Enjoying my last couple days of leisure before the campus re-opens for the spring, and I am once again required to behave with a degree of activity, responsibility and punctuality that has been noticeably – and deliberately, happily – absent the last couple of weeks. I could be knocking off one more book from my ‘must-read’ list, taking in one more film at the local cineplex, or scratching one or two more items off that ‘honey-do’ list on the fridge … or I could be spending a LOT more time in front of the tee-vee.
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Tags: art & entertainment, television by Jeff McDonald
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When I’m not railing against Israel or otherwise decrying imperialism, sometimes I like to write about music on my blog, Dogs Thought. I’ve combined here a two-part post I published there listing, in no particular order, ten albums I liked from this past year. WFTC does not have as much content about current music as current movies or TV, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to throw in my two cents on the various tra-la-las and boom-boom-baps that emerged from stereos, headphones, tin cans, etc. in 2009. Enjoy. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, music by Calvin Pollak
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As the closing credits roll for 2009, this column is two months shy of its year anniversary. In the spirit of the holidays and that almost anniversary, it is time to look back at the 41 movies Gail has seen and give out some awards. [Read more →]

Tags: Gail sees a movie, movies by Gail D. Rosen
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In the belief that the end of the year is best celebrated by staring into the implacable face of death, here’s a roundup of 2009’s most egregious overstatements and lame eulogies written about people whose latest error in life was to pass away.

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Tags: art & entertainment, language & grammar by Neil Verma
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I just watched what is quite possibly the most brilliant and hysterically funny movie review I’ve ever seen. This masterpiece critique was created by Mike of Red Letter Media and consists of seven parts that can all be viewed on YouTube. I highly recommend everyone viewing at least the first two parts of his videos, but it will not be necessary to understand what I’m about to say. His analysis brought to the forefront something that I’ve pushed down deep into my psyche for over ten years and am only now ready to release: The Phantom Menace is not only the biggest disappointment in movie history, it is also very likely completely responsible for screwing up our world’s history. [Read more →]

Tags: movies, religion & philosophy by Marc Oromaner
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I went to see James Cameron’s new film Avatar with my family yesterday. To call it a lot of fun seems almost unnecessary. It’d be better to offer a command than make a judgment: go check it out. I defy anyone who sees it on the big screen to deny the beauty of the locales, characters, spacecraft, and weaponry — all computer-generated, mind you — or the roller-coaster thrill of the battle scenes. It’s all directed and edited with precision and flair. As Dana Stevens wrote in her very apt Slate review, this is “a world so richly and specifically imagined that it’s thrilling just to dwell inside it.” And it culminates in a showdown that is immensely exciting and gratifying. [Read more →]

Tags: movies, politics & government by Calvin Pollak
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In 1999 I wrote a piece for the first installment of When Falls the Coliseum titled the All-Coliseum Team. It was a list of the 2oth Century’s most intriguing sports figures – an alternative to the standard Best of tallies published and broadcast by sports magazines and shows at the time. It seems just like yesterday I wrote about Jim Thorpe (versatility), Buster Douglas (improbability), and Cal Ripken (durability) as being All-Coliseum warriors who represented the unconventional excellence our magazine seems to promote. Now ten years have come and gone just like that, and we have a new All-Coliseum compilation. But this time it is more than just sports. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, ends & odd by Robert O'Hara
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If you have ever lost a job, or been close to someone who has, expect tears while watching Up in the Air. But you should also expect a smart, funny and insightful film.  Add George Clooney to that, and things are almost perfect. [Read more →]

Tags: Gail sees a movie, movies by Gail D. Rosen
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I recall Christmas, 1970, when I was an 18-year-old sailor stationed aboard a swaying aircraft carrier off the coast of North Vietnam.

We young sailors, like our civilian counterparts back home, thought of ourselves as young, hip and cool guys. After all, we were teenagers during the swinging 1960’s, a time noted for drugs, sex and rock music. The 1970’s promised to be cooler still, we believed.

As we were eating our Christmas dinner the 1MC, the ship’s public address system, offered Bing Crosby singing his Christmas classic, White Christmas. A lot of young, hip and cool guys became misty-eyed.

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Tags: music, terror & war by Paul Davis
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You’re a studio exec and you have a little movie about Sherlock Holmes directed by Guy Ritchie (coming off the hat trick from hell of RockNRolla, Swept Away, and Revolver), and suddenly it dawns on you, “This stars Robert Downey Jr.” You know, Iron Man! The guy who made blackface cool again in Tropic Thunder! Clearly this is something that can be exploited. So you give the flick a big Christmas release and then start exploring product tie-ins…which is tough because it’s set in Victorian England and the only logical pairing is with Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips (plus possibly their partner, Pudgie’s Famous Chicken). But you just know there’s more money to be made, so you settle on…this. [Read more →]

Tags: movies by Sean Cunningham
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I watched the making of the new Guy Ritchie film Sherlock Holmes on cable TV last night. As a long time fan of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, I came to the conclusion that this is not my Sherlock Holmes.

