Uncle Crizzle Resurfaces

Back when our local newspaper, The News & Observer, was more of a going concern, I used to dig following the columns from Craig D. Lindsey. Lindsey, AKA Uncle Crizzle, had a keen eye for culture and finding overlooked treasures. When the paper let him go as part of broader cutbacks, I considered it a real setback to their coverage of the arts.1

I remember reading on Lindsey’s Tumblr around the time of this dismissal from the newspaper that he was going through a time of real struggle. This was right around the time that the nation was facing a particularly strong sense of outrage about the treatment of minorites by the authorities. He felt a lack of self-worth. The demand for those in his profession was abating (at least in the sense that they could find paying work). Frankly, I was worried about the guy.

About a month ago, I did some searches to see if Lindsey was actively publishing in some capacity. I wasn’t able to turn up much and I wondered where he ended up. Then, yesterday, when I was going through items I had starred in my feed reader, I came across a post in Paste Magazine from Lindsey about cult classic film The Last Dragon. I hadn’t previously heard of the film, but the piece was able to draw in my interest. Coming on the heels of the golden age of blaxploitation and the popularity of kung-fu and shameless in its use of an 80s pop tune from DeBarge, its hard not to appreciate its over-the-top celebration of now faded fascinations.2

The Last Dragon - Official Trailer (YouTube)

I’ve added The Last Dragon to my movie queue and I’m pleased to see Uncle Crizzle back in action.

  1. Some may take issue with my use of the phrase “the arts” here, because we tend to think that portains to disciplines like ballet or opera, but I don’t like to make distinctions between “pop culture” and just plain “culture.” These are all artifacts that make up our experiences. ↩︎

  2. Full disclosure, completely independently of this piece, I had listened to DeBarge’s “Rhythm Of The Night” earlier in the day, so perhap I was primed for this. ↩︎

Robert Rackley @mineinmono
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