Last week we dealt with the worst, and now it’s time to face the best. I had to weed out several favorites who have made the list in multiple year’s past (like Parks and Rec’s great Leslie Knope) because their characters weren’t spun off in nearly enough new directions. I wanted to make way for…
Author: Alabama Liberal
Monday Morning Movie Review: Anchorman 2
I was rooting for this movie, and I can say that it (mostly) delivers. It won’t satisfy all the fans of the original (what would?) and it’s not quite as successful as the Arrested Development reboot (which is underrated in its innovation), but I think most people will be happy that it doesn’t suck. What…
Movie Review: The Hobbit 2 [Refuse to Call It The Desolation of Smaug]
So I thought splitting The Hobbit series into three different movies was a pretty desperate cash-grab on Peter Jackson’s part, and even if that still might turn out to be the case, I’ll admit that I’m glad he did it. For one thing, there’s something downright cozy about snuggling into the theater for an overlong…
Movie Review: Out of the Furnace
If you like Eddie Vedder songs, depressing photography of abandoned steel towns, and really depressing characters getting beaten down by unfortunate circumstances, well…you’ll still probably leave this movie a little bummed out. It’s marketed as a downbeat, realistic rescue film where Christian Bale’s ex-con has to go up into the mountains between Pennsylvania and New Jersey to…
The Ten W-O-R-S-T TV Characters of the Year!
It’s that time of the year again: time for insipid, arbitrary “best of” lists counting down things I liked in movies, TV, and books. Perhaps the most popular of these is my annual “Ten Best TV Characters” of the year, and I promise that’s coming…next week. But, for now, why not take a look at…
Pop Culture Battles, Book Reviews: Tampa Vs. The Execution of Noa P. Singleton
Today, reviews of two books centered around exceptionally devious women. Looks like over a year after Gone Girl, the influence of the treacherous Amy Dunne is still being felt. And now on with the show! Two books enter the thunder dome, only one book can leave… The Execution of Noa P. Singleton…What’s It About:…
Mom Jokes: Great Philosophers on Marriage
“I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me.”–Sigmund Freud “By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll be happy. If you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.”–Socrates “The question I’ve often asked but never answered is ‘exactly what does a woman want?’”–Dumas “When a…
Mom Jokes: Don’t Use Your Cell Phone in Public
After a very busy day, a commuter settled down in her seat and closed her eyes as the train departed Montreal for Hudson. As the train rolled out of the station, the guy sitting next to her pulled out his cell phone and started talking in a loud voice: “Hi sweetheart it’s Eric, I’m on…
“Pandora’s Promise” Will Change Your Mind About Nuclear Power
It’s exceedingly rare to watch a documentary that can actually change your mind about an issue. I would say that even documentaries that I love (most of them left-wing “issue” docs but some are about larger than life individuals or bizarre true-crime cases) aren’t giving me a world information that I didn’t have before. So…
Fast Food Critic: White Chocolate Oreos Vs. Candy Cane Ones
[Note: Some call them Peppermint Oreos and that may be technically correct, but Candy Cane Oreos are just regular Oreos with the cream as half red/half white.] So many specialty Holiday Oreos, but only one can rain supreme… Candy Cane Oreos…Definitely a less bold experience than the limited-edition watermelon Oreos released in the summer (green…
Pop Culture Battles, Book Reviews: Red Moon vs. The Good Nurse
In order to be well-informed enough for my annual “Ten Best Books of the Year” list, I’ve been plowing through a hopelessly long reading list lately, and I thought I’d make it a little more fun by showcasing some pop culture battles. This week’s battle is between two “scary” books about monsters: a political allegory…
Movie Review: Frozen
A fairly generic Disney film that packed no surprises or true laughs. What Works: A fairly generic Disney film that packed no surprises or true laughs. [Families will like this.] What Doesn’t: A fairly generic Disney film that packed no surprises or true laughs. [But I didn’t.] What I Would Have Done Differently: The Winter…
Movie Review: Old Boy
Nobody but nobody went to see this movie last weekend, and it’s barely still in theaters now. Why they opened an obvious Spring release during Thanksgiving, I’ll never know…there’s counter-programming and then there’s just stupidity. What Works: It’s Spike Lee’s remake of a South Korean thriller (which I haven’t seen but is supposed to be…