As the first original series produced by Netflix, House of Cards has provoked a lot of discussion about the future of television creation, the ideal method and timing for releasing episodes, and the increasing number of movie stars jumping to the small screen. That’s all well and good…but is the show ultimately effective? The answer,…
Conor Oberst is 34?! No part of that makes sense, and I’m not even sure why. Given that his first major album (as Bright Eyes) came out the same year as Michael Jordan’s last championship, you’d certainly be forgiven for assuming he’s old enough to run for president. On the other hand, 34—with all the marriages…
What is the most pervasive, systematic flaw in mainstream movies and television? What’s the common thread? Everyone bemoans Hollywood’s over-reliance on existing source material. We criticize the general soullessness of many movies, the predictably sophomoric humor of many sitcoms, the disaster porn in action movies. I think the biggest problem is none of those, and it…
As most music fans know, rock music is hardly the most popular kid at the table these days. Yet even while rock as a whole has lost some of its prominence in our culture, one strand has recently flourished : pop-emo, a ’90s/2000s movement that crystallizes the transformation of emo from Rites of Spring’s thrashing…
When I was a kid, precious few things made me as happy as stumbling upon Mrs. Doubtfire on TV. No matter what I was doing or where it was, I would always plop down and watch it til the end; I’ve probably seen the first act twice and the ending 12 or 13 times. And…
Sometimes, even our biggest heroes falter. Below is a list of bad songs by our favorite artists. Whether they’re disappointing, dull, or downright disastrous, these twenty tracks remind us of that lesson Billy Wilder taught us so many years ago. As always, we’ve included a Spotify playlist so you can listen as you read. Enjoy! (Or,…
Grant and I have written fairly extensively about Green Day in the past, so we decided to devote our second podcast together to ranking our top five Green Day albums. Both of us surprised each other with our picks. Whether you’re a fan or a newbie to the band, join us as we break down…
I can’t lie—I’ve been accused of wallowing in depressing music more than is probably healthy for a (moderately) well-adjusted person. I consider myself both happy and positive (when I’m not reviewing a terrible movie), but my thirst for drama in music is often sated by tortured romanticism, sepulchral synths, self-paralyzing lyrics, the works. But it’s…
Here at EarnThis, we spend a lot of time praising great works of art. It’s safe to say that designation will not be reached by anything on this list of 10 films. However, I’m a firm believer that there is a particular subset of movies that, when stumbled upon late at night on TV, as…
(Do not read if you don’t want spoilers.) How I Met Your Mother concluded after 9 seasons last night with its all-time most-watched episode. And all those extra fans were, shall we say, not thrilled with the serpentine narration’s final twist. In an episode that provoked a text message from one of EarnThis’s founders that simply stated…