In 2005, for reasons that justify my use of the passive voice here, I found myself in Arlington National Cemetery, watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, surrounded by 40-50 other high school kids. We stood in long, tight lines, watching a soldier
For the past few years, I've "worked with" (read: "sat back and watched") two of my favorite directors, Brett Whitcomb and Bradford Thomason, as they made a documentary. In the planning stages, it was one thing and then it was another thing and then
The list of new movies I wanted to see in 2024 is, as usual, three or four times as long as the list of new movies I actually watched last year. If you've already seen every movie you've ever wanted to, you probably don't
movies
You Won't Make SNL Funny, Jason!
"Jesus, Tom." A dozen characters in the Coen brothers' Miller's Crossing are pissed at Tom Reagan, and half of them sigh or mutter or yell "Jesus, Tom" as the character, played by Gabriel Byrne, crosses them. Like many noir protagonists, Tom's
movies
This May Be The Last Time. The Iron Claw and Doubling Down I heard people whisper "Jesus" at different points, from different places in the theater, as I watched The Iron Claw two or three weeks ago. If you've taken in much about wrestling history, this
memories
* In my high school writing class, in 2006 or 2007, Robbie said “I’ve got a pretty good joke. What do Saddam Hussein and a potato named Richard have in common?” There was some silence as people thought, and then C_____ answered, “They’re both brown?” * In Palm Springs, in
He was looking at a bird when it happened, but it didn’t have anything to do with birds and who knows why your brain makes these connections, if there are even connections to make, if getting an idea isn’t just a spasm that pitches something deep in the
memories
My dog died. Last Thursday, Johanna took Pumpkin Pie to the vet for a check-up on Pump's chronic kidney disease, and was told our sweet dog probably had less than a year of living left. On Friday, some test results from the previous day's visit
movies
The worst Disney movie death is clear in my mind. In 1994, the company remade its 1967 Jungle Book adaptation as Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book, a naming scheme lifted directly from Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. This was Disney's first