Thursday, March 28, 2013
Hey everyone! The Critical Condition is closed, but you can keep up with all my writing and filmmaking, plus contact me at markgblankenship.com.
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 11:57AMMonday, March 26, 2012
Hey everyone! Perhaps you noticed that I stopped updating The Critical Condition last month. I am delighted to say that my long pause is being followed by a great opportunity. As of today, I…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 04:47PMTuesday, February 21, 2012
No joke: The worldview in Warrior, the fighting movie that scored an Oscar nomination for Nick Nolte, makes me shiver. It’s terrifying. And I just wrote about why at NPR’s Monkey…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 11:02AMWednesday, February 15, 2012
You guys, Elizaveta’s music is weird. Her album Beatrix Runs, which was physically released yesterday after arriving in digital form a few weeks ago, fuses opera, chamber pop, and elec…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 01:31PMTuesday, February 14, 2012
You know how sometimes you feel like you’re in an actual, romantic relationship with a TV show? A few days ago, my friend Casey and I G-chatted about that, and we started thinking abou…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 03:25PMThursday, February 2, 2012
Last night, Pee-wee Herman was the guest judge on Top Chef. And I don’t mean that “Paul Reubens, the actor who plays Pee-wee Herman” was a guest judge. No. I mean that Paul…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 04:28PMWednesday, February 1, 2012
As I was making my daily internet rounds this morning, I came across an especially delightful essay in the New York Times by Leslie Kaufman. Titled “My Sons, the Sous-Chefs” it c…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 11:24AMThursday, January 26, 2012
I don’t have a particular reason for writing this post today, except that I’ve been meaning to write it for a while. In late 2010, I had the good fortune to see this embedded per…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 03:49PMMonday, January 23, 2012
The Oscar nominations are being announced tomorrow morning, and unlike most recent years, I’m not really jazzed about the frontrunners. I mean, I liked The Artist well enough, and I di…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 06:33AMThursday, January 19, 2012
Last night, while I was waiting for Top Chef, I decided to watch Devil on HBO On Demand. In case you don’t know this masterpiece, it’s mostly set in the elevator of a Philadelphi…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 03:06PMWednesday, January 18, 2012
It’s not just that I’m a Wikipedia junkie. It’s more than that. Although I am a Wikipedia junkie. At 12:07 this morning, I reflexively went to the site to look up some rand…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 11:09AMTuesday, January 17, 2012
[#40-31; #30-21; #20-11] [Last year's countdown] Here they are: The best of the best, the most of the most, the… you know. 10. “Countdown” by Beyonce As a nation, I still d…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 02:39PM[#40-31] [Last year's countdown] Welcome back! Let’s keep things rolling with some very, very cute boys. Oh, and some good songs, too… 30. “I Won’t Let You Go” by James Morrison Oo…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 12:26PMSaturday, January 14, 2012
Hey everyone! As you may have noticed, all of the content is back on the site. WOOOOO! The only things are missing are the three most recent posts—the last three entries in my music co…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 09:28AMFriday, January 13, 2012
Hi everyone! First of all, I want to thank you all for your incredible emails of support regarding the sudden disappearance of posts from the site. I am flummoxed that they are still appeari…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 11:44AMThursday, January 12, 2012
Hello everyone. For no apparent reason, my site crashed today, deleting every post I’ve written in the last 18 months. All of them. Gone. I will keep you updated about what this means …
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 03:35PM[#20-11; #30-21; #40-31] [Last year's countdown] The time has come… the time to get down with our baddest selves, to weep our most beautiful tears. It’s time to unveil the year&#…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 01:53AMWednesday, January 11, 2012
[#30-21; #40-31] [Last year's countdown] The countdown continues! Get ready for some devastating ballads and a few happy songs that are so happy you’ll probably freak with all the happ…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 12:26PMTuesday, January 10, 2012
[#40-31] [Last Year's Countdown] —- Welcome back! Let’s keep things rolling with some very, very cute boys. Oh, and some good songs, too… 30. “I Won’t Let You G…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 04:13PMMonday, January 9, 2012
Now that I’ve absorbed the music I bought with Christmas gift cards, I am ready to anoint my top 40 songs of 2011. As you know, this countdown is mandated by my DNA, so I am delighted …
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 04:39PMTuesday, December 20, 2011
My official music round up will come in early January, after I sort through the albums I get for Christmas. For now, though, I have call your attention to a pair of phenomenal new songs and …
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 11:06PMYoung Adult was a happy upheaval of my presumed taste in movies. Typically, I think of myself as someone who dislikes bone-deep cynicism, who finds it cheap and lazy. Yet the cynicism in You…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 12:03PMFriday, December 16, 2011
Over at Monkey See, I just explained why I’m all in on the Rock of Ages trailer. I truly believe this is going to be an amazing movie. The wigs alone will be worth the price of popcorn…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 02:26PMWednesday, December 14, 2011
So… The Artist: It’s a lovely silent movie about silent movies themselves, following George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a superstar who’s distressed to realize he has no plac…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 12:45PMTuesday, December 13, 2011
There was never a chance I was going to enjoy the movie Shame, but I was hoping I’d at least respect it. In case you haven’t heard, Shame is the NC-17 tale of Brandon Sullivan (M…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 02:16PMThursday, December 8, 2011
This week, two tiny tempests have been created by two holiday carols, and both dustups teach the same lesson. On Monday, news broke that a music teacher at a Michigan elementary school had s…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 12:07PMWednesday, December 7, 2011
This weekend, the New York Times Magazine will publish its Hollywood Issue, and the content went online early this morning. I’m pleased to say that I’m part of a fun “year …
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 12:02PMMonday, December 5, 2011
I took deep breaths, counted to ten, and even slept on it… and Justin Bieber and Mariah Carey’s remake of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” still makes me angry. So…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 04:01PMFriday, December 2, 2011
Recently, my mom mailed me some odds and ends from my childhood—old photos, favorite books, bits of writing, etc. Imagine my amazement when I uncovered “Cinderella in ’88,&…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 03:41PMThursday, December 1, 2011
Hello everyone! Forgive my lengthy absence. Life has gotten wild recently. But I’m back today with Roommate Joe to discuss last night’s announcement of the Grammy nominees. Take …
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 11:19AMFriday, November 4, 2011
You all know that I love Beyonce’s music and that “Countdown” is a particularly beloved jam. That’s why I’ve been concerned by the lackluster sales of her recen…
SOURCE: The Critical Condition at 03:55PM 
