Latchkey kids from the 1980s grew up with a very peculiar set of heroes and companions. I spent most of my after-school hours with a disparate group of Monkees, CHiPs officers, Partridges, Bradys and crinkly-nosed witches thanks to Nick at Nite’s and TBS’ endless reruns. While many of my peers…
Cinema loves a good story about hired help. The Merchant/Ivory film The Remains of the Day remains the gold standard–in my opinion–but plenty of others have examined the treasure trove of material inherent in a good master and servant tale. My Man Godfrey, Gosford Park, Sunshine Cleaning and (shudder) Maid…
In a world where basketball players pull guns on each other in the locker room and assault fans on a fairly regular basis, it’s nice to know that the Harlem Globetrotters continue to maintain their squeaky-clean, family-friendly image. Sure, their expositions may lack teeth, but ask Dirk Nowitzki…teeth come with…
Part of the appeal of going to a festival is the incredible diversity of experiences offered throughout the event. I’ve been to an Austin City Limits festival where we saw Arcade Fire and John Prine in the same (very hot) weekend. I’ve been to food-based festivals where I sampled cuisine…
Facebook is nothing if not a cultural barometer. At any given time, I can login and see what people are reading (a disturbing amount of Twilight, apparently), listening to (OMG, the new Vampire Weekend!) and planning to do. And apparently, a pretty good cross-section of the metroplex–spanning all age groups–has…
There seems to be a new trend in documentary film-making these days that attempts to impart a definite “feel-good” vibe along with a heaping dose of inspiration. At least that’s what I thought when I started watching 2007’s Young @ Heart, one of the shining examples of the new “Hey,…
I think there’s a tendency among a lot of people to regard remembrances of the civil rights movement as somber affairs, simply because of all the struggle and strife that affected those involved in it. When you think of the people who died for the cause, the loss of luminaries…
My mom used to always refer to her woman’s intuition whenever she turned out to be right about anything. I’m not sure I ever really bought into that concept. Woman’s intuition seems to be the eventual emergence of common sense after you spend at least a little time in denial…
There are a lot of reasons you’re going to want to make the trek to Jerry World when the Dallas Cowboys take on the Philadelphia Eagles at noon Sunday. Maybe you haven’t experienced the new stadium yet, and you want to be able to say that you, too, laid out…
Fanny Brawne is a heroine you expect to find in a Jane Austen novel; a woman with a penchant for poncey poets, chaste passion and Regency-era finery. Brawne is not a figment of early chick-lit, however, but the real-life inspiration for much of the poetry produced by Britain’s beloved John…
While everyone else is taking in saccharine Christmas tales and catching their fourth viewing of that Twilight movie, might I suggest something a little more challenging? I know that this time of year, most people like films that evoke a certain coziness and ramp up the sentimentality. But some of…
The day job occasionally requires me to spend some time in jail. For research purposes only, I assure you. Anyway, you learn lots of interesting things about human nature when you observe folks that are incarcerated. Some of those things I’d rather not know, but others are a little more…
Lars von Trier has a heavy cross to bear these days. Not only is he responsible for the 50 minutes I spent watching Antichrist that I will never get back, he’s also credited in some circles with the downfall of Danish cinema. That sounds dramatic, but in the years since…
The Christmas season is barely underway, and already the television lineup looks like Hallmark exploded all over it. There are dogs named Christmas, a plethora of people home for the holidays, and plucky heroines who can inspire their rustic small towns to understand the “true meaning of Christmas,” find love…
When we talk about the pioneers of television programming, there are certain people that immediately spring to mind. Most of us think of Lucille Ball as among the most celebrated of these groundbreakers for her work in breaking down gender barriers while seamlessly blending screwball and situation comedy. But before…
The so-called “hiatus” of VH1’s Best Week Ever left a hole in my heart the size of the pothole that I slammed into on Skillman last night. I’ll make do with BWE’s slightly more intellectual counterpart (Current TV’s excellent InfoMania), but I deeply miss my weekly dose of Paul F…
The true beauty of the slasher film is the polarizing nature of the genre. People either have their tickets for every adolescent-studded, gore-driven flick that hits the theaters purchased a week in advance (despite incredibly bad reviews) or they sit through 15 minutes of the movie and begin to wax…
The Internet turned 40 on October 29. Video games have been a mainstay in people’s homes for around 30 years and have become an all-encompassing gateway into personal fitness, music appreciation and knocking off hookers with an Uzi whilst stealing the car of your dreams. By comparison, books don’t seem…
Watching a soccer match for me is a lot like watching Apocalypse Now. In theory, I like both of those things. Show me a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now and I’m intrigued. But force me to watch Marlon Brando chomp scenery in the actual product, and I’m done…
Woody Allen has a muse whose influence surfaces in nearly every film he has ever made. It’s not Diane Keaton or Scarlett Johansson–even they take second billing to his real love: New York City. Anyone who has sat through an Allen flick can tell you that many of his stories…
Only two celebrity deaths have really affected me on a personal level. The first was John Lennon: I’m not sure I even realized who he was at that point, but my mom was sobbing when the news broke, and that’s always upsetting for a little kid. The other one was…
As a society, we sometimes forget what the word “hero” really means. The dictionary says it’s a person who has an admirable quality such as great courage or strength of character. Entertainment Tonight, however, suggests that showing up on an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in $2,000 shoes and…
