From the category archives:

Culture

Nude Scenes: Prime Cut

July 31, 2010

When I was a little kid, my friends and I used to dig holes in the backyard, imagining, and half believing, that if we went down far enough, we would come out in China.  Well, that’s not right exactly, but it is true that if you go down far enough when you’re making a movie, [...]

Read the full article →

Super Mario Galaxy 2

July 28, 2010

This was lots and lots of fun – then wasn’t.  Super Mario in all his various incarnations is still the closest thing we have to a perfect video game character.  He’s lovable, courageous, courtly, talented–and if your toilet backs up, who ya gonna call?

As with Super Mario Galaxy 1, this game takes you around various [...]

Read the full article →

Me in City Journal on the Media

July 27, 2010

The truly estimable City Journal has posted my reaction to–well, to several things:  Journolist, Breitbart and the cancellation of my novel Empire of Lies in France for “political and religious” reasons:
The book’s French cancellation is, I realize, a rather small cultural event. Yet it gives specific color to the recent revelations on the [...]

Read the full article →

Notes on the Culture

July 26, 2010

INCEPTION
Well, it works, which, given the concept, is a small miracle in and of itself.  Plus, about two of its two and a half hours are really involving and entertaining and, in this summer of mostly crummy movies, that makes it feel like some sort of masterpiece.  But what Inception really is is a good [...]

Read the full article →

DVD: Brooklyn’s Finest

July 23, 2010

I’m a mega-sucker for cop films.  Love to watch guys in ties standing over a homicide victim.  Whether it’s great stuff like Heat, good but over-rated stuff like The Departed or despised stuff like Pride & Glory, I’m there and can pretty much watch it with pleasure end to end.  I’m sorry TV has sort [...]

Read the full article →

DVD: The White Ribbon

July 22, 2010

This German film is so beautiful to look at that you can just sit and watch the menu screen on the DVD with the scenes changing in the background. As for the movie itself, it’s long but quite involving.  It tells of a small northern German village just before World War I where strange [...]

Read the full article →

Featured Me

July 20, 2010

I am pleased and proud to be the current “Featured Personality” on PJTV’s Facebook Page.  The page has an interview with me about how I make my Klavan on the Culture videos (they’re actually carved out of the living rock).  Here’s a sample exchange:
PJTV: What inspires your Klavan on the Culture episodes?
AK: Oh, [...]

Read the full article →

Novel: John Dies At The End

July 17, 2010

Hey, this is really good, a really fun summer read – but be warned:  it’s comedy horror and while it really is comic, it’s also genuinely horrific.
As I understand it, the author, who writes under the pseudonym David Wong, is now the editor of Cracked.com, a very good comedy website based on that old Mad [...]

Read the full article →

“Bury The Dead” Makes Its Way

July 13, 2010

This is kind of cool:  a mock one-sheet for Bury The Dead, the spooky screenplay of mine optioned by ShoulderHill Entertainment.  ShoulderHill’s Steven Addair is planning to direct the film as the company’s first feature.

Most of the preparation for this has been of the behind-the-scenes kind -  funding and location scouting – so there hasn’t [...]

Read the full article →

On Mel Gibson: Celebrity is the Opposite of Wisdom

July 12, 2010

Though I avoided it as long as I could, I finally couldn’t escape hearing the tape of Mel Gibson berating ex-girlfriend Oskana Grigorieva.  Continued avoidance would’ve meant turning off Red Eye and that was a length to which I was not willing to go.  Curse you, Greg Gutfeld!
You’ve heard the story by now.  The director [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries