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The CHIRP Blog
SKaiser writesThen & Now: Uptown
The days of silent movies and mob entourages are far behind but the facade of glamour and decades of performance remain a centerpiece of Uptown. The Aragon Ballroom, Riviera Theater, and Green Mill Jazz Club bring weekly crowds to the doors that today appear remarkably similar to days long gone. Let's keep our fingers crossed for the ongoing stabilization of renovating the iconic Uptown Theatre.
The Uptown Theater is shown above on opening day August 18, 1925. It was said to be "as acre of seats in a magic city."
Kevin Fullam writesThe Fourth Wall: The Lost City of Z
[Welcome to The Fourth Wall, CHIRP's weekly e-conversation on cinema. This week's subject is the movie The Lost City of Z. This edition is written by CHIRP Radio volunteers Kevin Fullam and Clarence Ewing.]
Clarence: This week we’re having a look at the story of Percy Fawcett, a military officer and explorer who became a minor celebrity in the UK and US due to a series of expeditions he made to the jungles of Brazil. In 1925, Fawcett and his eldest son disappeared while searching for the Lost City of Z (pronounced “Zed” by the Brits, so I will too), a place Percy was convinced held the remains of an ancient, vibrant civilization of native South Americans.
The movie is based on David Grann’s NY Times best-seller The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon. We’re not dealing with an Indiana Jones fantasy here, but a serious interpretation of a historical figure. As such, I feel it misses several marks.
Structurally, the film has some problems. I’d say the overall pacing is “stately” and “measured” (polite ways of saying “dull”). At the same time, the film tries to dramatize more than 20 years of Percy’s life in one 2+ hour film, which results in a lot of narrative fast-forwarding. For example, there are several sequences that show the arduous journeys up river, the explorers barely staving off starvation, disease, and attacks from natives. Then, when they hit their objective, there’s a smash cut to the characters back in England. The editing choices make it seem that it’s a lot easier to get out of the jungle than to get in.
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesIn Rotation: Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society
Minimalist Bliss. Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society's new album Simultonality is In Rotation and available by request on CHIRP Radio.
SKaiser writes@CHIRPRadio (Week of May 1)
NEW MEDIA
- Amelia Hruby interviews The Bingers at the CHIRP studio
- Jens Lekman chats with CHIRP's Dylan Peterson before his show at the Metro
- Kevin Fullam and Clarence Ewing discuss Hell of High Water at The Fourth Wall
- In Rotation: Ravyn Lenae
- The Fourth Wall: The Revenant broken down with Kevin Fullam and Clarence Ewing
- In Rotation: Cupid Youth
- Clarence Ewing reminds us Classic Album Sundays with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill!
Kevin Fullam writesThe Fourth Wall: Hell or High Water
[Welcome to The Fourth Wall, CHIRP's weekly e-conversation on cinema. This week's subject is the film Hell or High Water. This edition is written by CHIRP Radio volunteers Kevin Fullam and Clarence Ewing.]
WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD...!
Kevin: While watching Hell or High Water, I was thinking that it's been quite a rough stretch for bankers... but banks have always taken abuse in popular culture, haven't they? They're pretty easy targets for a variety of reasons:
1) By definition, they're symbols of wealth and power.
2) They're largely faceless* institutions -- and like corporations, they tend to have a robotic, uncompromising element to them. Like a Terminator of finance. Good ol' Tywin Lannister of Game of Thrones explained it best when discussing the Iron Bank of Braavos: "You can't run from them, you can't cheat them, you can't sway them with excuses. If you owe them money and you don't want to crumble yourself, you pay it back."
[* Not always, of course. Mr. Potter from It's a Wonderful Life was not a popular man in his town. And Ebenezer Scrooge of A Christmas Carol was so infamous that his last name became synonymous with being miserly.]
3) Banks tend not to be staffed with Dudley Do-Rights who are trying to better society. When it comes to Hollywood, bankers always seem to be trying to put one over on you.
4) Historically, moneylending hasn't exactly been viewed as a noble profession. (And of course, mafia loan sharks go one step further by adding an element of violence to the proceedings.)
I struggle to think of one positive depiction of someone working in the financial industry -- does the cop who snared Al Capone with tax evasion charges in The Untouchables count?
That brings us to Hell or High Water, where brothers Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) are attracting the attention of Texas Rangers (led by Jeff Bridges as Marcus Hamilton) by staging a series of small-time bank robberies. Since the thefts are minor, the witnesses are few, and the proceeds are quickly laundered via casino chips, the duo seems to be faring well. But of course, in typical Hollywood fashion, Tanner is a bit of a hothead who starts taking needless risks that threaten the whole enterprise.