Clapping After Moonrise: What Would Grem Say?

Wes Anderson’s latest indie dramedy “Moonrise Kingdom” had all his trademark bits: a well-to-do family in shambles, Bill Murray, Bill Murray in shambles, people in uniforms, a crate-digging soundtrack. I enjoyed it as much or more than the typical Anderson film, which is to say I enjoyed it a great deal. Still, I was a tad surprised when the people around me clapped at movie’s end.

My senior high school English teacher Chris “Grem” Gremillion taught me to moisturize, love Cyndi Lauper, and be wickedly inappropriate (i.e., I wish I could recall his Aaliyah jokes). He also taught me to NEVER clap at the end of a movie.

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Track Review: “Ruin” by Cat Power

Cat Power (photo by Stefano Giovannini)

This is the year of Fiona Apple’s return from creative exodus, if the blogs are to be believed. I have never been into her music, aside from “Criminal”, so I am skeptical. I bought Extraordinary Machine for a girlfriend when it came out, but that was a lifetime ago so I am fuzzy about the details.

Chan Marshall of Cat Power fame, now she is a different story. I love her music, specifically that smoky, raw, heartbreaking voice she possesses. She has not released an album of new, original work since 2006′s The Greatest. Her forthcoming album Sun, out Sept. 4 on Matador Records, is a revival I will gladly attend.

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