Blogger and fictionalizer of many things
On a recent visit to Scandanavia, it was tough for me to travel through Sweden without thinking about my favorite horror film in the last fifteen years, Ari Aster’s Midsommar. The people we visited and stayed with were welcoming and wonderful, the food excellent and Stockholm was gorgeous, but the deep dive into a sunshine-infused, [ ]
Last weekend I was fortunate to nab a free ticket to a 70mm showing of Christopher Nolan s The Odyssey at the recently revamped Director s Village Theater in Westwood. I found it a mostly entertaining version of the classic story, though the muddy sound mix made it difficult to hear the dialogue in the all-important opening [ ]
The final four games of the World Cup are normally the only soccer I ever watch. The high vantage point, lack of scoring and methodical, zen-like passing have long been far less interesting to me than the action and speed of football, basketball, and hockey, and the historical richness and suspense of baseball. This year, [ ]
I am certainly no fan of A.I., but can see its uses when it comes to getting answers to difficult questions or creating funny memes. But a swarm of phony historical baseball photos have seeped into the Facebook feeds of myself and many other fans of the game—and the scourge has reached epidemic proportions. On [ ]
Okay, I was a big fan of One Battle After Another, but the best father-daughter action thriller of 2025 had a far lower budget, virtually no stars, and you probably have never even heard of it. Until five days ago, I sure hadn’t. She Rides Shotgun, from British director Nick Rowland, is a breathtaking study [ ]
One Battle After Another remains my favorite movie of the year. Nouvelle Vague, Richard Linklater’s superb black and white love letter to the French New Wave, is my second favorite. And now I have a third… The Lost Bus is an Apple Original by Paul Greengrass, who directed the equally amazing, far too unheralded United [ ]
Back in October of 1988, I was alone in my one-bedroom bungalow on Formosa Avenue when Kirk Gibson hit his memorable walkoff home run to win the first game of the World Series for the Dodgers. A loud gasp of excitement and shock burst from my throat, and I immediately jumped to my feet and [ ]
I have a very odd relationship with The White Lotus. I was hooked on the first season of HBO’s non-flinching study of entitled, flawed travelers in remote locations until hotel manager and Emmy-winner Murray Bartlett took an actual dump in a guest’s suitcase in the season finale—an act so gross and unnecessary to put on [ ]
Did you know that Larry McMurtry may be the greatest American novelist? I never thought so, until I suddenly, recently did. After a good friend’s father passed away a few years back, his entire collection of McMurtry books showed up on my front steps free of charge, so I plucked out about 25 volumes. I [ ]
Late last night I read a devastating post on Threads by a 22-year veteran of NASA, a woman with seven straight “perfect performance” reviews who just lost her job along with countless other civil servants due to the destructive whims of two megalomaniac toddlers. It didn’t help me get to sleep, but it sure inspired [ ]