Unavoidably, it happened that I was overseas on November 4th, a development that infuriated me. Though I got my vote in early, I so wanted to be on my native soil to witness what I...

As October moves inexorably to its close, my thoughts turn to Halloween and all things scary, not counting Sarah Palin and Wall Street. I'm now an empty-nester, so this year no trick-or-treating or other adolescent shenanigans will deter...

The term "abuse of power" is in the news again. Adding insult to injury, we learn that our nation's most ubiquitous hockey mom, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, was engaged in some flagrant high-sticking activity while in office, attempting...

Incredibly, younger folks may recognize him more from a bottle of salad dressing than from his awe-inspiring filmography. Some years ago, in partnership with one of his daughters, actor Paul Newman started a highly visible and successful line of food products, including said salad dressing (try the balsamic vinaigrette), brownies,...

Let us for a moment consider "The Palin Effect": a woman clearly ill-equipped for the task of high office still manages to reinvigorate a Presidential ticket. She is any thoughtful moderate's worst nightmare, and an insult to any...

We all know what "on-demand" means, but for many of us, its use has been limited to ordering new mainstream releases via "Pay" TV channels on our cable system. This is but a small part of what on-demand will eventually make possible as it gets perfected and implemented over the...

I just attended a showing of the much ballyhooed "The Dark Knight", and besides stepping in gum, found the movie as overstuffed as a Spanish olive. Though the late Heath Ledger's turn as the Joker transcends the rest...

A few months back, I was speaking with a New York magazine publisher, and he mentioned that his daughter, in her thirties, was now running his fashion magazine.

Since we were on the subject of timeless film, he...

Getting a little tired of all that bright sun? Is it getting a little hot for you? I get it. Sometimes it's nice to go someplace dark and cool, where nobody knows you. Only -- just because...

Given the state of affairs in our nation today, I was moved to revisit documentarian Robert Greenwald's scorching Outfoxed (2004), about Rupert Murdoch's insidious, reactionary propaganda machine commonly known as FOX News. My mounting anger as...

It's been said that master film-maker Stanley Kubrick named The Decalogue, the critically acclaimed 1988 Polish mini-series (now compiled in one DVD set) the only "film masterpiece" he could think of. (Clearly he was being modest about his own Dr. Strangelove).

I confess the title of this piece may be a trifle misleading. Often, when people hear the term "summer movies", they think of the bloated blockbusters coming out of Hollywood for the big summer season, when our...

I saw the headline last week on the back of a New York City paper saying something about a hooker (or pimp) copping a plea in the Spitzer scandal. For the first time ever, I began to feel a bit sorry for Eliot.

Always a tough and highly driven customer,...

Viewing the evolution of Hollywood films over time, I tend to place our male movie stars in one of two categories: romantic leads, and what we'll call "everyman" leads.

First and foremost, romantic leads attract the ladies in...

I just finished a fascinating book called Pictures at a Revolution by Mark Harris which seeks to pinpoint the moment of Hollywood's initial transition to a new generation and a fresh form and model of film-making. That defining...

Few would disagree that our society is moving at a faster clip than ever before. Now we can always be reached, and the Blackberry and PC have become not just life enhancements, but crucial determiners of how we...

It seems Barack Obama got into some trouble over some unseemly remarks about the fears and attitudes of some of the middle class. Although his comments did not sound nasty or belittling to my ears, more like...

Just this once, I'm going to bite (more like nip) the hand that publishes me, or more accurately, the fingers of those who contribute its content.

I was scanning the Huffington Entertainment page several days ago, looking...

If you've not seen it already, I invite you all to go to YouTube and watch the video labelled "Dick Cheney SO." With all the inevitable political jabbering and hype going on in this political...

Much of the reason Maureen Dowd of The New York Times is so scathingly funny is that there's usually some potent, blunt truth behind her clever, jibing prose. So, while we laugh, we also take her...