commerce
Pirates a Huge Hit, Critics Wrong Again

Here's another interesting bit of news from Disney: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's C...

commerce
Disney Profits Soar As Company Goes Back to Roots

Profits at the Walt Disney Company have soared as the studio has been moving back into fam...

movies
Stone’s WTC Disaster Flick

I know, Oliver Stone's World Trade Center opens today, but I'm busy working, so I'll just ...

books
Culture and Population

The eminent poet and philosopher Frederick Turner provides some big-picture, civilization-...

omniculture
A Program I Will Never See….

As I've pointed out before, in the Omniculture, everything happens. A particularly vivid c...

books
Richard Matheson’s Evocative Vampire-Zombie Story

Warners Bros. has announced that its film adaptation of I Am Legend, the 1953 horror novel...

books
Harry Potter Film Number 6 Scheduled

 Warner Bros. has announced that the film version of Harry Potter #6, Harry Potter an...

commerce
Three Moons over ABC Family’s New Direction

The current catch phrase for the ABC Family Channel is "A New Kind of Family"&md...

commerce
Fringe Phenomena in the Omniculture

Another hugely successful "fringe" phenomenon (see my Lollapalooza post immediat...

commerce
Lollapalooza in the Omniculture

The Lollapalooza festival of "alternative" music is drawing huge crowds in Chica...

style
Paris Hilton Joins Abstinence Movement

Here's a fascinating tidbit for you. The twenty-five-year-old actress/model/allegedlyunwil...

commerce
MyNetworkTV

The people behind MyNetworkTV are characterizing their forthcoming national network as som...

commerce
MTV Turns 25, World Continues Turning

MTV turned 25 this week, and your intrepid correspondent has contributed a few thoughts to...

movies
Buster Keaton, Detective

On his Classic Images website, Charles Mitchell offers this fascinating little morsel of i...

commerce
Mr. Moto Returns

Although 20th Century Fox is not exactly shouting it from the housetops, The Mr. Moto Coll...

mysteries
The Fine Art of Thievery

The season-ending episode of Hustle, one of the very best programs currently on television...

music
A Musical Depression

Those who have read my music criticism in the past know that I prefer compositions that ar...

books
The Case of Perry Mason—and an Important Addition

Speaking of Perry Mason as we were yesterday, you might be interested to know that the fir...

books
From “The Case of the Bestselling Author”

Here are some extracts from my article on Erle Stanley Gardner, "The Case of the Best...

movies
Joker Begins

Warner Bros has confirmed that Heath Ledger will play the Joker in the forthcoming sequel ...

mysteries
Perry Mason Returns . . . Again

Starting tonight the Hallmark Channel is presenting a week of Perry Mason movies, each wee...

movies
William Powell on TCM

OK, forgive me for being a little late with this, but Turner Classic Movies is showing fil...

television
Religion in a Sitcom

Those who complain that Hollywood seldom depicts religion as a normal and good part of fil...

movies
Miami Vice Blues

The way to make a great genre film is not to try to "transcend the genre," as is...

television
The Same Thing We Do with Every DVD Set: Try to Take Over the World!

Volume 1 of the satirical animated TV series Pinky and the Brain is now available on DVD. ...

movies
Blonde Alert!

Tonight on Turner Classic Movies: two excellent movies with the word Blonde in their title...

television
Hex Appeal

I'm ambivalent about the BBC-TV series Hex, which runs on Thurday nights at 10 p.m. EDT on...

movies
“Jesus Documentary” to Paint “Objective” Picture of Born-Again Christians

An art-film documentary on young Christians has been picked up by Magnolia Pictures for di...

commerce
Another File-Sharing Network Bites the Dust

Sharman Networks Ltd, the makers and distributors of the hugely popular file-sharing netwo...

commerce
Microsoft Tries a Different Plan for TV on the Web

Computer software giant Microsoft is about to bring free, commercial television to the Web...

movies
Some Like It Hot

MGM has just released a new Collector's Edition DVD of Billy Wilder's classic 1958 comedy ...

movies
The Great Billy Wilder

In recognition of MGM's release of a Collector's Edition DVD of Billy Wilder's brilliant c...

movies
Mid-’60s Music Movie Mania

Those who like mid-'60s rock and roll music (and who doesn't?) should toddle over to Turne...