The Max-List: A New Beginning

So, as you can see, I have this nice new website as a place to showcase the writing I have done over the past few years. But, you're probably saying to yourself, "Max, aren't you still regularly writing about the absurd amount of film and television you consume on a weekly basis?" And you would be absolutely right!

Enter, The Max-List, a weekly collection of the most recent work I have published along with a rundown of the notable writing, film, music and television I am occupying my time with otherwise. Without further ado, lets get to the list

What I Published:

This week, I finally caught up with the third season of Fargo for Vox Magazine. Though it starts off rather cold, a combination of great performances and narrative experimentation have heated things up as it rolls into the finale on Wednesday. Also for Vox, I wrote about Kentucker Audley and Albert Birney' genuinely sweet indie film Sylvio, as well as Roger Michell's gothic Daphne Du Maurier adaptation My Cousin Rachel, both of which I enjoyed, for the most part.

What I'm Watching:

Aside from Sylvio and My Cousin Rachel, I was also able to catch Criterion's beautiful new 4K restoration of D.A. Pennebaker's 1967 concert doc Monterey Pop at Ragtag Cinema. As a kid who grew up listening to nothing but hits from the 60's and 70's, I was blown away by the performances Pennebaker captured from performers such as Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix and The Animals, along with Ravi Shankar and Janis Joplin. In a crowd of people who were old enough to have been at the original Monterey Pop Festival, it was a theater going experience I won't forget anytime soon. It also landed right in the middle of Saturday double feature that included a brunch viewing of Rio Bravo and a late night viewing of Agnes Varda's French New Wave classic, Cleo from 5 to 7.

Recommended Reading:

• Lindsay Zoladz continues to produce excellent features for The Ringer about women in the director's chair. This week it is with her profile of Lucia Aniello, who is the first woman to helm a studio comedy since 1998.

• Apparently The Book of Henry is an incomprehensible mess of a film. In a summer that has already seen a fair share of bombs at the box office, this shouldn't be notable. Instead it was a passion project from Colin Trevorrow, who is the directing next mainline Star Wars film. Here's Emily Yoshida opening and exploring that can of worms to fullest extent for Vulture.

• Original bad boy of the theatre world, William Shakespeare, ruffled more than a few feathers this week with the New York City Public Theater's staging of Julius Caesar, which modeled the depiction of its title character after the image of the president. Vox's Alissa Wilkinson wrote a fantastic piece about the corporate backlash, losing the play's meaning in the outrage and the lasting importance of public theater.

• I have also been enjoying Roger Ebert's Two Week's in the Midday Sun, which details his various memories and experiences at the Cannes Film Festival, and A.O. Scott's Better Living Through Criticism, which inadvertently contains an accurate portrait of who I am as a critic.

That about does it for this week. If you want to stay up to date with what I am watching, reading and generally thinking about, you can follow me on Twitter at @MaxHavey or over on Letterboxd!