When I first heard the news that the daily show business trade publication The Hollywood Reporter would become a weekly, glossy magazine, what surprised me most was not what its future might be but rather what it had become to warrant such a drastic make-over.  Apparently, its staff had&/…

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Is it wrong that I feel no sympathy for Blockbuster Video's recent financial struggles?  The superstore that helped wipe out neighborhood Mom-and-Pop video shops has been facing its own monster competition from Netflix and video-on-demand services available online and through cable and sa/…

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Google and Verizon's joint proposal about net neutrality and their wish to have the Federal Communications Commission adopt it as official policy has sparked debate.  PCMag.com reports that a rally is scheduled for today outside Google headquarters to voice opposition to the Google/Veriz/… Read full post »

Every so often, I feel like ranting about something in the media world that annoys me.  Usually it's something that has outlived its purpose, a status quo dinosaur that refuses to change with the times.  Today, that "something" is the television audience measurement system provi/…

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One of my favorite bloggers, Cranky Cuss, wrote a great essay bemoaning the state of American pop culture.  His decision not to renew his subscription to Entertainment Weekly made him question whether or not he had become a snob.  Allow me to become a popular culture apologist a/…

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Since so many people are still commenting on the life and times of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner who passed away Tuesday morning at the age of 80, I thought I'd chime in with my own reflections.  This is an expansion of a comment I shared yesterday on Lea Lane'… Read full post »

Toy Story 3 still reigns at the box office, so I decided to write about my top ten favorite animated movies of all time, but I couldn't stop at ten.  Here, then, is an even dozen of the best movie cartoons ever made.

The Iron Giant - My favorite has to be this/…

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Images of the costume design for the new Captain America: The First Avenger movie directed by Joe Johnston and starring Chris Evans hit the Internet yesterday and had fandom buzzing.  Read all about it at Ain't It Cool News, io9.com, Cinematical, JoBlo.com (who had a sneak peak/…

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Once again, a fan-favorite has failed to win the ultimate prize on American Idol.  Crystal Bowersox was the heir apparent to the singing competition crown since the beginning of the season, and remained a frontrunner week after week, but Lee DeWyze was the surprise winner during the final/…

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It has been thirty years since The Empire Strikes Back hit theaters.  The original Star Wars was a phenomenon that redefined the meaning of cinematic blockbuster, sparking the imagination of an entire generation, but its sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, raised the bar on science fiction a/…

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This is my final report from the upfronts market (so all you television haters can breathe a sigh of relief).  The CW was the last of the broadcast TV networks to present its slate of new shows to advertisers.  Its offerings were slight but seemed to fit well with the current/…

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Now that Lost is about to disappear into the sunset, ABC is desperately searching for another flagship television series to take its place.  The upfront market continues as each broadcast network showcases its new series for next season to advertisers, and now it is the Alphabet Network's/…

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This week, the broadcast networks announce their new lineup of television shows during their "upfront" sales presentations to advertisers. I will be looking at what each network has to offer, as I did last year. First up is NBC, which has the highest hill to climb after its failed experiment l/…

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Yesterday I posted a list of some of my favorite movie Westerns. Now I’ll turn my attention to television where Westerns used to be a big deal. Here is a list of some of the best.

The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr – This short-lived series earned cult status. Bruce Campbell played/…

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Another television season is drawing to a close and now it's time to look back at what worked and what failed, what surprised everyone with their overachieving success and what disappointed everyone with their shortcomings.

Let's take a look network by network:

ABC

Modern Family came out of nowhe/…

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The end is near. Fans of the television series Lost know what I am talking about. Only a handful of episodes remain before the popular show ends its run. Will the finale live up to expectations or will it be a bitter disappointment? Hopefully, the producers and writers of Lost have/…

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My family and I went to the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in White Plains and had a wonderful time (even though all the cherry trees had peaked weeks ago thanks to this year's zany weather).  There were a lot of great vendors, performers, and fun activities.  One of my favorite attr/…

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This weekend, I went to see the play Manuscript by Paul Grellong produced by the Theater Project that raised some interesting questions about the literary value of unpublished works and what to do with them after the author is deceased.  The play had some major twists and turns,/…

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April 22 is Earth Day when extra efforts are made to appreciate the environment.  I wanted to recommend a movie that best captured that awareness so I racked my brain thinking of all the films that featured storylines about mankind versus nature.  There are classics like Alfred Hitch/…

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President Barack Obama's proposed budget for NASA and his plan for the future of America's space program has sparked debate not just with the public but also within the ranks of veteran astronauts.  While some former astronauts, such as Sally Ride and Buzz Aldrin, have come out to support/…

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Tonight's new episode of South Park on Comedy Central is titled simply "200."  It will be the 200th episode of the popular and often controversial cartoon series.  How did a show about foul-mouthed kids in a Colorado town become such a pop culture phenomenon, reaching the milestone o/…

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Today, the New York Yankees have their home opener and receive their chamopinship rings for their 27th World Series victory.  What better way for me to commemorate such a happy occasion than by announcing my favorite baseball movies?

There have been many films about the national pasti/…

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One of my favorite bloggers, Jill Pantozzi, (a.k.a. The Nerdy Bird) announced that she will be on a panel at the next Comic-Con in San Diego, and the topic will be "Where are the Action Chicks?"  The dearth of great female protagonists in general, let alone action stars, is no surprise/…

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A friend of mine recommended some religious-themed movies for this Easter weekend.  I have to second his choice of Jesus of Nazareth.  Here is the review I wrote for it on Amazon.com: "Even though the mini-series runs for 6-hours, each moment is gripping and powe… Read full post »