Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Twenty Feet From Stardom (2013)

IMDB
Twenty Feet From Stardom (2013): Oscar-winning look at anonymous backup singers behind the hits. A+ music. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. B-












Monday, April 14, 2014

Bait and Switch in Southwest Richardson

The bait was appealing when dangled in front of stakeholders in southwest Richardson four years ago when community meetings were held on redevelopment of the West Spring Valley Corridor:

Catalyst 2
The future vision for this collection of properties includes a new mixed-use environment on the full block. Building faces could be established on James Drive, Floyd Road and US 75, giving the development a distinct, unified architectural character on all visible frontages. The land use mix of the new development could include ground floor retail and office with residential uses above.

That was the bait. After the jump, the switch.

Friday, April 11, 2014

Stories We Tell (2012)

IMDB
Stories We Tell (2012): Daughter interviews her siblings, father and dead mother's possible lovers. A complex but very functional family. B-












Thursday, April 10, 2014

Mitt (2014)

IMDB
Mitt (2014): Behind the scenes look at candidate and family in 2008 and 2012. Public Mitt is no act. Private Mitt doesn't get it, either. B-












Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Review: Double Down

Double Down
Amazon
From Double Down, by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann:
Open quote 

On election night, when Mitt called the president to concede, he had congratulated Obama for his side's turnout efforts -- specifically expressing his own team's astonishment at the numbers in Cleveland and Milwaukee, where African American participation was off the charts. When Obama related Romney's comment to Axelrod, Messina, and Plouffe, they all had the same bemused reaction. What Boston was saying, in effect, was, Holy cow, where did all these mysterious minorities come from?"

"Big Boy [Chris Christie]'s sense of where the real fault lay was crystal clear: with the clowns on Commercial Street. On the phone with Ryan two days after the election, Christie listened while Fishconsin [Ryan] talked about how he, too, had been certain that he and Mitt were headed for the White House. 'On election morning,' Ryan said, 'they told me and my wife we were going to win.' 'Well, that just shows how shitty they were,' Christie harrumphed."

After the jump, my review.