Are these the best books of the year? Obviously, I have no idea, as I haven’t read a large majority of the novels that were released in the last year. I’ll just say I’ve read most, not all but most of the ones that have been placed on End-of-the-Year lists (notable exceptions include The Twelve…
Author: Alabama Liberal
Book Reviews: This is How You Lose Her, Sutton, The Round House, Live by Night, and Back to Blood
Note: Nearly all of these books have been featured on “Best Books of the Year” lists, and yet, I found all of them to be lacking in some fundamental way. The subtitle of this article could almost be “When Everyone Else Loves a Book that You Merely Like” but that wouldn’t fit on the Twitter…
5 TV Shows to Swear Off in the New Year
Sadly, Christmas is now behind us, and it’s time to focus on the New Year. And what better way to do it than to think about managing your time. And what better way to think about managing your time than to start picking off good-for-nothing TV shows that might have started off good but have…
Movie Review: This is 40
A big studio film with the soul of an independent movie, and a damn good one too. What Works: I liked this movie more than I really could have anticipated. Whereas some of Judd Apatow’s previous films (like The 40 Year-Old Virgin and the overrated Knocked Up) jumped off from a high-concept premise but gradually…
Movie Review: The Girl
This is a bit of a cheat since it aired on television, but HBO’s The Girl feels enough like a real movie to warrant a review. It has at least two recognizable stars (Sienna Miller, Toby Jones), and a biographical story (about Alfred Hitchcock’s obsession with actress Tippi Hedren, his star in The Birds and Marnie) that…
It’s Christmas Damnit…Counting Down Some of the Gifts Given to Us this Year
Right off the bat question: “Will these be the type of imaginary ‘gifts’ Mitt Romney accused Obama of giving voters?” Nope, this will be real things to be grateful for. And if it bears a striking resemblance to my Thanksgiving list, well…I can’t help coincidences… 5. The Gift that AMC (the TV network) Split Breaking…
Movie Review: The Guilt Trip
It’s hard to imagine anyone falling in love with this movie, but it’s hard to imagine anyone outright hating it either. It’s really a big shoulder-shrug, the type of “take-it-or-leave-it” entertainment that few people will run out to see, but it’s a pleasant enough time around the holidays, and a pretty good movie for sons…
Movie Review: Cirque Du Soleil, Worlds Apart
This “movie” is really bits and pieces of the Cirque Du Soleil shows in Vegas, all strung together with the thinnest of plots. Basically, there’s a girl, and there’s a guy, and they are in loooooooooooove or something like that, but they are “separated” by the Cirque worlds they have to get through to be…
Movie Review: Jack Reacher
This movie may be slightly better than you think…but only slightly. What Works: At the center is a pretty generic thriller that feels more like a 90’s movie than one in 2012 (the pretty blonde female lead, the basic plot, generic villains, a slightly-damaged hero who’s not really that damaged, the plodding plot, the jokey…
Bubba’s Sex Tips: Birmingham’s the Worst City for Men? I Believe It
So Birmingham was recently voted the worst city in the country for men by Men’s Health Magazine. Men’s Health being, I believe, a gay porno magazine judging by the covers of shirtless men parading around on the cover. [And also because they picked The People’s Republic of San Francisco as the best city for men.]…
Petty Issues: Better Late Than Never
Why didn’t I make a Petty Issues list sooner? I don’t know. Maybe I thought the world would end and I wouldn’t have to fool with it. Anyway… Tim Tebow to be traded to the Jaguars. “Finally, the worst quarterback in the NFL is on the worst team in the NFL!”—–says, no one. This will…
Now What? : The World Didn’t End Today…Disappointed?
The way that today (12.21.12) has been built up as the end of the world, I can’t help but feel like some people are probably disappointed. We have heard for years that the end is nigh, because the Mayan calendar says it’s so…So what gives? We wake up today and there’s no nuclear launch attacks….
Larger Editorial: What Obama’s Acceptance Means to Interracial Couples
What’s left to say about the 44th President of the United States that hasn’t already been said? The man won re-election last month by a larger margin that anyone (but Nate Silver) would have predicted. He was recently named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year (a title he also won in 2008). And there’s the…