One of the dominant stories in twenty-first century America is the story of the side hustle. Practically, it exists to give you a little extra income. Emotionally, though, the side hustle is the place where dreams can exist.* If you grind as an influencer, a content creator, a writer, or a crypto investor, you live […]

It’s one thing to make an independent film. Plenty of people have rustled up a screenplay, a camera, a ragtag group of actors and a dream. Those folks went without shooting permits, vast craft service tables, and the endless financial resources of a major film studio. They ignored spouses, family, and friends polluting their heads […]

Sydney Pollack was quoted as saying, “There’s no question that a great script is absolutely essential, maybe the essential thing for a movie to succeed.” He’d know, considering he directed films like Tootsie, produced films like Michael Clayton, and acted in films like Changing Lanes. All films that, while they might not be unimpeachable masterpieces, […]

Up until about a month ago, it looked like Eric Swalwell would be the next Governor of California. He’d served in the House of Representatives since 2012, and during each of his election cycles, he handily defeated every Republican challenger. Swalwell announced a Presidential run in 2019. He withdrew later, as his polling never broke […]

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 […]