The film appears to be an action-packed, kind of cartoonish movie. Starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Doctor Watson, Ritchie presents the two as a Victorian-era Batman and Robin.

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Tags: books & writing, movies by Paul Davis
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I’ve been busy basking in the tanning bed glow of my latest television obsession, Jersey Shore on MTV. The brain trust on Jersey Shore is all about alcohol fueled sex, one night stands, and boyfriends who are married. And while I’ve been waiting for poor Snooki to get punched in the face by some a-hole on tonight’s episode, MTV has been quietly airing a show that portrays life far away from the drunken antics in New Jersey. Teen Mom is as sobering as it gets. [Read more →]

Tags: family & parenting, television by Nancy DeGregorio
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“How the hell do I top this?” Orson Welles (Christian McKay) asks after his triumphant performance of Julius Caesar. Of course he would, but this account of the Mercury Theater’s innovative version of Julius Caesar is fascinating on its own. The film captures the behind-the-scenes dramas of the production and the proclivities of the brilliant and egomaniacal Welles, as well as the colorful actors that Welles directed. The cast is strong, the directing crisp and the story is a good one. [Read more →]

Tags: Gail sees a movie, movies by Gail D. Rosen
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The History Channel. Well, yes. If you love the apocalypse and Nazis, then you probably watch it a lot. Oh, and there’s also Pawn Stars. This weekend however they did something which had nothing to do with Nostradamus or death camps: they broadcast a weird, Beatnik-y concert performance entitled ‘The People Speak’, based on readings from Howard Zinn’s book A People’s History of the United States. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, politics & government by Daniel Kalder
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Michael Moriarty, the actor who portrayed the original assistant district attorney on the groundbreaking and very original Law & Order TV program, has written a piece  for http://bighollywood.com denouncing his former show’s producer for allowing the popular program to become increasingly left-wing.

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Tags: politics & government, television by Paul Davis
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Having spent just about a full semester now studying in the United Kingdom, I’ve reflected a lot on my home country, the United States of America. I’ve learned new Scottish, Irish and English English expressions, and seen my own American English expressions greeted with stares of confusion. I’ve been nearly run over hundreds of times, misjudging traffic on account of the Brits driving on the wrong side of the road. I’ve noticed CCTV cameras just about everywhere, seen a National Health Service physician for a checkup, and been questioned sternly by immigration officials when exiting and re-entering the country (despite my possessing a perfectly valid student visa) — all of this reminding me that as big as government has gotten under Bush and Obama, it ain’t as big as the UK’s. [Read more →]

Tags: movies, travel & foreign lands by Calvin Pollak
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The Sing-Off (Monday, 8PM, NBC) — NBC has decided to finally get caught up in musically-talented reality TV shows (The Singing Bee doesn’t count) and all I can say is Merry Christmas to me. Take American Idol, combine it with Glee and sprinkle in a little America’s Next Dance Crew and you’ve got The Sing-Off… a week long extravaganza which begins on Monday in a 2-hour premiere.

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Tags: Lauren Likes TV, television by Lauren LaBumbard
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10. Big Bag O’ Discarded Hypodermic Needles

9. Balloon Boy Self-Launch Home Kit

8. Easy-Bake Microwave Oven

7. Fisher-Price Choking Hazard

6. Baby’s First Power Stapler

5. Mr. Wizard’s Home Meth Lab

4. Fontanelle Lawn Darts

3. Miss Piggy Swine Flu Inoculation Kit

2. Owie! – The Fall-Off-The-Ladder Game

1. Zhu Zhu Flammable Hamsters
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, ends & odd, games by Bob Sullivan
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Some films you can just watch over and over again.  You’re not sure why, because they are not necessarily the best films ever made.  But clearly there is something that resonates. One of these films for me is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  Perhaps because it always seems to be on cable, or because Gene Wilder is a genius, I have viewed this movie several times recently and have come across some disturbing things that spill over into real world problems, namely poor corporate governance. 

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Tags: Joshua Goldowsky blames a fictional character, movies by Joshua Goldowsky
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2009 marks the 40th anniversary of many famous things, ranging from the mind-bendingly fatuous (John and Yoko’s bed in) to the truly historic (the moon landings) to the not as good as they used to be (Sesame Street), to the never any good in the first place (Woodstock). But in addition to all of the above, 2009 is also the 40th anniversary of something much less celebrated: a very strange record that only gets stranger with the passing of time, King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, music by Daniel Kalder
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