STAGING | Erstwhile Flâneur, Philosopher

Reading Slowly: “War and Peace”

Why reading slowly, especially War and Peace, should be practiced with solicitude, so as to fully appreciate the journey reading is.

2020-08-09
On Literature, Books Faves

Read Viewed Consumed 2020-07

The books and films that I read and viewed during the month of July 2020, including The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Brief Encounter, and others.

2020-08-02
Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

Hither hocus pocus?

On the phrase “hocus pocus,” from Marina Warner’s essay “Spellbound” on the book Drawing Down The Moon

2020-07-19
On Ideas, Concepts, Intuitions

The Genius of Ozu’s “Good Morning” (1959)

Children in Good Morning protest social mores because they fail to appreciate the rules governing the relations of families and neighbors.

2020-07-14
Faves On Film, Movies, Cinema Viewing Journal

Read Viewed Consumed 2020-06

George Floyd was killed | among twenty snowy mountains | the only moving thing was the eye of the blackbird | what I read was this

2020-07-05
Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

What is a flâneur?

An explanation of the cryptic subtitle of my site, namely, that I am an erstwhile flâneur.

2020-06-28
Faves On Ideas, Concepts, Intuitions

Is Writing About Bad Movies a Waste?

In which I performatively answer the question with reference to an episode of The Mandalorian, whether one should write about bad movies/televisions shows.

2020-06-20
On Film, Movies, Cinema Confessions of a Bad Movie Watcher

Willa Cather’s “Death Comes for the Archbishop”

A novel of religious devotion genuinely spiritual without falling into the mirthless repetition of ecclesiastical doctrine

2020-06-11
On Literature, Books Reading Journal

Read Viewed Consumed 2020-05

During the unhappy month of May 2020 I read and viewed perhaps less than I have for some time because I had no time …

2020-06-06
Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

Read Viewed Consumed 2020-04

ONE MAN testifies to his unquenchable virility by spending late hours in bed reading and watching movies.

2020-05-09
Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

Notes on Lampedusa’s novel “The Leopard”

Idle reflections on The Leopard, by Giuseppe de Lampedusa, which narrates several events in the life and afterlife of a 19th-century Sicilian noble

2020-04-23
On Literature, Books Reading Journal

Consumption, March 2020

Amidst the struggles of the era of COVID, one man kept consuming films and books … valiantly.

2020-04-08
Monthly Reading, Viewing Report

Joanna Hogg’s “Unrelated” (2007): The Desire to Belong

Reflections on an early film by the British film director Joanna Hogg, which I viewed in preparation for seeing The Souvenir (2019).

2020-04-05
On Film, Movies, Cinema Viewing Journal

COVID Information Compulsion

Early in the 2020 COVID pandemic, we “hunkered down” with our phones and devices, pathologically seeking information to momentarily pacify our data-addled souls.

2020-03-22
On Ideas, Concepts, Intuitions

COVID Diary: Historical Ruptures

An elliptical reflection on the ruptures in time and history.

2020-03-19
On Ideas, Concepts, Intuitions