For better or worse, America is a gun culture. So much so that, to some degree or another, we all come into contact with them. I don’t own a gun, but I have fired them.* I’ve also had them pointed at me a few times, which is an experience I don’t recommend. I spent a […]

A lifetime of watching movies has taught me many lessons. Among them are: If you are in the military, never tell the people you’re serving with that you can’t wait to get home to your family, because you will be immediately killed. Mysterious loud noises are usually just a cat. Taking off your glasses makes […]

As a professional movie dork, sometimes I have a solid idea of what I’ll be reviewing a few weeks out. I’ll think, “This week I have a screening of a blockbuster, next week an indie drama, the week after that an action movie,” and so on. Other times, things get a little more cloudy. When […]

The irony is not lost on me that audiences gripe about Hollywood not taking risks, yet they cheer when a thing they love is brought back in a new form. We don’t like it when things end, even when they end in a perfectly satisfying manner. Case in point is 2019’s delightful horror/comedy Ready or […]

Often in films, we see people devastated by grief. A little later, we see the same people heroically pull themselves together and get on with it. Part of that has to do with the requirements of narrative, yet a larger part of that has to do with the belief that the grieving process is one […]

On my bookshelf, alongside Terry Pratchett novels and movie-related tomes, sits Andrew Chaikin’s “A Man on the Moon.” His book is a history of the U.S. space program that digs into what it took for us to send human beings to the lunar surface and bring them safely home. It’s an outstanding piece of nonfiction […]

What does it take to be a great basketball player? Not good, like a high school team or someone dominating in pickup. I mean great. A little research tells me it’s about more than high level athleticism. A great player needs willpower. Coachability. Determination. An understanding that the game is about far more than one […]

On February 15 of this year, at the age of 95, Robert Duvall died. To say he had a good run is a gigantic understatement. Duvall was married four times, adored the tango, used his celebrity for good causes such as helping women and children in Argentina, and by all accounts was a solidly good […]

The multiverse has been having a moment lately, particularly in film. In popular culture, the MCU has dug into the concept big time with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Fantastic Four, and most likely the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday. Everything Everywhere All At Once won seven Academy Awards. It’s an honest to goodness thing. […]

After Germany’s surrender in World War II, the Allied powers began a program of denazification. The plan was to fully remove elements of the Nazi party from Austrian and German society, and allow those countries to move forward in a positive, profitable, and presumably pro-American direction.* The process was expensive, time-consuming, and not entirely successful. […]