Category: Rants and Raves

  • Laugh Until You Cry

    The Big Short is being billed as a comedy, which is funny. Hilarious, really. Yes, it has some funny lines and devices, but it’s a tragic film and an essential one every American should see. Director Adam McKay doesn’t need green screens and CGI magic to depict catastrophe and humanity put on the brink, he…

  • Dinoborus Max

    I fed the beast. Ponied-up some money to see Jurassic World. If you’re one of the 316 people left on the planet who has not seen it, let this serve as a warning. Don’t! It’s a steaming pile of dino dump. All the money and attention is paid in the service of the technology that…

  • The New Tax Man

    Americans greet the prospect of raising taxes as if it were a bubonic plague-HIV-leprosy-cancer cocktail. A fate worse than death itself. But if local governments can’t get money through taxes, they’ll get their dough a different way–– through badge-wearing-revenue-generators. Those flashing cherry tops are like cash registers ringing for the locals, and if you think…

  • Anger In America

    I was guilty, not even Saul Goodman could have pled my case. It was Saturday, the office parking lot of 22 spaces was empty when I pulled into it, so I slid into a space closer to the elevator than my own. I figured this was my right as a lazy American. Why should I…

  • Legally Bored

    “Wild” is a movie based on a book, Cheryl Strayed’s memoir called “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” about hiking more than 1,000 miles with no prior experience, unless you count walking as a skill. I used to on my resume. I didn’t read the book, but my wife did and…

  • RomCom Yuckfest

    For anyone who’s suffered through mindless romantic comedies, They Came Together covers some familiar territories with sharp sarcastic teeth. It does for the genre what Airplane did for disaster movies (not nearly as hilarious, but with plenty of laughs, characters and memorable scenes). Just to be clear, this is not a classic like Airplane, but…