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…
TV Reviews: “True Blood” Season Finale, Premiere of “Go On,” “Animal Practice,” and “Grimm”
Although I really want to talk about a great show a little later today (Newsroom), let’s warm up by quickly grading some shitty ones. [Except for Grimm, which is just mediocre, not bad.] True Blood…Last night was the fifth season finale of HBO’s (current) longest running drama show, and just realizing that makes me depressed. The fact…
Mom Jokes: Grandfathers Don’t Know Everything
Hunter was 4 years old and was staying with his grandfather for a few days. He’d been playing outside with the other kids, when he came into the house and asked: ‘Grandpa, what’s that called when two people sleep in the same bedroom and one is on top of the other?’ His Grandpa was a little…
Sunday’s Sermons: Togo’s Women Have a Sex Strike…Should American Women Do the Same?
There’s a small piece of international news circling around out there about an honest-to-God sex strike taking place this week in the West African country of Togo. Apparently, women there are fed up with the current president, and their plan to oust him is to withhold sex from their husbands for a week. I actually…
Bubba’s Sex Tips: But How Does Hank Williams Jr. REALLY Feel About Obama?
Like most country music fans, it’s hard for me to get through most songs without thinking “But how does this person feel about President Obama?” I can’t tell you all the times I’ve been sitting in my truck, getting drunk (getting drunk is no fun if you’re not immediately about to drive somewhere…preferably through a…
Petty Issues: Norway’s Shooter, New York’s Shooter, Rihanna’s Abuser…Damn, A Depressing Week
An armed gunman just shot his boss at the Empire State building, and wounded several people in a shootout with cops as he attempted to flee…Uhhh, not really sure how to make a joke about this…Ummmm, man, how about this weather huh? Hot outside today… Rihanna said that Chris Brown is “the love of her…
Working Class Economist: Paul Ryan’s Budget Plan Actually INCREASES The Deficit
While everyone else is discussing Paul Ryan’s black girlfriend from college (I kid you not), I thought it might be a good opportunity to examine the real love of his life: cutting programs for the disenfranchised. See, Ryan’s bread and butter is slashing “government spending” (a bloodless term that means programs for the elderly, sick,…
TV Reviews: Finales of Political Animals, The Closer, and Falling Skies
In the last week, we’ve seen long running TV series end (The Closer), short running TV series end (Political Animals), and the second season finale of an occasionally strong, often frustrating series (Falling Skies). The Closer…I’ve never watched a single episode of this show, so the “finale” (which really just set up an almost identical…
Monday Morning Movie Reviewer: Hope Springs…A Minor Triumph of a Movie
The exact opposite of Killer Joe (a daring surface movie with a somewhat cheap center), Hope Springs is a comfortable, feel-good movie that actually contains a quiet, deep knowledge of relationships. There is more truth and perceptiveness in this film than in the last twenty big studio romances I’ve seen. Much like Ruby Sparks, it starts…
Movie Review: My First NC-17 Rated Movie Theater Experience with “Killer Joe”
I have never actually seen an NC-17 rated movie during its theatrical run until this film. Now I can say I’ve lived. It was drastically different than most films shown at big screen multiplexes. First I had to show ID when I bought a ticket, even though only the most obtuse theater cashier would think…
Monday Morning Movie Reviewer: Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer
“Red Hook Summer” is the new film from Spike Lee and one that quite a lot of people might be looking forward to since it returns the filmmaker to his Brooklyn roots and even has a cameo by Spike himself, playing his old Do the Right Thing character and still delivering pizzas. Those that might…
Movie Review: Ruby Sparks
Ruby Sparks is the indie romance of the summer that stars Paul Dano—–an actor you either don’t like or have never heard of—–as a writer and Zoe Kazan as the title-character, a woman he literally creates. The central plot involves Dano’s writer trying to cure his block with a writing exercise describing the girl he…
Movie Review: The Watch
This movie opened a mere three weeks ago, but has more or less vanished since. I’ll keep the review short, and put about as much time into it as all involved put into making this movie. What Works: To say this movie has no laughs would be wrong. It has four…spaced out over nearly 100…