Movies and Mental Molding
Last weekend I attended our church’s annual Christmas extravaganza. There was a bit of everything, from Handel to jazz, Michael W. Smith to Wagner (if you can believe that!). There was even a bit of ballet-like interpretative dancing with a couple songs. And it’s that last bit that I want to talk about. As those […]
Color Me Shocked
I’ve been doing a lot of coloring lately. With my 4-year-old son, that is. A couple months ago, I discovered that there are coloring-book-style pages online for almost everything he might be interested in. Recently, for instance, we’ve printed out coloring pages for all manner of animals (manatees, cheetahs, peregrine falcons), sharks (hammerheads and especially […]
Commitment and Influence, Hollywood and Us
A couple weeks ago I was casually thumbing through the Nov. 19 issue of Entertainment Weekly when I noticed that several actor profiles all had a little subhead by their articles that said “Star in Training.” I was curious what that was all about. Turns out the subhead was referring the to nearly Olympic levels […]
Content, Context and Ratings
Last week brought word that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s independent studio, The Weinstein Company, is suing the Motion Picture Association of America for its ratings of two of the studio’s upcoming films. The King’s Speech, a docudrama about how Britain’s King George VI overcame a speech impediment, earned an R-rating for its (presumably) multiple uses […]
Bang Your … Skate?
Once upon a time, the path to becoming a rock god was simple and clear: Grow your hair out. Raise your fist at everything polite society values. Maybe bite the head off a bird. Testify in Congress regarding your right to spew vile lyrics. Or just spew blood and fire from your mouth. A gaggle […]
“Can You Hear Me Now? I’m on Mt. Everest.”
If you’ve ever thought, “Man, I’d climb Mt. Everest if only I could call my mom when I reached the summit,” well, it’s time to pack your parka and put the Sherpas on speed dial (not to mention telling mom what you’re up to … literally). The Nepalase telecom group Ncell has announced that it […]
Fame and Compromise
Few entertainers talk candidly about the way fame and fortune can require, at times, uncomfortable compromises. Actually, scratch that. We get tell-all memoirs all the time from actors, actresses and musicians whose fame crested 10 or 20 or 40 years ago—tomes that chronicle rampant debauchery behind the scenes or the things they felt forced to […]
I Want My Analog TV
A couple nights ago, my wife and I were watching a bit of TV. Specifically, a bit o’ baseball. Neither one of us is a huge baseball fan. But we sometimes tune in for a few minutes here and there during the playoffs, just to see what’s happening. I think it was the Yankees/Rangers game. […]
Not in My House … But Fine in Yours
Every now and then, celebrities reveal some pretty interesting double standards. As in, the racy and profane material that they’re more than willing to foist upon the rest of us is actually off limits when it comes to their own children and their own homes. In 2007, for instance, Madonna—who’s built a career on transgressing […]
Whose Football Is It, Anyway?
A couple weeks ago I had a momentarily confusing, disorienting experience watching NFL football on a Sunday afternoon. I’d just gotten my son down for a nap and came down to see the score of the Denver game. I’m no hard-core fan—I can’t even remember who they were playing that day—but I do like to […]