Leigh M. Johnson

Sidney Lumet’s Perfect Tragedy

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Film, Film Reviews, Philosophy, Pop Culture/Film, Pop Culture/Film/Literature 2 Comments

I finally got around to watching Sidney Lumet’s critically-acclaimed 2007 film Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. Of course, Lumet really is one of the best of American directors, especially adept at manufacturing and sustaining cinematic tension, as is obvious from many of his previous films like 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, The…

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It’s not you. It’s your library…

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Dr. J's Lists, Philosophy, Pop Culture/Film, Pop Culture/Film/Literature 9 Comments

A few months ago, on the New York Times book-blog Paper Cuts, over 400 people reported what they believed to be their own personal “literary dealbreakers.” In a followup article (“Love Me, Love My Books”), Molly Flatt described the “dealbreaker book” as follows: “This book so deeply resonates with your soul that if a potential…

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Pères de Docteur

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy 11 Comments

There’s an interesting discussion over at Perverse Egalitarianism following a post entitled “Derrida and the Professors” in which the post’s author (Mikhail Emelianov) asks: Why is it that Derrida’s philosophy, after a quick and eventful love affair with American English departments and a rather scandalous world tour and a series of “live albums” (excuse my…

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R.I.P. Alexander Solzhenitsyn

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy, Politics Comments Off on R.I.P. Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Exiled Russian novelist, political activist and Nobel Prize for Literature winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn brought the horrors of the Soviet labor camps to the attention of the world in his 1973 The Gulag Archipelago. Solzhenitsyn’s criticism of the Soviet police state resulted in his exile for almost two decades, but he returned home to Russia in…

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Time-out

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Memphis Comments Off on Time-out

Apparently, Memphis is about halfway between Texas and Philaedelphia. Also, apparently, I am the hostess with the mostest. This week my apartment runneth over with friends on their way from one of those places to the other. So, please forgive my absence on this blog for the next couple of days. I’ll be back on…

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The Brain is a Kluge

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Philosophy 6 Comments

I just finished watching the documentary Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus by marine biologist and filmmaker Randy Olson. As it turns out, less than 50% of Americans believe in evolution. The most vocal opponents come from the Intelligent Design camp, organized chiefly by the Discovery Institute, who basically believe in a modernized form…

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The Coen Brothers’ Coin-Flip: amor fati or fait accompli ?

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Film, Pop Culture/Film, Pop Culture/Film/Literature 5 Comments

Last year’s Academy Award for Best Picture went to the Coen Brothers’ haunting film No Country for Old Men, based on the novel of the same name by (University of Tennessee alum) Cormac McCarthy. In one of the most important scenes– which actually occurs twice–the film’s murderous, mysterious, and thoroughly amoral antagonist, Anton Chigurh (Javier…

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Damn Your Eyes!

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Music 1 Comment

Here’s a little tune from The Man in Black to make you smile on a Friday. Nevermind that it’s an execution song. (Details, details.) As I’ve said before, I think God speaks to humanity through Johnny Cash. Maybe not in this song in particular… but I don’t pretend to know the mind of God.

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Sad Songs (Still) Say So Much

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Music Comments Off on Sad Songs (Still) Say So Much

[If you got here through a Google search for “sad songs”, you should read this first.] A while back on this blog, there was a great discussion about sad songs in response to one of my posts entitled “Sad Songs Say So Much.” I’ve been thinking about that again recently for a couple of reasons….

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American Politics, in a word…

June 9, 2024 Leigh M. Johnson Politics 1 Comment

I just dicovered the website Capitol Words, which provides an “at-a-glance view into the daily proceedings of the United States Congress through the simplest lens available.” What is the “simplest lens available” you may be asking yourself? Well, it’s really simple. Like, a single word. That’s right, for every day that Congress is in session,…

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