Of course I played Dungeons and Dragons as a kid. It shouldn’t be that surprising. I grew up in the Reagan-era 1980s, a nerdy kid who didn’t respond to sports, couldn’t relate to insecure machismo, and had a father who was a product of the World War II generation. He wanted me to play sports and likely envisioned a son who was a strapping he-man. Instead, he got Dweebosaurus Rex, which I’m sure was a source of…ah…let’s go with consternation. Of course I play Dungeons and Dragons as an adult. In fact, I’m in a D&D campaign right now. A group of us from college meet about once... Read More

Has there been any movie genre more maligned recently than the studio comedy? Back in the day, movies with Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and others were guaranteed to open to enormous business. They would stick around for quite a while and, if you didn’t like the looks of a particular one, no big deal. Another comedy would open soon. Things changed, and there’s a ruthlessly unfunny reason for that. Major studios don’t think regionally or nationally any longer, they think globally. Movie attendance in America has been steadily dropping, but attendance is huge elsewhere. The most profitable... Read More