David Luhrssen lectured at UW-Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and Milwaukee Area Technical College. He is author of Secret Societies and Clubs in American History, Mamoulian: Life on Stage and Screen, Hammer of the Gods: Thule Society and the Birth of Nazism, and coauthor of The Encyclopedia of Classic Rock, Brick Through the Window: An Oral History of Punk Rock, New Wave and Noise in Milwaukee, War on the Silver Screen, Elvis Presley: Reluctant Rebel, A Time of Paradox: America Since 1890, and Searching for Rock and Roll. He has contributed to the American National Biography Online, the Grove Dictionary of American Music and 100 People Who Changed 20th-Century America and has been published in Historically Speaking, History Today, the Journal of American History, and other journals. Luhrssen co-founded the Milwaukee International Film Festival, is a regular contributor to WUWM’s “Lake Effect” program and Arts & Entertainment Editor of Milwaukee’s weekly newspaper, the ShepherdExpress.
Terrence McNally wrote thescreenplay for Frankie and Johnny (1991), drawing it from his 1987 off-Broadwayproduction, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune . With the help of directorGarry Marshall ( Pretty Woman ), McNally transformed a two-..more
While some of the imagery in mother! is compelling, director Darren Aronofsky falls into the trap of contemporary horror directors for whom enough is never enough and subtlety is sacrificed for visual overkill. more
On their debut album, Loé Loá: Rural Recordings Under the Mango Tree, Betsayda Machado & La Parranda El Clavo brings a big cohort of drums, maybe even hollow tree trunks, to bare on their declamatory songs, and powerfully voiced singer Bets...more
Despite a long running time and a profusion of baroque horror visuals, It is an effective adaptation of Stephen King focused on a band of outsider kids forced to confront their fears.more
Britain’s long-running folk-rock band, Fairport Convention, released a box-set covering the band’s best years. Come All Ye: The First Ten Years is a well-selected collection of familiar studio tracks, outtakes and illuminating live performa...more
Although she earned a solidreputation in theater and worked in 52 films, several hits among them, AnneBancroft stands out in many minds for one role in particular. In The Graduate (1967), she played Mrs. Robinson, the sexy and..more
Frank Sinatra was still in his peakyears, a couple decades before time began to collect its inevitable chargesagainst his voice, at his 1962 concert in the Royal Festival Hall. Royalty waspresent, but all eyes were on the perf..more
On Flying Carpet, the German world music ensemble Quadro Nuevo collaborate with Cairo Steps, a German jazz band, on an album that explores the music of the Middle East.more
The Milwaukee Short Film Festival, located this year at the Fox Bay Cinema Grill, offers two days of films 15 minutes or less in length. The selections are from all over the world but include many minority and women directors from Milwaukee...more
The first American death in the conflict that grew into the Vietnam War was, in the words of Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns, “the result of a tragic misunderstanding." Lieut. Col. A PeterDewey was in Saigon in 1945 trying t..more
The essays in The Art of HorrorMovies chronicle the genre from its first stirring in the silent shorts ofGeorges Melies through the torture porn of the present day. But while the artof filmmaking and acting is alluded to, th..more
In Slight Exaggeration, poet Adam Zagajewski argues eloquently against the flat irony of postmodernism and for admiration and enthusiasm in the humanities.more
Whale Rider Film takes us to places we could never see and into lives we would never encounter. Niki Caro’s wondrous 2002 film Whale Rider does all that and more. Set in New Zealand amid the na,Home Movies / Out On Digitalmore
New biography of Mikhail Gorbachev, Gorbachev: His Life and Times, credits the Soviet leader as a visionary itching to transform the U.S.S.R. into a more democratic nation.more
The sequel to Al Gore’s Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, shows the growing danger of climate change. It also spends too much time on Gore.more
Recent Blu-ray and DVD releases include the Italian sex comedy-drama La Seduzione, a Hannah Arendt documentary, the lost German classic Variete and Emmy-winning performances by Harvey Korman on “The Carol Burnett Show."more
New American history books include an account of conflict between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, a biography of the man who crafted JFK’s legacy and an investigation into a little-known chapter in the campaign of conquest against Native Americans.more
Recently released on Blu-ray and DVD: In Country, A Tribute to Les Paul: Live from Universal Studios Hollywood, The Suspicious Death of a Minor and Sign Painters.more
Coming soon to a theater near you: Boo 2! A Madea Halloween, Geostorm, Mark Felt, Only the Brave, Same Kind of Different As Me, The Snowman and We’re Here for the Fish Fry!more
The Florida Project by director Sean Baker is a compelling depiction of skid row, circa 2017, that is sometimes hilarious but often sad and ultimately heartbreaking.more
Fifty impressive color-coded maps delineate everything from the population of venomous animals to linguistic diversity and the human fertility rate.more
In recent years, Kenosha has become an attractive destination for day trips with museums, restaurants, a charming downtown area and lakefront and other attractions.more
The 20th annual Milwaukee Jewish Film Festival features Jewish-themed films from many nations screened over one week at the Marcus North Shore Cinema.more
Iddo Landau hasn’t written a handbook for social change as much as a refutation of the apathy that can arise from anxiety over the possibility that individual lives are ultimately meaningless.more
Recently released on Blu-ray and DVD: Fireworks, a 1997 crime drama; The Treasure, a droll comedy on the human condition; Churchill and "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Johnny and Friends, The Complete Collection.”more
