Blog

These stories have been around a long time. Some of them I have updated. Many of them I haven’t. This started out when blogs were like, new! 

Wide Awake During “The Drowsy Chaperone” – A Theatre Review

Anyone who likes musicals should experience the very charming The Drowsy Chaperone if he or she gets a chance to see it.  The book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar salutes American musicals of the Jazz Age and, although it starts to sag after a while, is effectively...

“The Ring” Remade – A Movie Review

Gore Verbinski's The Ring (2002) is a Hollywood remake of a 1999 Japanese film, and I could hardly figure out what was happening in it.  A horror concoction, it is strikingly creepy (aren't they all?), but for me creepy isn't scary. Even so, congrats to Verbinski for...

The Lowdown on “The Crime of Father Amaro” – A Movie Review

Re El Crimea del Padre Amaro (2002): No matter how pervasive Catholicism is, or how much headway Protestantism makes, in a country like Mexico, there will still be Latino directors and other artists who reflexively declare that Christ-followers are hypocrites. A novel...

“Coriolanus” and All Its Relevance – A Movie Review

Ralph Fiennes has directed for the screen Shakespeare's Coriolanus (2012).  Placed by Fiennes in a modern setting, it tells of Caius Martius, a Roman general given the title-surname of  "Coriolanus," who has valiantly defeated the current enemies of Rome.  Extolled...

Settling Scores, Miss Cody?: “Young Adult” – A Movie Review

I've been suspicious of the 2011 film, Young Adult, and so resisted seeing it at the theatre.  The other day, though, I watched it on DVD and realized my suspicion was justified. The movie is about a successful but extremely impractical--in fact, mentally ill--woman...

“A Separation” and the Human Situation – A Movie Review

The Iranian film, A Separation (2011), is as splendid as all the critics have said it is.  It is skillfully directed and shrewdly, fascinatingly written by one man:  Asghar Farhadi.  The drama--all about a shattering conflict involving two families--is...

Paying Attention to “Atlas Shrugged, Part 1” – A Movie Review

The Washington politicians in Atlas Shrugged, Part 1 (2011) want a basically socialistic system for the U.S.--and they want greater power than they already have.  They lead the nation in adopting the following view:  altruism good, big-business bad; but this does...

Old Days