Articles by James Kaelan
March 8, 2010
The Best Picture Wins Best Picture 22
My hope, in the end, is that the incessant hype around Avatar didn’t simply annoy voters until they voted against it, out of nothing more than spite.
February 2, 2010
The Magisterial Goal 25
Soccer broadcaster Ray Hudson values hyperbole over precision. His quips, spontaneous and unedited, conflating science and art, have gained him a reputation as one of the most notorious announcers in all of sports.
December 10, 2009
The Holy Trinity: Three Iraq War Films Define a New Apolitical Aesthetic 5
For the last five years, movies about America’s various Middle East conflicts have been, broadly speaking, polemical, didactic, and forgettable. Then came The Hurt Locker, The Messenger, and now Brothers.
November 24, 2009
The Death of the Absurd? 26
Laura van den Berg’s debut collection manages to establish an equilibrium between concept and poignancy. It doesn’t appear she trained to be a realist, but she may end up a champion of the movement.
November 13, 2009
Precious and Pain 4
Precious is much more than an exposé of poverty or an argument against government aid. It earns its optimism, if only because the labors necessary to achieve that hope are so awful.
