No one was more surprised than I was at how good this movie is. Normally, I can’t stand the entire genre of bubble-gum, cartoon-inspired, hokey martial arts films. When this movie was first advertised, I immediately forgot about it. But recently, watching another ad on TV for the DVD version, I paid closer attention. It[...]
With a couple of exceptions, Zombieland is a fun, funny, and thrilling 88 minutes. The basic plot is much like that in any other zombie movie: a few surviving people fight off the thousands of zombies that have taken over the world. But that’s where the similarities end between this film and the ones that[...]
If you’ve somehow missed all the talk show appearances by Chris Rock over the last month or so, “Good Hair” is the latest project by Rock, a documentary look into the multi-billion dollar hair product market aimed most at black women. As Rock points out in the movie, African American women comprise only 6.5% of[...]
I waited a few days to write this review, mainly because when I like a movie this much, I don’t want to appear to gush all over it like a little fanboy. Simply put, Law Abiding Citizen is about a man (played by Gerard Butler) who’s disappointed in the prosecution of the men who killed[...]
Several hundred articles appeared online today, many from respected news outlets, saying that Hulu might no longer be free, starting next year. (Here’s one article, from CNET.com.) Remember all the ads during the Super Bowl earlier this year, claiming that Hulu was free? Let’s break that down. First of all, it’s not free. Advertisers pay[...]
Bruce Willis, always known as a bankable action star, is increasingly becoming known as a sci-fi blockbuster name, with titles to his credit like Planet Terror, The Fifth Element, Armageddon, Twelve Monkeys, and others. In Surrogates, he delivers again, though his character’s emotions are slightly muted. There’s a reason for that. In the futuristic world[...]
(Spoiler alert! This review contains plot points and end-of-story information. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!) Oddly enough, Dan Brown’s new thriller “The Lost Symbol” is actually about “the lost word,” according to the last dozen chapters or so. I guess those who came up with the title thought “Symbol” would be more interesting than[...]
Despite mostly negative reviews, Couples Retreat isn’t that bad. Yes, it features perhaps the oddest character ever played by Jean Reno (better known for The Professional, Godzilla, Ronin, and The Da Vinci Code), a strangely calm performance by Vince Vaughn, a few odd edits, and at times feels like a series of Mad TV sketches.[...]
My wife asked me last night, “What do you think about Obama winning the Nobel Prize?” I told her I didn’t know. So I did some thinking. For one thing, the prize’s list of past winners includes quite a few surprising names (and a couple of certified terrorists). I’m very skeptical of some of them.[...]
It’s really starting to get under my skin when people say “cell” as a short form of “cellular telephone.” “I forgot my cell” or “what’s your cell number?” Of course, the original word is six syllables. I understand that in our modern world, six syllables is too many. But if you absolutely have to pick[...]
Seen from a historical perspective, the ongoing flap over Eric Snowden’s “whistleblowing” (Google News search) probably won’t be that big of a deal. It just seems big right now, since media organizations all over the world just got a rush of juicy information and they’re passing it along to you faster than they can think[...]
Following are some passages I underlined during a reading of Time Enough For Love (1973) by Robert A. Heinlein. Most of these are from the character Lazarus Long (a.k.a. Woodrow Wilson Smith, Aaron Sheffield, Ted Bronson, Lafe Hubert, etc.), oldest member of the human race. “…humans hardly ever learn from the experience of others. They[...]
In The News: On DNA, Supreme Court goes too far (LA Times editorial) In The News: In split with state policy, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz sees “Big Brother” in Supreme Court DNA ruling (Dallas News) Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that it’s okay for law enforcement to take DNA samples from arrested suspects and[...]
I think I first became aware of the phrase “wrong side of history” when I heard Rachel Maddow use it, saying to a guest: “Are you aware you’re on the wrong side of history?” I mean that exact phrase. Of course, I’ve been aware since childhood that Churchill said “History is written by the victors”,[...]
I never would have known that The Home Depot supports gay rights without the uber-conservative American Family Association’s daily radio program. AFA owns and operates nearly 200 radio stations across the country (according to its website). One of their programs plays on a local station here; I sometimes listen to it as an exercise in[...]
When I was a teenager, a self-styled “radical Christian”, waves of recorded Christian entertainment were pouring out of Tennessee — most of the recording companies — like Word Records, Sparrow, Reunion, and Myrrh — were based in Tennessee. That last one, Myrrh, was the one that launched the career of Christian comedian Mike Warnke.
Flickr’s marketing department is taking care of publicizing what’s been added to the site, and how the design has changed. They’re real proud of it. So far, I haven’t seen anyone documenting what’s been taken away from Flickr users. I’ve made a page just for that, here. I’ll be updating it as I learn more.
Title: The Raven, A Biography of Sam Houston Author: Marquis James Year: 1929 Publisher: University of Texas Press, Austin ISBN 0-292-77040-5 View it on Amazon View it on Google Books Sam Houston on Wikipedia This book was awarded the 1930 Pulitzer Prize for “Biography or Autobiography” (James is one of the very few people who’ve[...]
Flickr holds a special place in my heart, at least compared to other internet sites. I’ve spent more time on Flickr than most people have spent on Facebook or Twitter — daily participation since I joined in Sept. 2005. Not only have I uploaded over 30,000 images to my photostream (most of them now non-public),[...]
“I thought the left loved freedom of the press and open government. I guess that’s only when ‘The Man’ is someone else.” That’s what one commenter said on a news story about the federal government hoping to charge a journalist for publishing news. It’s an astute observation about the way our two-party political system works:[...]
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