John Hansen

Fall movie preview: 3 with Jason Bateman, and 4 others (Commentary)

Here are seven fall films you wouldn’t have to drag me to: “Extract” (Friday) — This is “Office Space” turned on its head: Here the bosses are sane, and the employees are nuts. So, obviously, this is less realistic than “Office Space,” but it’s still from Mike Judge and it stars Jason Bateman (“Arrested Development”) and […]

What I like about ‘True’: A review of ‘True Blood’ Season 1 (TV review)

“True Blood” makes it look easy. Start with sharply written characters, mix in a plot that’s never predictable, try a few new things here and there, and you have a tasty concoction.

John’s top 10 cutest TV nerds (Commentary)

Twenty-five years after “Revenge of the Nerds,” girl nerds are now represented equally (perhaps more than equally) in pop culture. Inspired by the new Alexis Bledel movie, I decided to make a list of the 10 cutest TV nerds — the types of girls who I like to think would be compatible with me if […]

With Rory Gilmore and Matt Saracen in lead roles, ‘Post Grad’ is easy to like (Movie review)

“Post Grad” isn’t the movie where Alexis Bledel breaks out of her Rory Gilmore mold and shows her range. But I’m not complaining. I’ve pretty much been in love with Rory/Alexis since the first episode of “Gilmore Girls” aired in 2000. Bledel basically plays Rory again here, and she is just as gorgeous (only a bit […]

A ‘True Blood’ primer for ‘Buffy/Angel’ fans: 10 differences between the vampire mythologies (TV commentary)

I’ve watched most of the first season on DVD, and I can safely say I’m a fan of “True Blood.” Being a huge “Buffy/ Angel” fan, I have trouble liking other vampire stories because I compare them to Joss Whedon’s work.But I like Alan Ball’s “True Blood” because it’s its own thing — the iconic vampire show of the late-Oughts […]

Entertainment I discovered after getting a tip from someone: A top 15 list (Commentary)

Part of the purpose of this blog is to let you know about cool stuff in the entertainment world. The blog’s main purpose, of course, is it gives me something to do. But also, it’s nice to think that I might encourage someone to look into a good TV show or movie or band or […]

For some reason, I really like reading books about Bruce Springsteen (Commentary)

Does anyone else out there like reading about a subject more than you like the subject itself? I suppose tabloid readers would qualify — the types who need to know who Jennifer Aniston is dating, but won’t pay money to see her new movie. But in this case, I’m talking about books, preferably big, fat […]

Aliens-vs.-humans thriller ‘District 9’ lives up to the hype (Movie review)

“District 9,” which immediately earns a spot among modern sci-fi classics, started off as a “Halo” video game adaptation. When that fell through, the filmmakers decided to make something cooler.

The ugly truth: Hollywood’s marketing strategy lets us down (Movie commentary)

I have the day off. Here are my movie-going options. I can drive an hour to see “(500) Days of Summer,” which I really want to see. Or, at the local googolplex, I can see “A Perfect Getaway” or “Time Traveler’s Wife” or “G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra” or “The Ugly Truth” — none of which I want to see. I’ll probably end up […]

Don’t you forget about John Hughes, whose influence is still being felt (Movie and TV commentary)

Here’s how influential John Hughes was: I’m writing a blog post about the late writer-director (he died on Thursday of a heart attack at age 59) and I wasn’t even a huge fan. But he played an indirect — though easily traced — role in shaping my movie and TV tastes. If I had been born 10 […]