FROST/NIXON: Can We Talk? January 29, 2009

It’s fun.
And, yes, I’m talking about the play Frost/Nixon.
Not to worry, I’ll give you a deeper take on the national tour of Peter Morgan’s play that just opened at Boston’s Colonial Theatre straight ahead, but I thought a lighter tone was the best way to start.
Why?
Well, for one thing, I think there’s a lot of [...]

Life On Mars: Lost In Time January 28, 2009

Life On Mars returns to the ABC prime time lineup tonight at 10:00, and the move to Wednesday, following Lost, presents challenges and opportunities.  The good news is that the potent lead-in will drive a lot more viewers to sample this excellent drama.  The flip side is that both shows deal with time travel in [...]

Dancing With The Pols January 25, 2009

News item: Cindy McCain, wife of Senator John McCain, considered taking part in an upcoming edition of Dancing With The Stars.  The former Republican presidential nominee spilled the beans to talk show host Larry King the other night.  He also pointed out that Cindy recently had knee replacement surgery.  “Well, we discussed it,” he told [...]

Oscar Glow and Paul Blart Dough January 23, 2009

Just a quick blog this morning, as the “serious” film goers of the world digest the Oscar nominations.  Hollywood loves to ballyhoo about the art of movie making, but putting fannies in the seats is the real goal.  So, yes, while The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, and The Reader are all [...]

Lost Returns: Trying To Make The Best Of Both Worlds January 21, 2009

Lost is back tonight (9:00 PM Channel 5/ABC), and for fans of well written, well acted, just plain top-notch dramatic, series television that is a very good thing.  Unless you just can’t get enough of Howie Mandel, you might have noticed that this isn’t exactly the golden age of scripted TV.  Lost is a very [...]

Oscar and Heath: Dancing in the Dark January 18, 2009

This Thursday, the Academy Award nominations will be announced at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles … I fully expect the late Heath Ledger to be named in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight.
He’ll win it too.
Why?
Pretty simple, his performance was flat out the most [...]

Read “Watchmen” Before You See “Watchmen” January 16, 2009

The battle over distribution rights to the highly anticipated movie Watchmen has been settled.  Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox announced in a joint statement yesterday that an agreement had been reached ….  that means the March 6, 2009 opening is a go.
Read: Studios Reach Deal On ‘Watchmen’ Release
I have one request, though, before you mark the calendar … read Watchmen [...]

What’s Your Springsteen Super Bowl Halftime Set List? January 14, 2009

Bruce Springsteen has filled the biggest stadiums the world has to offer for decades now, but on Super Bowl Sunday he’ll play for the largest audience of his career.  His 12 minute halftime set could be seen by around 148 million Americans if last year’s numbers hold up … that’s big even by Jersey girl [...]

Coulter Wars January 11, 2009

Politics and pop culture are a pretty hot combo right now with much of the credit going to The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Saturday Night Live.  Humor is now the weapon of choice to deal with the nation’s Liberal/Conservative split, and I think it’s a healthy one.  Still, the line between what’s funny [...]

Dirty Dancing On Stage/Swayze’s Courage At Home January 9, 2009

Faithful readers of this fine blog may recall that way back in July I wrote a piece about Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage … it was just a head’s up that in February 2009 Boston would be treated to the Pre-Broadway East Coast premiere of this re-interpretation of the movie sensation.  I [...]