movies
Cohen Retires Famous Characters

Comedian-actor Sacha Baron Cohen is retiring two characters that made him famous—and...

genres
The Problem with Contemporary Detective Fiction

In an essay provocatively called "The Slow and Agonizing Death of the Private Detecti...

genres
The Value of the Trickster

A classic type of literary and folk-tale character is the trickster, an individual who rou...

commerce
“Legend,” “Chipmunks” Dominate Movie Box Office

As expected, the Will Smith-starring intellectual zombie film I Am Legend opened very stro...

movies
“I Am Legend” Not an Ordinary Action Film—And That’s Good

Exclusive to The American Culture: Rebecca Cusey reviews I Am Legend and says there's much...

uncategorized
The Appeal of the Principled Rep. Paul

 In a Republican Party that has clearly lost its principles over the past decade (see...

commerce
Thanks but No Bloody Thanks, Sen. Kerry

Senator's thinly veiled threat of congressional action to ensure fans see New England foot...

commerce
Atheists Offended by Movie Trailer

Our friend Jeff Emanuel reports that atheist parents who took their kids to see The Golden...

commerce
Fantasy Film Not Golden at the Box Office

The epic fantasy film The Golden Compass, based on the first book in British author Philip...

mysteries
Monk, Psych Christmas Specials Premiere

Tonight USA Network presents two mystery-comedy Christmas specials.At 9 EST (repeated at 1...

uncategorized
Coercion Is Not Charity—The Huckabee Fallacy

In a scathing but fair critique of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, currently running f...

commerce
“Golden Compass” Movie Opens Today

The controversial fantasy film The Golden Compass opens today in theaters across the Unite...

commerce
Heroes Audience Shrinks Due to Producers’ Missteps

Program's mistakes show the importance of narrative coherence. The NBC TV show Heroes...

manners-and-morals
The Splendid Mr. Rickles

I haven't got around to seeing Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project yet, but I certainly wi...

television
Interview with “Saving Grace” Creator Nancy Miller

Saving Grace is truly one of the best programs on television today—serious, intellig...

commerce
Movie Audiences Remain Enchanted by Charming Disney Fantasy

Disney's Enchanted, which generated the second-biggest Thanksgiving opening weekend ever a...

commerce
TV Networks Are Making Big Money Online: Report

There's good news and bad news for the TV networks in recent figures released by Starcom, ...

movies
“Golden Compass” or Scary Trojan Horse?

We're a week away from the opening of The Golden Compass, the new film based on the first ...

commerce
The Idea Behind the FCC’s Intrusive,Coercive Regulatory Agenda

National Review Online has just published an interesting article praising FCC Chairman Kev...

genres
The Dr. Kildare Films

A very good movie series that has been unjustly overlooked since the cultural cataclysm th...

journalism
E! Puts Prayers in Scare Quotes

Here's a good indicator of how the mainstream media look at the religion the great majorit...

commerce
Disney’s “Enchanted” Opens Strong at Box Office

 U.S. film audiences are continung to make it clear that their preference these days ...

movies
An Essential Mystery Film

There's an excellent mystery film on Turner Classsic Movies tonight at 7:00 EST: Green for...

uncategorized
Thanksgiving Wish

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers. Please take some time to consider the meaning of...

movies
The Andy Hardy Films

Critics of the past half-century have never had much use for MGM's Andy Hardy movie series...

music
Asia Reforms, Norlander on Keyboards

The rock supergroup Asia can be seen as either having brought progressive rock ideas to th...

uncategorized
Brian May Named University Chancellor

As noted earlier on this site, former Queen guitarist Brian May's earning of a doctorate i...

movies
The Falcon

One of my favorite movie detectives is Gay Lawrence, aka the Falcon, a gentleman-sleuth an...

movies
“Beowulf” Reinvented

In addition to its considerable literary merits, Beowulf is significant as the first Chris...

uncategorized
Coming Saturday: “Beowulf” Reviewed

art
“Rembrandt of the Comic Strip”

I'm not a comic-book/graphic-novel lover nor a hater. The form just doesn't grab me the wa...

commerce
Film Directors Criticize Media Treatment of Iraq War As Too Passive

Film directors Brian De Palma and Paul Haggis have attacked the media for not reporting en...

manners-and-morals
Two Entertaining Detective Film Series

Two very entertaining detective-film series are on display tomorrow on Turner Classic Movi...