Movies

As Brian Wilson receded into the background, the rest of The Beach Boys sustained the band's powerful legacy

This is the part 2 conclusion of my review of The Beach Boys 2024 movie on Disney+.

Jun 15 •

Want the Ken Burns treatment for The Beach Boys? Check out the excellent 2024 doc

This is part 1 of my review of The Beach Boys 2024 movie on Disney+.

Jun 13 •

Knives Out and Women Talking present strong ensemble movie picks

The end of season 3 of The White Lotus has got me craving more ensemble entertainment.

Jun 12 •

May Pop Culture RIPs: There goes a regular with the passing of Norm from Cheers

Yes, sure I loved watching Norm sit at the bar with all his lighthearted but self-deprecating jokes, but I like even more that George Wendt, the actor…

Jun 2 •

Anora hits the tone just right on what it's really like to be a prostitute

When I was a daily newspaper reporter at the Alton Telegraph near St.

May 14 •

Tom Petty's effortlessly cool drive was at the height of its display in 1982

Billed as “a long-lost documentary” of legendary journalist and filmmaker Cameron Crowe, Tom Petty: Heartbreaks Beach Party from 2024 is on Paramount…

May 10 •

April Pop Culture RIPs, including an almost more real Jim Morrison than the real Jim Morrison

Val Kilmer leads the list of influentual figures we lost this past month.

Apr 30 •

Jason Schwartzman takes the lead in an indie that recalls Woody Allen, 1990s

Between the Temples is a quirky 2024 indie movie about a cantor at a Jewish synagogue (played by Jason Schwartzman of Rushmore fame) whose alcoholic…

Apr 24 •

Sweethearts kills time on a plane, but it’s no Mad Men

Kiernan Shipka has been an actor I’ve followed and appreciated because … well … she was Don Draper’s little girl in Mad Men and I love everything about…

Apr 11 •

An octopus, the Outer Banks, and Hall & Oates highlight my recent pop-culture intake

I’ve gobbled up plenty of TV and movie pop culture over the past couple of months and, well, not all of it gets a full article dissection here at the…

Apr 9 •

Chaos claims Manson was no mastermind and Helter Skelter was a ploy to make him a legend

I’ve been meaning to read CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties, by Tom O'Neill with Dan Piepenbring, since it’s release…

Mar 20 •

John Feinstein was one of my favorite sportswriters + a bunch of other recent RIPs

There are a handful of teachers and sportswriters who truly inspired me to become a newspaper sportswriter in my mid-20s.

Mar 16 •

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