During a rather ho-hum Emmy Awards Show (unlike many others, I was not fawning over Neil Patrick Harris) winning Mad Men writer-producer Mathew Wiener referenced the “golden age” of Television and expressed how lucky he is to be making his show. I would broaden his scope here a bit – we are all lucky that…
Category: Uncategorized
Inglorious Basterds – Film Review
Quentin Tarantino has a huge a monkey on his back called Pulp Fiction. Pulp was game-changing film-making and the ripples created by that film have become so mainstream that people forget just how astonishing the movie was when it was released. It was a game changer. No director working today has as unique a stamp as…
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Inductees
After the surprisingly wonderful Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert presented on HBO over the weekend (review to follow), Bruce Springsteen said, “if there is any justice at all, my next guest will be inducted to the RRHOF in 2010! Ladies and Gentlemen, Darlene Love!” Darlene Love? You serious Boss? On that note I’d…
Five Great Comedies to Stream
On my soapbox again for DVD rental of TV series. This time for comedy. Comedies are different than serialized dramas in terms of the DVD viewing experience. Most comedies fully stand on their own, and it’s not critical to connect the dots from the preceding weeks to the current episode. Some dramas, like the Shield…
Avatar – Film Review 3
James Cameron’s Avatar is the event movie of the year if not the decade. It takes whatever technology began with Polar Express, refined with Golum in Lord of the Rings, and expanded to near perfection in Peter Jackson’s King Kong jungle sequences and takes it to a whole other level. If you don’t go to…
Avatar – Film Review 2
I haven’t gone back to see a movie twice in many years. The last one I remember was Collateral, which I thought was brilliant. My second viewing confirmed it. That is a great movie with a terrific ensemble performance and captures LA as only Michael Mann can. It might be Mann’s best film – although…
Avatar – Film Review
It’s been a lame year for movies. I can’t remember the last time I was actually excited to see a film. Wait, I was excited enough about Inglorious Basterds to write a review (out on DVD next week!). Even there however, it wasn’t anything like the excitement I feel for James Cameron’s Avatar. I am ready to ditch…
Facing Ali – Film Review
Muhammad Ali is one of the most beguiling figures of the previous half century. His place in boxing history is undeniable. With his colorful personality, quick wit, and seemingly endless charisma took the sport to another level riding on the back of the evolution of media from black-and-white TV and AM radio to the pay-per-view…
Frank Zappa
Dweezil Zappa continues the Zappa on Zappa Tour, and I thought this would be a great time to comment on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s most vexing inductee, his father, Frank Zappa. Zappa is singular. There is really no one like him before or since. His output is staggering in term of volume and…