BRAD WEISMANN

From EnCompass Magazine: I write about swing dancing in Denver

2011-12-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

Lovely! Thanks so much to the kind folks at EnCompass for commissioning and running this feature story from me on the swing-dance revival scene in Denver -- in their Jan./Feb. 2012 issue.

12 Daze: One dozen despicable Xmas entertainments (Part 3)

2011-12-25T13:12:00.002-07:00

Now you're saying: "OK, smartass. Is there ANY Christmas-themed cultural event that doesn't work your last nerve?" Yes. There are three. Not surprisingly, all three are funny. The humor not only lets in the welcome contrast of cynicism in, it leavens the deadly-serious sentiments encoded in their holiday DNA. You can play these over and over and over -- I will never tire of them! They are "A

12 Daze: A dozen or so despicable Xmas entertainments (Part 2)

2011-12-24T14:43:00.004-07:00

And our countdown continues . . . as we move into the heart of darkness. You know, it's not that I don't value love, kindness, faith, and redemption. I treasure them. But when you fetishize any values and work them and work them and work them, they ossify. They sour. They become shorthand for real feelings. Then they take their place entirely. That's when they become despicable. 8. "The Gift of

12 Daze: a (baker's) dozen despicable Xmas entertainments (Part 1)

2011-12-23T11:58:00.002-07:00

More traumatizing events happen during the Yuletide season than any other. In my family it’s referred to warily as the Holiday of Guilt and Shame. Still, the crushing rush of Christmas is so culturally pervasive that you can’t escape the traditional holiday entertainments that dragoon your children, force your attendance or attention, make your teeth grind and exhaust all remaining reserves of

Great opera villains, Part Two

2011-11-22T12:23:00.000-07:00

Edouard de Reszke as Mephistopheles in Gounod's "Faust" -- the Devil gets all the good tunes. With the chill in the air, opera season is here, and I’ve been looking at the juicy parts the typical operatic villain gets to sing. While it’s perceived as a pastime for the rich, most of its history saw opera as an opiate of the people. Yep, common folk would flock to see these larger-than-life

The sky’s the limit: new book offers penetrating look at air safety

2011-11-14T12:46:00.001-07:00

Why Planes Crash: An Accident Investigator’s Fight for Safe SkiesBy David Soucie with Ozzie Cheek221 pgs., Skyhorse Publishing Straight out, I need to make an admission – I went to high school with the author. No pressure, right? I have been reviewing books, and a vast variety of work in other media, for two decades now. When I found out that a former classmate had written a book, I requested a

Canon fire: the passions of Pauline Kael

2011-10-25T13:00:00.001-06:00

The Age of Movies: Selected Writings of Pauline KaelEdited by Sanford Schwartz828 pgs., Library of America Pauline Kael makes me so mad. Yes, in the present tense. The brilliant, renegade film critic still pisses me off, 20 years after she stopped writing and 10 years after death. I grew up reading her, frequently flinging my copy of The New Yorker across the room . . . then retrieving it and

Who was Norman Corwin? The beauty of radio drama

2011-10-19T11:48:00.002-06:00

I've been curating the obituaries of significant and interesting lives for more than a year now. I haven't been moved to hold one life up to the light until now. Norman Corwin died yesterday at the age of 101. Sixty years ago, he was one of the most celebrated voices in America. Ten years after that, the medium he made his name in was extinct. The world of radio as mainstream entertainment for

Badass bass/baritones: the lure of the great opera villains, Part One

2011-09-23T13:17:00.008-06:00

Tito Gobbi as Rigoletto: a jester with an agenda. I love to sing. Ask around; a lot of bystanders have been injured in the process. There’s something thrilling about carrying a tune, whether or not you’re particularly good at it. After high-school choir and a little musical theater, though, I was done as a singer. I still love to listen, though – especially opera. Why? Maybe it’s the fact that

Review: Alan Arkin’s “An Improvised Life”

2011-07-27T15:28:00.001-06:00

An Improvised LifeAlan ArkinDa Capo Press, 2011 This is not a critical review. This is not analysis. It’s excessive gushing followed by extensive quoting. Hope that works for you. I’ve idolized Alan Arkin all my life. First, he made me laugh until I hurt in “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming!” Then he scared the crap out of me in “Wait Until Dark.” Then he made me cry in “The

Life imitates comedy: Murdoch and ‘Pravda’

2011-07-19T09:10:00.001-06:00

“It always seemed strange to me that the things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first, they love the produce of the second.”

