A phenomenal piece from our friend, Abby Farson Pratt, who asks what we do when we’re all monsters. We’re feeling pretty good about ourselves these days. We are doing a lot of smirking, a lot of finger-pointing, a lot of handing down of fatwas on Twitter. When we cut someone off in traffic or lie […]
From the Archives: Betrayal and Grace Over Frozen Turkey
It may be the single greatest Thanksgiving film ever made, yet Broadway Danny Rose is something of an anomaly in Woody Allen’s filmography. Released 1984, it came smack dab in the middle of his golden period (1977-1992), right after Zelig and just before The Purple Rose of Cairo, when Woody could do no wrong. His […]
Woody Allen, Walker Percy and “The Search”
“You suffer from despair,” Emma Stone tells Joaquin Phoenix’s character in the trailer for Woody Allen’s new movie, Irrational Man. “It was at this moment that my life came together,” Phoenix chimes in later via voiceover, “I’m Abe Lucas, I’ve had many experiences and now a unique one … This was the meaningful act I […]
Another Week Ends: Overrated Successes, Disappointing Babies, Nostalgia for Human Error, Impossible Repayment and Technocrat Baseball
1. William Deresiewicz’s clickbaity “Don’t Send Your Kid to the Ivy League” draws in high-achievers and their parents to, well, pull the rug out from under them. Apologies for the lengthy quotes, but it’s very good, ht MB: These enviable youngsters appear to be the winners in the race we have made of childhood. But the […]
Another Week Ends: New Atheism and the Church, Jonah Lehrer on Redemption, Empathy with Batman, Wiman’s Incarnational Faith, End-of-School-Year Mothers, Billy Joel, and Eurovision
1. First off, Larry Taunton at The Atlantic has spent the last few years working through the whole “New Atheist” thing from the perspective of traditional Christianity, in particular listening (!) expansively to many committed, thought-through atheists. A nice round-up of his observations appeared this past week, with lots of food for thought, ht EB: Slowly, a […]
May I Interject One Notion at This Juncture? Betrayal and Grace in Broadway Danny Rose
Broadway Danny Rose is something of an anomaly in Woody Allen’s filmography. Released 1984, it came smack dab in the middle of his golden period (1977-1992), right after Zelig and just before The Purple Rose of Cairo, when Woody could do no wrong. His increased confidence as an actor and filmmaker showed itself in his […]
Another Week Ends: More Pale King, Game of Thrones, Moonwalker, Manny Ramirez, Take The Money and Run
Happy Tax Day! We hope you’ve enjoyed this first week on the new site. We certainly have. Be sure to be in touch as you notice things/bugs, either via the form at the bottom of each post or info@mbird.com. Two small updates: 1. The glossary section will be returning soon-ish, but in rewritten form. In […]
Another Week Ends: U-Bending Happiness, South Park Religion, Charlie Sheen, Louie CK, Friday Night Lights
1. From one of the December issues of The Economist, some interesting findings about “Age and Happiness”. The main discovery being the “U-Bend” – i.e. the finding that people are happiest in their youth and old age, and least happy in between. The most relevant section for us has to do with “the death ambition” […]
Woody Allen on Faith, Media and Happiness
The NY Times interviewed Woody Allen about his new film You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, and he had some characteristically thought-provoking (and gloomy) things to say. Nothing we haven’t heard from him before, but nonetheless notable: Q. The ideas of psychic powers and past lives, or at least people who believe in them, […]
Tony Hale Controls the World! Mockingbird Interviews Buster Bluth
In July 2009, Mockingbird got the opportunity to sit down with actor Tony Hale, otherwise known as Buster Bluth from Arrested Development [AKA the greatest American sitcom since Seinfeld]. Tony was in town filming a movie and promoting his new online NBC comedy series CTRL. CTRL is made up of 10 five-minute episodes, with Tony […]
The Circle Is Complete: MJ + Woody + Brian Wilson + JC = Mbird Heaven
Words can’t really do this stuff justice. Enjoy:
Mockingbird at the Movies: ANTZ
The 1999 film ANTZ was Dreamworks’ entry into the computer animation market. They tried to get in on the market created by Pixar, but couldn’t equal the quality, neither of animation nor of storytelling. In any event, ANTZ is the story of Z (Woody Allen), a worker ant who isn’t happy with his lot in […]
