An Impetus To Live
By Matt Reischl
Posted December 2, 2008
Allow me to get off of the Pop Culture Pedestal for a second and retell one of the most moving and inspiring stories I've ever heard, from my drama professor Sid Homan. I hope that, upon reading it, you feel as ready to take on the world as I do. Read more...
Kanye West Doesn't Care About Hip-Hop
By Matt Reischl
Posted November 22, 2008
Imagine, if you will, reading this blog upside down, perhaps with the text colored bright red over a harsh yellow background. It’d be annoying, right? And it’d be a completely unnecessary distortion of your regular reading experience. Now, transfer that annoyance to your ears, and you’ll understand the frustration I realized upon listening to Kanye West’s new album 808s and Heartbreak. Read more...
The Study of a Transcendent Musical Experience
By Matt Reischl
Posted October 28, 2008
How much can change in three months? Your favorite Naples Daily News blogger began his junior year at the University of Florida, rushed a fraternity (I KNOW), and now often wakes up before 8:00 am. So the answer is: a lot can change. But some things remain constant. Most notably, my near-infinite love for the music of Ryan Adams and The Cardinals. Read more...
I Twittered a Hooters Waitress (And I Liked It)
By Matt Reischl
Posted August 2, 2008
The word “blog” has always sounded kind of gross, like the precursor sound to vomit. And for most blogs on the net (except for the ones on this fine newspaper’s website, of course!), that’s actually the case! But what about We The People of the short-attention span, “Generation-Youtube?” We don’t want to read another thousand-word indictment of Tim Kaine’s eyebrows or a tome about celebrity culture or even a blog about blogs. Except this one. Where are the concise Microblogs of the internet? Let me tell you about Twitter. Read more...
How “The Dark Knight” Made a Billion Dollars This Weekend and Will Become the Biggest Movie Ever of All Time
By Matt Reischl
Posted July 21, 2008
Currently, it’s number one on IMDB’s always-reliable Top 250. It smashed Spiderman 3’s previous record for opening-weekend box office gross. It’s already generating Oscar buzz, sequel buzz, and magic-tricks-involving-pencils buzz. So why haven’t you seen The Dark Knight, clearly the most important movie of all time? Read more...
New Crop of "Weeds" More Addictive Than Ever
By Matt Reischl
Posted July 14, 2008
With a fresh start in a new town, showrunner Jenji Kohan and the creative team behind Showtime’s “Weeds” have completely reinvigorated the show in its fourth season. What started as a suburban satire has grown to become so much more, at once a hilarious comedy and a fascinating character study with one of the best ensemble casts on television. Read more...
"Wall-E" will melt your heart and then recycle It
By Matt Reischl
Posted July 1, 2008
The other day I bought a newspaper at Publix and told the cashier I didn’t need a bag. When he didn’t hear me and put it in a plastic bag anyway, I didn’t think too much of it, because, what’s one more, right? But after seeing Pixar’s newest animated feature Wall-E, I’m starting to think that my decision to use that one plastic bag will one day destroy Earth as we know it. Read more...
I Know Why the Reality Show Reigns
By Matt Reischl
Posted June 25, 2008
For the past eight years or so I’ve been trying to figure out the root of this awful dry heaving I get when I flip channels. Though I’ve never had a doctor confirm the source, I’m pretty sure the heaves are caused by Every Reality Show Ever (including Game & Competition Shows With Outrageous Has-Been Hosts). You can forget WebMD, because this is a socio-medical breakthrough. Read more...
Why This Blog Is Sorta Useless (But Not Really)
By Matt Reischl
Posted June 18, 2008
I’ve decided that art criticism is useless. I fully understand that, for all intents and purposes, this perspective negates the purpose of my blog, but humor me. Even though I will probably still do it unconsciously, I am going to avoid hype, expectation, and other factors that shape my view of albums, TV shows, movies, and books. I give this phase a week. Read more...
Extended Play: A Summer Playlist
By Matt Reischl
Posted June 11, 2008
Top 40 music makes me nervous for the future of music, mostly, but also disappointed that the majority of people are missing out on some of the brilliant new albums that lesser-known artists have been putting out in the last month or so. It’s like how “Two and a Half Men” is the most popular comedy on television while “30 Rock” is ten times funnier with one-tenth of the viewership. Not that I’m bitter. Read more...
