Chess – Spinning Platters

I have no idea what to make of Computer Chess. This is what’s good and bad about it.

Computer Chess is either a very smart movie that’s way over my head, or one of those movies that is trying to be very smart and missing the mark. It’s to its credit and detriment that I can’t tell. The film is shot by writer/director Andrew Bujalski in black and white, and is meant to look like an old VHS documentary. This effect fades in and out as needed, though, and like many mockumentaries, we start getting treated to standard camera angles and edits as the story calls for it. Continue reading “Film Review: Computer Chess”

I'm pretty sure this was the model of my first tape deck. That was a while ago, though. Could be wrong.

Getting my first tape deck was an amazing event in my life. I went from constantly living on the whim of the DJ to being able to program my own little radio station of my favorite songs. The one recorded-from-radio mixtape I listened to most often before it met its sad and sudden end at some point in the early 90s was a 60-minute cassette of songs recorded in 1985 off of a radio show called The British Top 30. This show was amazing because it played songs by bands I’d never heard of, and surely never would. And then some songs from bands I had heard of, but new songs! How exciting! Imagine being able to hear songs that magically appear from all the way around the world! Continue reading “Spinning Platters Picks Six: Gems from My British Top 30 Tape”