Film/TV
683 results
Page 59
How Paris transformed T.S. Eliot
O, to be a young poet in Paris
In 1910, Paris was the world's intellectual and cultural center and T.S. Eliot was only 22. His year there served as life-long inspiration for his groundbreaking poetry, plays, and criticism.
Articles
2 minute read
Open letter to film producer Jeffrey Lurie
Memo to a sensitive film producer: Have I got an opportunity for you!
Producer Jeff Lurie is miffed because the director of his Oscar-winning film neglected to thank him at the awards ceremony. As a small-scale filmmaker looking to crash the big time, I will eagerly perform any requisite display of gratitude in exchange for your support.
Articles
3 minute read
The poetic return of Theophile Gautier
It's not what you said, but how you said it
The best reason to welcome Theophile Gautier's return is that he's so damned entertaining as a poet. When times get hard, we need a little gentle enchantment in our lives.
Articles
4 minute read
"The King's Speech' reconsidered
On bowing and scraping before The King's Speech
The King's Speech, the much acclaimed film about King George VI's struggle to overcome his stutter, rests on a long-discarded literary premise: the notion that kings and queens are interesting and important people. Isn't it time we stopped bowing and scraping before these innocuous parasites?
Articles
3 minute read
"Casino Jack': Downfall of a lobbyist
A Congressman's best friend
Casino Jack portrays the legendary lobbyist Jack Abramoff as a Horatio Alger gone sour, working the system until it turns on him. But the film already wears a period air in our post-crash era, where crooks don't merely steal millions but evaporate trillions and get away with it.
Articles
5 minute read
The dark side of 'Tiger' parenting
Wusses vs. tigers: And the winner is….
Are we a nation of softies, as Governor Rendell recently claimed? Should we envy the performance-driven Chinese? Funny thing— many kids raised in driven households envy us, and with good reason.
Articles
5 minute read
"Worth Dying For': The appeal of Jack Reacher
One man I can trust: The appeal of Jack Reacher
When you're a twice-divorced 73-year-old, living in a trailer and feeling helpless to save the world from going to hell, an invincible fictitious hero like Lee Child's Jack Reacher makes an inspiring companion, even if he is a closet fascist.
Articles
6 minute read
Punch-drunk in Hollywood: 'The Fighter'
Requiem for a welterweight
What's worse than having your brains punched out in the ring? How about having your courage and integrity watered down into a Hollywood cliché?
Articles
4 minute read
Fareed Zakaria's "Post-American World'
Good riddance to American Exceptionalism
America is no longer the world's “shining city on the hill”— not because we've declined, but because the rest of the world is catching up. Fareed Zakaria's book, like his life, suggests a positive solution for Americans: Instead of fretting about losing, let's rejoin the human race.
Articles
4 minute read
"Phillies': The ultimate coffee-table book
Another miracle from the Phillies
Marcel Proust bit into a Madeleine to unleash a flood of childhood memories. Phillies offers old posters, baseball cards and ticket stubs that you can touch and caress. Top that, Kindle!
Articles
3 minute read