my careless contagion

**Spoiler alert. Do I need a spoiler alert for a film that's 25 years old? Sure, why not?** The Crow was released 25 years ago — 1994 — and quickly became a cult classic. The circumstances surrounding the filming and release of the film were fodder for theories that ranged from the mundane to the supernatural. The film franchise is clearly cursed, most notably accounting for Brandon Lee's accidental death. Yes, Lee died during filming. I'll steer away from the controversy involving the film and subsequent The Crow films as well. I want to talk about the theme of this movie — revenge.  I recently watched The Crow on Netflix and realized it had reached a milestone. It was now 25 years old. A quarter century! It feels like I watched this movie for the first time just yesterday. It's easy to see why it became a cult classic, revered for years by many a goth and emo kid. Originally a black-and-white comic, the theme of revenge is universal. Almost anyone can relate...

*If there's a band that sums up the way I feel about my 20+ year relationship that ended this year, that band is The Handsome Family. I don't know that I've ever heard a collection of songs that can trigger so much unhappiness in me.  You could describe this band as alternative country, gothic country, or a number of other sub-genres. I remember the night I found this band. I was perusing music on the internet because we'd had a fight and she went to her mom's house for the night. It was like my heart went and found the soundtrack for how I was feeling.  I could have picked a hundred different songs for this post, but this one was one of her favorites. I can't even describe how I feel about this failed relationship. It is one of the most disappointing things I've ever tried and failed at, endured, pumped life into, whatever you want to say. The Handsome Family is a husband and wife core (Brett and Rennie Sparks) with other musicians coming...

*"Can't Hardly Wait" by The Replacements. I love this song. It's grammatically incorrect, but that doesn't seem to bother me. It was included on the soundtrack of the 1998 movie of the same name starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. If you've watched a fair number of movies set in high school, you're aware of certain tropes that exist. There's one that I call "That Girl." You know the girl, the one the (usually) shy guy wants to be with. She's amazing; she's out of his league. She's that girl, the one he's pined for forever. She's the one who can elevate his life in ways he can't even imagine. It could change the whole course of his life if he could just get that girl. Somehow, mustering up the courage or doing whatever is necessary to get that girl would change him from being a loser who nobody knows into somebody. My "That Girl" got away, and I let her get away. The year was 1996. It was one of the most...