Return with me to 1978. 30 years ago - it doesn't seem that long. Back then, the "horror movie" of today did not exist. There were, instead, "monster movies." This broad category encompassed everything from the old Universal classics (Dracula, ...
Generally speaking, no one talks about Top 10 lists until the November/December timeframe. While that makes sense for annual (January-December) lists, there's no reason not to take a snapshot of an evolving Top 10 list any time during the year, and ...
Did Sony Pictures "cave in"? The question, like so many others involving terrorists and terrorism, is more complicated than it might seem. True, there's no credible evidence to support the idea of a terrorist plot being prepared against theaters. ...
If you conduct an on-line search for one particular word, you will get an amazing array of responses. It's the "Orginal Hypertex Project." It's a language and translation wizard. It's a swingers club in Manchester. It's an undersea adventure ...
Some critics will argue that there is no such thing as a "guilty pleasure." Either you like a film or you don't like it. If you like it, there shouldn't be any "guilt" involved. While I understand that position, I think the term "guilty pleasure" ...
This isn't about the Bill Murray movie, but it uses the idea of the movie as a jumping-off point. The essence of Groundhog Day is simple: one day, lived over and over ad nauseum. With Groundhog Day, director Harold Ramis develops this premise to ...
Now that the Oscars have come and gone and I have had a few days to digest the experience, it's time for some random (although hopefully coherent) thoughts. To begin with, the 82nd Academy Awards validated something I have been arguing for some time...
In Oliver Stone's Wall Street, Gordon Gecko famously said, "Greed is Good." It's a mantra we in the United States have been living by for the better part of three decades, and it's part of the reason the current recession is as deep as it is. ...
In recent weeks, the rhetoric surrounding the high-def DVD format war has escalated to a new level. This is in part the result of two high-profile Internet "personalities" taking opposite sides. By throwing his full (and considerable) weight behind...
Time for another MPAA-related rant. Maybe I should dedicate one day a week to an anti-MPAA ReelThought.Last week, I saw Broken Flowers, the lastest Jim Jarmusch film. The MPAA has given it a justifiable R-rating. That's not what this column is ...
10 of the worst 2017 had to offer...
January is a painfully slow month for movie critics. After the frenzy of December, it can be considered a relief, but the fall-off is almost too sudden and dramatic. It's easy to get into a pattern of seeing four or five movies a week and writing ...
One year when I was a kid, I tried to give up TV for Lent. I got through about three days then had to amend the abstention to exclude a number of beloved programs. I'm no longer a practicing Catholic and I realize one doesn't give up things for ...
In the United States, today is Thanksgiving. Historically, the holiday commemorates a feast that occurred to mark the first successful harvest in the United States, and the peacable interaction between the pilgrims and the Native Americans. (How ...
"George R.R. Martin is not your bitch." Thus wrote Neil Gaiman in his blog on May 12, 2009 in response to a growing tide of dissatisfaction from fans upset that Mr. Martin takes so long between published chapters of his Song of Ice and Fire saga. ...
Star Wars was not my first love. By the time it came out in 1977, I had already enjoyed flirtations with baseball, astronomy, dinosaurs, and monster movies. I had developed an unrequited crush on Jessica Lange. I had spent countless afternoons ...
I was at a concert this past Saturday evening, and a little thing got me thinking about how much culture has changed since I was a kid. Change happens so slowly that it's almost imperceptible to those who are living through it. But when you examine...