Okay, so this October book of the month club pick is royally messed up by Hurricane Sandy. See, the last Monday of the month (my preferred time to list the book of the month) was thwarted by not having a working internet connection. My apologies to readers but maybe I can claim it as an “Act of…
Category: Entertainment Editorial
Entertainment Editorial: What’s the Best Political Campaign Movie? I Say “Bob Roberts”
On the eve of the election (but it’s still a monday, where I’m supposed to talk about entertainment), it might be a great time to unwind with a movie about a political campaign. So the question persists: what’s the best one? That’s a tough question, since the majority of political movies are about campaigns. [There’s…
Entertainment Editorial: Predicting the Odds on the New Fall Shows
I’m about two weeks late with this one as some of the new Fall shows (roughly a third) have already premiered. Oh well, but it does mean I probably won’t go as in-depth as I might have… NBC…Poor NBC, it’s been dead last for years and I don’t see that changing much this year. The…
The Emmys, Who Might Win…More Importantly, Who SHOULD Win
Unlike The Oscars, which have almost no surprises by the time the other five dozen movie awards shows have already come on, The Emmy awards are extremely hard to predict. That’s because the only other televised awards shows that deal with TV (The Golden Globes, and The SAG Awards) also deal with movies, and, therefore, pretty…
Entertainment Editorial: 10 Fall Movies To Be Excited About (and Five Not to Be)
It’s great to pretend that critics go into movies entirely neutral about them, but, honestly, they don’t. There are just always going to be some movies you look more forward to than others. It was true when I did a similar list in the summer, and especially true in the Fall…where Hollywood rolls out their…
September’s Book of the Month Club Selection Is…Amy Waldman’s The Submission!
Usually, whenever I start the month I have no clue what that month’s pick will be. I run down a list of books I’ve read in the last six months (or am currently reading) and narrow down to one I think is the strongest for that month. None of that is true for Amy Waldman’s…
Entertainment Editorial: With Summer Over, How Did My Movie Predictions Turn Out?
Roughly four months back, I made a list of the ten movies I was most excited to see, the five I was most on the fence about, and, of course, the five I was least excited to see. Now that summer is officially over, and we’re getting into the best movie season (the Fall and…
Entertainment Editorial: How The Five Seasons of Breaking Bad Mirror the Five Stages of Dying
As every other Breaking Bad fan gets ready for tonight’s final episode (of this year…with the final eight ever playing next summer), I thought I might share an observation I’ve noticed about the five seasons. The main plot of the show: a mild-mannered, brilliant (and perpetually under appreciated) high school chemistry teacher gets cancer and…
Alabama Liberal’s Book of the Month Club Pick is…
“Dare Me” by Megan Abbott. I wasn’t totally in love with any of the books I read this month, but Dare Me is a very strong book that cleverly reinvents the noir genre by setting it in a high school…and unravels some deep truths about what the book calls, the “dangerous boredom of teenage girls.”…
Why Sorkin’s “The Newsroom” is a Great Show (and Why Most Critics Don’t Like It)
Watching HBO’s great new show “The Newsroom,” two feelings come over me. First, a feeling of “I can’t believe a show gets it this honest, this succinct on these complex issues, this…right.” Second, a feeling of “Of course critics largely pan this show. It’s as much about their failures as it is the news media’s.” So, in a tradition I…
A Review of ALL the Bourne Films, and Noticing Exactly How Similar They Are
The moment is here to chat up the “new” Bourne film (which has more than a little bit in common with the old Bourne films) The Bourne Legacy. But in trying to be as thorough as possible in comparing them I re-watched the first Bourne trilogy starring Matt Damon—–not terribly difficult considering TNT or USA…
Why (Alabama-Native) Channing Tatum Is a Mega-Star, Even If No One Will Admit It
This article will deal with the simple reality of why Channing Tatum is the biggest “star” of the year, and the more complex reasons of why he doesn’t get the respect he should. Let me just hit people with the simple facts first. He is now the only American movie star to have three movies (The Vow,…
Entertainment Editorial: July’s Book of the Month Club Pick is…
Multiple Choice! This month was tough for me. Ordinarily, I’ve just finished a book I’m very-excited about (like last month’s pick Gone Girl or March’s The Orphan Master’s Son) or I’ve read a book a while ago that fits some type of theme for the month (February’s Ready Player One being a tribute to geek…