Meeting Kirk Douglas
You don’t have to ask Kirk Douglas for his favorite film role – it’s already on his lips. “Van Gogh.” He’s referring to Lust for...
On The Road With America
In honor of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer, here’s a repost of a piece I wrote back in October, when The Road seemed like a metaphor for...
Kurt Vonnegut’s Greatest Generation
Kurt Vonnegut proposed an alternative version of World War II glory, a writhing and brutal portrait of internal turmoil and loss and madness that manifested...
Green Beer and English: The Actors and Poets of St. Patrick
The recent news that the Irish and the English come from the same ancient genetic stock, by and large, should be no shock to anyone...
Rock’s Greatest Covers II: Bob Dylan’s Progeny
A few years ago, the Rolling Stones covered the greatest song in the history of rock n’ roll. No, this list isn’t about that. It’s...
Rock’s Greatest Covers: Patti Tops the List
When Van Morrison wrote the classic Gloria as the B-side to Them’s 1964 hit Baby Please Don’t Go, he couldn’t have suspected what a kid...
The Replacements Come to Monday Nights
I’m writing here about a television series I have never seen, but intend to, as my schedule allows. It’s a replacement series – your garden...
Pete Townshend: Who, He? (and Us)
Pete Townshend is writing his memoirs. Or rather, he’s blogging them. This differs from a decade ago, when Townshend signed with Little Brown to write...
A Bad TV Show About Good Movies
Today we focus on movies by way of a glitzy, Vegas-style revue show that has almost nothing to do with brilliant film-making. It’s Hoillywood celebrating...
Walking the Red Carpet: When Stars Were Stars
When I was young, the Academy Awards still retained an unmistakeable aura of glamor and remove. There in one big room for one long evening,...
