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Movie Review: Queen of Versailles
In Queen of Versailles, director Lauren Greensfield manages to humanize two of the least human humans in America
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Reconciliation: A Son’s Story
The book is about the lingering ramifications of his father’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—what the author deems “collateral damage.”
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Neil Young Journeys: A Trip for Fans
The film “Neil Young Journeys” is a trip that fans won’t want to miss.
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Book Review: Why America Failed
Failed. Not: “going through an economic downturn.” Not: “experiencing some technical difficulties.” Not: “in decline.” Failed.
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Movie Review: To Rome, With Love
To Rome, With Love, is another Woody Allen love-letter to a classic city. It hits and misses but is worth seeing.
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Bully: You’re on Your Own, Kids
If the message of Bully was meant to be “Sorry, kids, but you’re on your own,” then Lee Hirsch’s documentary did a stellar job. The message rings through loud and clear that kids and their parents are the only ones with the power to act against school systems that perpetuate, and even harbor, abusive bullying ...
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Book Review: Who In This Room (The Realities of Cancer, Fish and Demolition)
A review of Seattle-based writer, Katherine Malmo’s memoir published by Calyx Press.
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Book Review: Mushroom
Editors at Oxford University Press showed admirable restraint when they gave the 2011 book “Mushroom” its title. Surely someone at the table had wanted to add a subtitle, “Mushroom—a Natural History”, or some other way to codify Nicholas P. Money’s brilliant account of how the mushroom has challenged understanding and inspired imagination for centuries.
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The Hunger Games Reaches Past the Book Series, and Succeeds
“The Hunger Games” is the latest tween-book-turned-film, based on Suzanne Collins’ series, and is tearing up the box office with record sales. There’s a reason for that: it’s a really good movie. Fans of the book, and cinema in general, won’t be disappointed.
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The Undeniable Charm of ‘The Artist’
The Artist debuted in 2011, and is now playing at Darkside Cinemas. It took home five Oscars at The Academy Awards, but many have reservations about the relevancy or fairness of the Awards. The Artist deserved all five- and more.
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Review: War Is Boring
For David Axe, the author of War Is Boring, war was his life. For four years he covered military conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, East Timor, Somalia, Chad and Lebanon. During that time as a correspondent for The Washington Times, C-SPAN and BBC Radio, David flew from war zone to war zone, getting to the story about the true victims of the world’s conflicts.
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Review: The Woman in Black Scares but Disappoints
The plot harkens back to classic haunted house movies like House on Haunted Hill (1959) and The Haunting (1963), a beleaguered protagonist is forced to stay in a reportedly haunted mansion and gradually discover the truth behind the grisly murders that occurred there years prior. The Woman in Black attempts to revitalize this spooky genre…
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Review: The Shape of the Eye
Occasionally I come across a book in which I struggle to find the right words to describe it in a review. There’s a variety of reasons I think for this. As a stay-at-home and work-at-home dad, sometimes it’s just plain fatigue. Other times I almost feel that anything I say won’t do the book the justice it deserves. George Estreich’s The Shape of the Eye is a perfect example of the latter reason.
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Review: John Dies @ the End
If I could give this book a different title it would be Harold and Kumar Meet a Shoggoth because that’s exactly what it is. Part buddy comedy, part indescribable horror from beyond the realm of human imagination.