Kicks and grins: CSF’s raucous ‘Comedy of Errors’

2011-07-15T14:25:00.000-06:00

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From Russia with laughs: ‘Inspector General’ shines at CSF

2011-07-13T16:23:00.001-06:00

Khlestakov (Stephen Wright) accepts a "loan" from the Mayor (Gary Alan Wright) in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival's production of "The Inspector General." [Photo by Patrick Campbell/CU Communications] Greed! Corruption! Lust! Lies! Stupidity! No, it’s not a new reality show. It’s an OLD reality show, and it’s still true to life. Nikolai Gogol’s 1836 comic play, “The Inspector General,” is

Wish upon a star: CSF’s ‘Little Prince’

2011-07-06T11:36:00.000-06:00

Back to basics works in CSF’s “Romeo and Juliet”

2011-07-01T08:29:00.001-06:00

Jamie Ann Romero and Ben Bonenfant in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival's production of "Romeo and Juliet." [Photo by Glen Asakawa for CU Communications] The Colorado Shakespeare Festival's troupe needs a hit. Like action heroes with their backs against the wall, they pull off a miracle – a straightforward, involving production of “Romeo and Juliet.” CSF’s production of “R & J” doesn’t mess

New from me at "Senses of Cinema": Examining Nicholas Ray's "Knock on Any Door"

2011-06-25T09:02:00.001-06:00

Did you know Bogart and Brando almost co-starred in this early noir by Nicholas Ray? I look at a flawed movie that helped Ray prepare for his masterpiece, "Rebel Without a Cause," and that eerily presaged the cultural shift in consciousness that became America's Generation Gap. Thanks to Senses of Cinema for the opportunity to talk about this painfully awkward yet important and overlooked work.

Jayme Stone assimilates new rhythms in “Room of Wonders”

2011-04-22T16:25:00.001-06:00

Jayme Stone creates, but he also excavates, building on patterns of the past and pushing them into the future. A banjo player, he’s strongly grounded in the traditional, acoustic North American sound patterns. But he uses music to travel the world. 16 years into his career as a composer and player, he maintains an inquisitive insistence in all aspects of his life that leads him from project to

Midget Wrestling: A Pilgrimage

2011-04-06T12:25:00.000-06:00

Social Media Director: Boulder International Film Festival

2011-03-05T18:15:00.001-07:00

I (right) lead the Q & A with visiting director Thomas Sem Løkke-Sørensen ("The Unhappy Woman"). [Photo by Randy Malone] Here is a link to my work this year as the Social Media Director of the Boulder International Film Festival. We had a lot of fun sharing information with our ever-widening audience, both attendees and those joining in from around the world. As usual, I was up there

High Art in Low Places: Classics on the Discount Rack

2011-01-13T12:25:00.003-07:00

What becomes a legend most? What about the bargain bin? Cultural artifacts are often held over our heads, beginning in childhood and on through our life spans. These creative touchstones, supposed founts of meaning and common underpinnings of Western civilization, are touted as semi-sacred objects, to be admired, if not worshipped. Once upon a time, everyone was schooled in them. For better

New story for EnCompass: "Denver dazzles with nocturnal delights"

2011-01-02T09:49:00.000-07:00

The folks at EnCompass magazine, the regional publication of AAA, kindly used my story about Denver nightlife in their current edition. I had a lot of fun writing it -- thanks!

From the archives: Have a Rankin/Bass Christmas!

2010-12-03T08:41:00.003-07:00

Hey! Now that the holidays are here, it's time to dwell on the true purpose of Christmas -- watching the usual Xmas shows, especially the garish, stop-motion parade of Rankin/Bass holiday specials! Whether they haunted your childhood dreams or annoy your offspring today, they are a vital part of the season. Let's stroll down Memory Lane in this story from 2009 --

Senior discount: life ends at 50

2010-10-05T11:27:00.002-06:00

“I don't know who you are, I don't want to know. It's taken me my whole life to find out who I am, and I'm tired now, you hear what I'm saying?”-- Ossie Davis as Marshall in “Joe Versus the Volcano” I was walking past a window in my house last night and I yelled to my wife, “Hey! There’s a creepy old man out there! He’s staring at me! I’m scared!” “Oh, crap. It’s a mirror.” What happened? Where

AARRRR!!! Best pirate films, in honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day

2010-09-17T20:06:00.001-06:00

Last year, I wrote a lengthy three-part survey of the pirate-film subgenre for Dscriber.com. I found that I had never posted it here, and since International Talk Like a Pirate Day arrives on Sunday . . . well, here you go! Part One Part Two Part Three

Hilarious Heroes: 10 Top Comedic Influences

2010-09-03T19:00:00.167-06:00

To quote Jack Benny: "There will now be a slight pause while you say 'Who cares?'" It's a list that sprang unbidden into my petite cranium as I was doing research into vaudeville. Until I started plowing through that information, I hadn't realized how much comedy heritage (and stolen material) has been passed down from one medium to the next medium through the last 200 years of American history.