Oscar’s Would-Be Winners Lose Out on Family Friendliness
Believe it or not, Oscar and Plugged In can sometimes agree on what makes a great movie. Sure, the Academy Awards will always have its share of grim dramas and salacious stories amongst its nominees, but some years it goes out of its way to praise inspirational fare that even we curmudgeons can gave a […]
12 Strong Can’t Outmuscle Jumanji
The juggernaut that is Jumanji just keeps chugging along. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle—a movie predicated on a magical board game—continues to claim a monopoly on the box office’s numero uno slot, earning an estimated $20 million payday. Does Jumanji feel sorry for its success? Not one little bit. While making a movie is always […]
Culture Clips: The Holy Throwers Edition
Anyone who watched the Minnesota Vikings pull off a near-miraculous win against the New Orleans Saints last weekend probably saw Case Keenum—a one-time backup quarterback was thrust into the starting lineup due to injury and who’s having a career year—literally jump for joy. But if fans turned off the telly before the postgame interviews, they […]
Jumanji Wins Another
Let me start with a confession: I just didn’t see the juggernaut that is the new Jumanji coming. Oh, sure. I knew the pedigree. The original Jumanji starred Robin Williams and made a healthy run at the box office way back in 1995, collecting $100.4 million in North America (a lot of money back then). […]
Culture Clips: A Window Into the World of Teens
It’s not easy being a teen. Never has been, never will be. How are today’s adolescents navigating that vast pubescent wasteland? Both teens and the scientists who observe ’em like lab rats have offered some thoughts on that over the last several days. First, some good news: High schoolers aren’t having sex as much as […]
Finding Truth at the Golden Globes
The Golden Globes this year offered a lot of what awards shows typically offer: lots of awards, lots of star power, lots of sometimes awkward acceptance speeches. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri escaped the awards show with four Globes. HBO’s miniseries Big Little Lies scampered away with three. But this year, hardly anyone was talking […]
Jumanji Hikes to Top of Box Office
What does it take to knock the biggest hit of 2017 off the box office’s top perch? A big Rock, apparently. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle—starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson—welcomed itself into first place this weekend. It earned an estimated $36 million in North America and claimed its first box office victory after three weeks […]
Culture Clips: A Good Year for the Bad Guys
We’re three whole days into 2018 now, but it’s still wholly appropriate to look back at the year that was. Researchers have weighed the data to determine the year’s most popular books, movies and videos. Pundits have opined on the year’s biggest entertainment stories. But one thing’s clear, at least to the Los Angeles Times’ […]
The Last Jedi is 2017’s Last Word
We’ve put away our tiny hats and paper horns. We’ve stopped pondering what “Auld Lang Syne” means for another year. Yes, we’ve opened the book on a shiny new anum. But while old 2017 may be ready to leave, old Luke Skywalker seems bent on hanging around. Star Wars: The Last Jedi closed out 2017 […]
Pop Culture’s Top 10 Movers and Shakers (2017 Edition)
The outgoing year is often depicted as an old, tired man with a beard down to his knees. But this year, that depiction felt all too true. With all the natural disasters and political unrest and international crises afoot, 2017 probably made us all feel older than we should. Back in the day, many folks […]
