2023: A Final Farewell to Some Irreplaceable Icons
Sean MurphyWow, it's sad to look back and see the sheer number of all-times greats we watched depart our planet this year. Of course, these losses are invariably mitigated by the…
Scorsese’s Stations of the Cross: ‘Mean Streets’ at 50
"Don't you have something you really want to do?" Eternal props to John Cassavetes, mentor not only to Martin Scorsese, but innumerable other apprentices who carried his torch and elevated…
Football and American Faith
Lots of well-deserved buzz surrounding this timely and important story by Dave Sheinin (read via the Washington Post here and more from the series here and here). This entire triumph…
Original Poem: Albert Ayler’s Vision
If it’s true a picture is worth a thousand words, this particular image seems able to conjure up entire books, libraries filled with stories of pain and pathos, apathy and…
1455 PRESENTS: A CONVERSATION WITH STEPHEN P. KIERNAN, AUTHOR OF ‘THE GLASS CHATEAU’
It's always a special joy to welcome writers back into the 1455 program schedule! This, to be certain, was not my first rodeo with the wonderful author Stephen Kiernan; we…
Like a Hurricane: The Brilliance of Billy Friedkin’s Burned Bridges
Boy does it hurt to admit William Friedkin was mortal after all. It didn't seem like he'd ever die; he was so demonstrably in love with life, his art, and…
William Dowd, RIP–and some thoughts about the harpsichord (Revisited)
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA (From Dec 6, 2008.) A life well spent? That’s the goal, isn’t it? For any of us. Not necessarily to be enshrined in a newspaper’s obituary (although few people…
The American System’s Dark Heart: Serpico at 50
Look at that dude. Pacino, clean-shaven and short-haired as the movie begins, sports the best ‘stache of the decade, then goes goatee, then gets full facial (hair and head), all…
Moby Dick, Martin Scorsese, and Making a Literary Life
Image courtesy of The New Yorker November 14, 1851 Quick, literary folks: why is this date important? Hint: Call Me Ishmael. Yes, on this day 172 years ago, Herman Melville…
Hipgnosis is the Gift that Keeps Giving
The image above --no matter how immediately recognizable or important it happens to be to you-- is more significant than you may realize. If you don't know it, or understand…