? You wanna fight about it? As long as you’re less than…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
To begin: Music has been a essential part of movies since the very first images were committed to celluloid — in fact, motion picture scores existed before spoken dialogue did…
Zack Dennis
4 Min Read
Here’s a brain teaser: Most days, my commute to my downtown day job consists of a bumpy bus ride straight down Olympic. When I have a good book to read,…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
My friend Solly came down last weekend on a miniature vacation from Seattle. She was unlucky enough to have the rain follow her down and catch up to her by…