The Monthly Digest: September 2019

In August LARB reaffirmed its commitment to treat works of popular culture as seriously and as engagingly as we treat any other cultural product. Below you will find in-depth, challenging reviews of wide-release and independent films, essays on tales of wonder and Latin American music, retrospective appreciations of cult favorites and forgotten character actors, as well as two appreciations of Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Emily Nussbaum’s I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution. We are also happy to announce that LARB is the new home of Greil Marcus long-running column “Real Life Rock Top 10.” — LARB Editorial

A Television of Her Own: On Emily Nussbaum
Dear Television's Sarah Mesle considers Emily Nussbaum as a feminist critic and a chronicler of the televisual cult of seriousness.
Sarah MesleAug 30, 2019
- Dear Television
Year of the Werewolf
The werewolf was an apt figure for 1981, a moment when prominent commentators worried that many Americans had become too self-focused.
Andrew StrombeckAug 29, 2019
How to Write a Wondertale
Natasha Boyd considers the past and future of the fairy story.
Natasha BoydAug 25, 2019
High Visibility: Reexamining “Medium Cool” on Its 50th Anniversary
Piper French on the contemporary resonance of Haskell Wexler's "Medium Cool."
Piper FrenchAug 23, 2019
- Film
- Politics
Real Life Rock Top 10: August 2019
LARB is happy to announce that it will serve as the new home for “Real Life Rock Top 10,” a monthly column by cultural critic Greil Marcus.
Greil MarcusAug 23, 2019
The Dehumanizing Politics of Likability
Teow Lim Goh explores the traumas, injustices, and dehumanizing cruelty embedded in the culture and politics of likability.
Teow Lim GohAug 21, 2019
Unguilty Pleasures: On Emily Nussbaum’s “I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution”
Sophia Stewart finds a lot to like in “I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution” by Emily Nussbaum.
Sophia StewartAug 19, 2019
- Memoir & Essay
- Television
(Un)happy Partners: On Jazz and Independent Film
How American independent cinema learned improvisation from jazz.
Daniel FelsenthalAug 17, 2019
- Film
- Music
In the Room Where She Happens: On “Late Night”
Annie Berke examines “Late Night” in the contexts of writer-star Mindy Kaling’s public persona and the history of the woman in the writers’ room.
Annie BerkeAug 13, 2019
- Film
- Gender & Sexuality
Bongo Explosion: The Rebellious Dimension of Latin Music
Ilan Stavans and Alex Nava discuss the rhythmic, political, and spiritual dimensions of Latin American music.
Alex Nava, Ilan StavansAug 11, 2019
“The Lord of the Rings” as Lodestone: On Dome Karukoski’s “Tolkien”
The new biopic “Tolkien” is perhaps best understood as a prequel to “Lord of the Rings” — that is, to the film adaptations themselves.
Brian KennaAug 11, 2019
- Film
- SF
An Actor Lost in the Background
Andrew Fedorov considers the legacy of prolific Hollywood extra Robert G. Haines.
Andrew FedorovAug 9, 2019
- Film
- Nonfiction
Passion of the Zeitgeist: Judging the Relative Elevation of “Midsommar”
Scout Tafoya indicts the category of “elevated horror,” with a particular emphasis on writer-director Ari Aster’s latest, “Midsommar.”
Scout TafoyaAug 9, 2019
- Film
The Dead Girl Speaks: “Ophelia,” Reviewed
Ted Scheinman revisits “Hamlet” through the eyes of its heroine with “Ophelia,” a film adaptation from director Claire McCarthy and writer Semi Chellas.
Ted ScheinmanAug 4, 2019
- Film
- Gender & Sexuality