Articles by Matt Hanson
February 2, 2012
Nevermind Nostalgia: Twenty Years After Nirvana 13
Hearing that Nirvana’s Nevermind was 20 years old was kind of like seeing an old drinking buddy turn to Jesus in his autumn years. I was happy for him and everything, but I missed the old days when we shared the fortress of solitude.
November 18, 2011
Mythology, Men, and Coonskin Caps: On Michael Wallis’s David Crockett 8
David Crockett was romanticized in the same way that classic film stars, athletes, and politicians are, and for a similar reason — the legend is inextricably entwined with the actual human being. Not only is there no urgency to demystify, there’s almost no reason to. Sometimes the legend and the person are inextricable for perfectly good reasons.
August 22, 2011
The Canon Guard: Harold Bloom’s The Anatomy of Influence 23
Harold Bloom is not so much the judicious patriarch or brazen egomaniac as he is a grandmother – endlessly harried, fiercely loving, and relentlessly worried about the future of his brood.
August 3, 2011
Ecstatic Truth: Werner Herzog’s The Cave of Forgotten Dreams 6
You don’t have to question Herzog’s honesty in watching his films, though you might start to question his sanity.
July 8, 2011
Eye of the Beholder: Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life 23
Critical reaction to Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life has been decidedly garrulous. A vast majority of reviewers have invoked some kind of “higher” culture to signify the elusive mood or feeling it evokes.
August 30, 2010
Panache to Burn: Christopher Hitchens’ Hitch-22 3
Though we have just now learned that Hitch is dying, delving into his memoir many things are apparent, not the least of which the fact that the man has done some living. If anyone has the right to consider his time not wasted, it’s him.