I wouldn’t be capable of starting a successful religion; I don’t have the requisite charisma, ambition or ability to deceive. But I do have my own private religion, and I call it Carlinism, based on the idea that happiness is found by emotionally removing yourself from the human race and viewing it all as entertainment. […]
It’s appropriate that “Lost’s” two-hour final-season premiere (8 tonight, ABC) airs on Groundhog Day. Like the Bill Murray movie, “Lost” has done a lot of circular storytelling. First the characters were in 2004, then they jumped back to 1977, then we jumped ahead to 2007 to follow the characters who didn’t go back in time, and now we […]
Like everyone, I think “Catcher in the Rye” is a brilliant book. I think J.D. Salinger’s other three books (actually compilations of his magazine short stories and novellas) range from very good to OK — “Nine Stories” has a couple gems (but also a couple duds), “Franny and Zooey” is readable and, well, I haven’t […]
Sort of like “Idiocracy” or that Mel Gibson picture where he could read women’s minds, “The Invention of Lying” (now on DVD) posits an alternate reality and then has fun exploring it with a series of “What would you do here?” situations. This Ricky Gervais vehicle (the likable, lumpy Brit stars and also co-wrote and co-directed) asks […]
Asperger’s syndrome is an internally dramatic condition. Outwardly, the person comes off as antisocial, but that’s not the inner truth. Aspies don’t provide facial expressions that cue the insight into their minds. Also, they have trouble reading facial expressions and understanding language subtleties. It doesn’t diminish my admiration of Hugh Dancy any to say that […]
Three of my favorite actresses return to TV this midseason, and that’s probably a good thing, but I’m a little ambivalent. In TV, I often start to think of a performer as being their character, so I’m resistant when they take on a new (lesser) role. To me, David Boreanaz is Angel, not Seeley Booth. […]
“24” Season 8 starts with a two-hour premiere at 8 Central tonight (another two-hour block follows at 7 p.m. Central Monday). I haven’t been this NOT excited about a new season of “24” since the series began. The previews could be clips from previous seasons for all I know; that’s how much they have all blended […]
In a recent Entertainment Weekly article, James Cameron said that although the computer-generated characters in “Avatar” are aliens, he could’ve just as easily created real-looking humans in the computer.
1. In “Return of the Jedi,” when Luke and Leia swing to safety, what is the rope attached to? It can’t be attached to the barge they are blowing up, because then it would snap when they are in mid-air, right? Even if was securely attached to the barge for the duration of the swing, […]
Last week, “The Simpsons” was the clear winner in the laugh tally against “The Cleveland Show” and “Family Guy.” I can’t say that every week, but I can say it often enough to make a case that “The Simpsons” still has plenty of laughs left in the tank.