Pew Research performed a poll back in January of 2014 that’s simultaneously unsurprising and depressing. They found that the average American adult reads approximately 5 books in 1 year. For the most part, we live in a country that doesn’t truly value the written word, and hasn’t for quite some time. We say we […]

Joel Edgerton’s directorial debut, The Gift, isn’t just a Yuppies In Peril movie.* Not precisely. It’s got a number of the genre hallmarks. Conspicuous consumerism. A seemingly happy couple with secrets. A ridiculously cute pet that has caught the eye of a lunatic. But The Gift is something special. Not only is it a tightly plotted and well directed […]

There’s this theory I’ve had for a while now. I’ve shared it with friends, but now it’s time to share it with all of you. I believe that international superstar Tom Cruise is either a fiendishly clever performance artist, or a deeply depressed man. When he makes other films, he’s a talented and driven performer. But […]

He’s an old man-93 years old, to be precise. While a great deal of his life was spent amidst the bustle of London, that’s all behind him, like most things. He lives in a rambling old cottage near the sea in Sussex, and spends his days beekeeping. He is the World’s Greatest Detective, and he’s […]

Many people tend to be risk-averse when going to the movies. Sure, people say they want something new and daring, but when movies that are blazingly original, like Snowpiercer, or Memento, or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are released, audiences tend to back away slowly, making the sign of the cross. I get it. Sometimes you want comfort food, […]

  Let’s pretend, for a moment, that I have access to a time machine. My current self, ancient and decrepit, travels back to the Good Old Days when I was a youthful firebrand who prepared to bestride the world like a colossus. Upon meeting, Old Me says to Young Me, “Couple of things to tell you […]

Addiction is a bitch. There’s a number of reasons why, genetic, emotional, psychological, the list goes on. For me, one of the cruelest aspects of addiction is the removal of potential. When we’re born, we’re blank slates. The possibility exists that we can go anywhere, do anything. But some of us have a self-destructive streak, […]

There’s one thing they never tell you about becoming an adult. Making friends is hard. When you become a parent? Making friends is really hard. Here’s an example. I work from home, so it falls upon me to handle school pickup for my kid. I’m one of the lone fathers to collect my kid at the end […]

Samuel L. Jackson is one of the greatest actors ever to appear in motion pictures. Everybody knows this, and odds are, if you have a favorite movie, he’s in it. He was the soulful hitman Jules in Pulp Fiction. The tough as nails Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The emerging supervillain Mr. Glass in Unbreakable. Mace Windu […]

My wife is a great deal smarter than I am. To anyone who knows me, that’s a statement as obvious as “water is wet” and “walls hurt when you run into them.” But a while back, she made a comment to me that children’s literature has a much higher quality bar than adult literature. Kids […]