It’s holiday season again, which means it’s time for one of my favorite traditions: Watching the 2003 film Love Actually with my wife, pretending not to like it, but actually enjoying myself. A crucial piece of this tradition is spending some time after the viewing breaking down just how ridiculous, creepy, and strange some of the movie’s nine…
CHRISTMAS CLASSICS CALENDAR 2013 – #1: “Jingle Cats” Okay…here’s the deal. I’m really not sure if anyone out there was anxiously waiting for this or not. But here it is. THE THIRD INSTALLMENT OF THE CHRISTMAS CLASSICS COUNTDOWN! Er…make that “Calendar,” since, as faithful reader Tim Planert pointed out, I always count up. So, I…
Dear Readers, In 2012 we brought your attention to a unique musical project. Dutch instrumental indie band All Shall Be Well (And All Shall Be Well And All Manner Of Things Shall Be Well) sourced a short story from a fan of theirs and set out to write a piece of music based on the…
CHRISTMAS CLASSIC COUNTDOWN #1 – “Holidays Are Coming” Yes, friends and neighbors, the BTMN Christmas Classic Countdown is back…and off to a late start from day 1. I hope you can overlook my tardiness and still enjoy the month to come, as I feature 25 songs and poems from Christmas films and television specials throughout…
Those of you who followed my “100 Film Favorites Countdown” may remember that the posts were updated versions of mini-reviews which originally appeared on my “Facebook pseudo-blog,” Brian Terrill Movie Night. That page in turn initially grew out of a Phi Mu Alpha fraternity event of the same name, which the brothers instituted just to…
To celebrate our fifth birthday, each Earn This contributor is selecting his five favorite things from the past five years. Here are Kevin’s picks (all related to trends in animated movies). 5. Charming Comic-Relief Characters My list will be all things animated, and something that has impressed me over the past five years is all the…
I would love to appear reasonable about a Christopher Nolan movie. Nolan discussions so easily sink into Scalding-Hot Takes (especially when his fanboys do things like ‘make Interstellar the #12 (!) movie of all-time on IMDB’), and having a strong opinion on him can look like either blindly following the silly sheep or curmudgeonly marginalizing someone just…
To celebrate our fifth birthday, each Earn This contributor is selecting his five favorite things from the past five years. Here are Brian’s picks. 5. “Thneedville” – The Lorax soundtrack, John Powell (2012) God I love this song. I’ve mentioned previously how fiendishly difficult it is to produce a good, feature-length adaptation of a Dr. Seuss…
To celebrate our fifth birthday, each Earn This contributor is selecting his five favorite things from the past five years. Here are Grant’s picks. 5) Parks and Recreation The Office was good, but Parks and Rec was better. There’s not much new to be said about PnR, but for me, the biggest takeaway is how it’s possible…
To celebrate our fifth birthday, each Earn This contributor is selecting his five favorite things from the past five years.Here are Dan’s picks. 5. Community, Season 1 (2009-10) The #5 spot came down to two seasons of NBC sitcoms that aired during 2009-2010, starting within a week of each other: Parks and Rec, Season 2…