Film, Television, Sex, Music, Literature, Pop
What Makes A Story Work? In the search for a really good, binge-worthy source of entertainment (I do a lot of elliptical these days), I have taken to re-watching stories that actually work — That Thing You Do, Blast From the Past, True Grit, Breaking Bad to name a few— over taking a chance on..
The Scary Thing.. I haven’t watched a great deal of Depp V. Heard, but I did stop in to see Amber’s moisture-less crying jag. I also watched a bit of Depp’s testimony. Amber’s grief was so singularly awkward a performance that I went from being a little amused by it to being more than a..
Watchable.. There’s an annoying, and inexplicable, contention routinely spouted by the political establishment on both sides of the aisle: “..our election systems are rigorously fair and accountable; election fraud is impossible. Anyone who questions our voter system integrity is un-American.” George Stephanopoulos can’t even bring himself to begin an interview on the subject without barking..
Lying For The Lord The epistle of James, throughout the centuries, has proven a challenge for even the most sincere Christians, (Martin Luther among them), because it puts faith to the test. If we agree we are saved by grace alone, through faith in Christ, then we would be wise to make sure our “faith”..
Dazed and Confused Since the outbreak of Covid in March of 2020 — twenty-two months now — I continue to make this sad confession: “I still have no idea what is going on.” I am not, of course, talking about the obvious contours of the crisis. A dangerous virus is getting people sick and killing..
A Cloud of Sadness One of the most “centered” people I know — a winsome young lady whose good cheer promised better times when our entire extended family was feuding — confessed to being bewildered by a cloud of sadness descending on the world. She’s not alone. The Weinsteins, on their DarkHorse Podcast, recently wondered which author..
The Regularizing Influence: I was a nerdy grind in my late 1970s public high school, but the television was on quite a bit at home, with the usual cycle: afternoon re-runs of the Rifleman and Ozzie & Harriet, followed by evening news, a break for family dinner, a few mom-approved sitcoms and then, sometimes, nightly..
In the era of blogs and podcasts and independent, streaming news, I’ve been hesitant to agree when people blame “the media” for our problems. Personally, I can’t imagine taking CNN or MSNBC’s word for anything. I certainly don’t agree with everything I hear on Fox and I can’t imagine slogging through a daily diet of..
Review Sometimes a really awful movie franchise comes along and you are almost lucky enough to miss it completely, but a local theater crime last week, described as an unprovoked double homicide, can’t help but pose the question: does Critical Race Theory, popularized in C movies, lead dumb people to do evil things? Time, and..
A Dream: The rooftop patio of a red brick restaurant. Bougainvillea, Spanish iron hinges everywhere, flamboyant Toucans, a great concourse of friends and family — and Joe Biden, who is my responsibility for some reason. He’s standing in one of those shower stalls you see on the beach, except that it’s up on the top..
