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Chelsea Spear

Chelsea Spear is returning to arts writing after spending a few years correcting other people’s grammar. Her byline has appeared at the Brattle Theatre’s Film Notes blog and in the pages of The Gay & Lesbian Review. She lives in Boston.

News archive

How <i>The Butcher Boy</i> Immortalized Sinead O’Connor's Spiritual Journey

Looking Back

How The Butcher Boy Immortalized Sinead O’Connor's Spiritual Journey

Aug 31st, 2023 Chelsea Spear

Neil Jordan’s collaboration with Sinead O’Connor is a lasting testament to their friendship and to the values in which she was most invested.

And You Don't Stop: <i>Style Wars</i>, <i>Wild Style</i>, and the Intersection of Graffiti and Hip Hop Culture

Looking Back

And You Don't Stop: Style Wars, Wild Style, and the Intersection of Graffiti and Hip Hop Culture

Aug 9th, 2023 Chelsea Spear

In the early days of hip hop, the nascent genre had a visual counterpart in graffiti culture. Just as the spare production and thick-to-the-point-of-distortion bass and drums of early rap singles cut through the dense, cocaine-trebly rock music of the 1970s, the large, colorful tags on NYC subways...

The Devil in Massachusetts: <i>Hocus Pocus</i> at 30

Happy Birthday

The Devil in Massachusetts: Hocus Pocus at 30

Jul 14th, 2023 Chelsea Spear

It's earned a perennial slot on spooky season TV broadcasts and special-event screenings. Here’s why the horror comedy might be a hard sell if you didn’t grow up watching it.

Classic Corner: <i>The Friends of Eddie Coyle</i>

Looking Back

Classic Corner: The Friends of Eddie Coyle

Jun 23rd, 2023 Chelsea Spear

Robert Mitchum turns in a late-career-best performance in Peter Yates's powerfully bleak Boston crime picture.

Looking Back

Making Movies With His Friend: The Outlaw Cinema of Willie Nelson & William D. Wittliff

Apr 27th, 2023 Chelsea Spear

Some of the singer-songwriter’s most substantial films were made with Wittliff, a fellow Texan who expanded upon the characters and stories in Nelson’s songs over three feature films.

Classic Corner: <i>The Boston Strangler</i>

Looking Back

Classic Corner: The Boston Strangler

Apr 7th, 2023 Chelsea Spear

Offered up alongside the new, female-fronted take on the true crime story, the 1968 'Boston Strangler' similarly reflects the moviemaking of its moment.

Looking Back

Burt Bacharach: The Movie Maestro

Mar 8th, 2023 Chelsea Spear

The recently departed composer's ability to set a mood through memorable melodies and canny vocal arrangements added to the timelessness and relatability of beloved feature films, while elevating some of the tackier basic-cable fare of the 1980s and beyond.

Looking Back

John Cale's Cinematic Underground

Feb 20th, 2023 Chelsea Spear

Cale's scores offer some insight into the development of his ideas, and should be viewed as an even more experimental facet of a peripatetic and engaging career.

Looking Back

Rock & Roll Ingenue: Diane Lane's Early Years

Jan 9th, 2023 Chelsea Spear

In 2010, Boston Globe film critic Janice Page described Diane Lane as “the closest thing we have today to Grace Kelly, with a chaser of Pat Benatar.” This may have seemed like a left-field comparison for Lane’s 21st-century renaissance as a leading lady. With her throaty voice and the...

Looking Back

Okay, Mr. Mix: The Early Work of Paul Thomas Anderson and Jon Brion

Dec 7th, 2022 Chelsea Spear

Musical polymath Jon Brion's solo album 'Meaninglessness' has been re-released, making this a good time to look back at his collaborations with Paul Thomas Anderson.

Movies

Nobody Does It Better: Carly Simon's Film Scores

Nov 30th, 2022 Chelsea Spear

Carly Simon's recent induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame confirms her singer/songwriter bona fides. But what of her film work?

Happy Birthday

Rabbit, Run: 8 Mile at 20

Nov 7th, 2022 Chelsea Spear

Eminem big-screen origin story - released 20 years ago - was a key step in the controversial artist's path to mainstream acceptance.

Looking Back

The Singing Scream Queen: Jessica Harper's Horror Movies

Oct 18th, 2022 Chelsea Spear

In the 1970s, character actress Jessica Harper starred in a pair of influential horror movies. Here's why horror fans hold her in such high esteem.

The Pre-<i>Moonage</i> Daydream of <i>Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars</i>

Looking Back

The Pre-Moonage Daydream of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Sep 20th, 2022 Chelsea Spear

The D.A. Pennebaker-directed concert film, which languished in post-production for nearly a decade, offers up a rough but fascinating look at David Bowie in his prime.

Looking Back

The Pivotal Partnership of Drew Barrymore and Tamra Davis

Aug 3rd, 2022 Chelsea Spear

With three collaborations (and another near-miss), the actor and the filmmaker teamed up at key points in both of their careers.

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