You may just die laughing
Over the past month I have published two pieces that have elicited far more comments than any of my other 300-plus articles: “Ten Classic Westerns You Absolutely Must See Before You Die” and “Ten Classic War Movies You Must See Before You Die.” …
A Short Story
It had started as a drinking game. A drinking game for pop culture nerds, to be exact. We were just a bunch of punk kids then, film and literature majors who got passed over by every fraternity and sorority on campus and banded together as much out of self-preservation as…
Yes, Films Really Can Be Both
Last week I published an article about five of the worst movies ever made, at least as far as their historical accuracy. To show that I’m not just a grumpy old man who hates everything, today I want to present the flip side of that: five movies that are both…
And I WILL see him in 2022
Because I have an undying love for Bruce Springsteen (some would call it an unnatural love), I follow the New Jersey-centric website NJ.com. Yesterday, the site published a story with an intriguing title: “Springsteen’s Perfect 2022 Concert Setlist: The 34 Songs He Should Play, In Order.” …
The silence is deafening
It seems like almost everything outrages us today. From voter suppression to anti-vaxxers to the high cost of bacon, our news feeds are filled with stories that, rightly, make our blood boil. …
It depends on a number of things
Late October is the time of year when kids of all ages are deep in preparation for Halloween, college football fans are focused on their team’s playoff chances, and writers across the globe are gearing up for National Novel Writing Month, better known as NaNoWriMo. Even if you’re not a…
They scared the hell out of me
Over the past month or so I have published three articles about movies you should see before you die, covering westerns, comedies, and war movies (there is a link to all three at the end of this article). The responses have been voluminous, and not surprisingly the ones on the…
THREE MINUTES WITH THE SAINTS
A tiny woman with a giant faith
What is true today will be true 500 years from now: Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa of Calcutta are the two best-known saints of the 20th century. Of the two, however, it is not the pope who reigned for 27 years and helped bring an end to communism…
Rare, but necessary
Two days ago, I published a piece about a Southlake Carroll (TX) School District administrator advising teachers that they had to use books presenting “both sides” of the history of the Holocaust. Her exact quote was: “Make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust that you have…
They defined literature for a generation and beyond
Chances are good that you’ve heard of the Rat Pack, the ultra-cool crew of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Joey Bishop, and a few others that ruled Las Vegas in the 1960s and gave us the original Ocean’s Eleven film from 1960 that was little more than two…
