Broadway Melody of 1940, directed by Norman Taurog, written (if you can call it that) by Leon Gordon and George Oppenheimer, with help from nine other writers (including Preston Sturges). Starring Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell, weird George Murphy, and the … Continue reading
Melancholia, 2011. Directed and written by Lars von Trier. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alexander Skarsgård, John Hurt, Stellan Skarsgård, Keifer Sutherland, and Udo Keir as a wedding planner from Hell. Aren’t they all? Lars von Trier’s new film, Melancholia, concerns … Continue reading
There he is, in Act of Violence, Joe Parkson, limping, gat in hand, desperate and obsessed with blowing away clean-living Frank Enley, maybe even taking Enley’s wife out in the process. You can’t get that one out of your head, … Continue reading
Eleven days ago, as I watched the Detroit Tigers throw away game six of the ALCS, and with it the American League pennant which once they flew, I couldn’t help but reflect on the strange irony of the Tigers’ success. … Continue reading
Hail the Conquering Hero, 1944. Directed and written by Preston Sturges. Starring Eddie Bracken, William Demarest, Ella Raines, Franklin Pangborn, Georgia Caine, Raymond Walburn, and the “Tacoma Assassin”, boxer Freddie Steele, playing the mother-obsessed Marine… Was there ever a comedy … Continue reading
That’s it, the season’s over. The art of fiction is alive again. Invention has wrestled itself free from reality. And now the totally banal, the most obviously mundane, is all that is plausible. Imagination will be our only escape from crushing … Continue reading
Honestly, I don’t have a God damn thing to add to yesterday’s incredible, kind-of come-from-behind victory (they were down 1-0 early on) the Detroit Tigers managed to pull off in their last game in Michigan in the ALCS. Except this: … Continue reading
Today I invoke the awesome power of one Mickey Lolich, the Detroit Tigers’ 1968 World Series MVP. The “hero to the fat man” (as he thought of himself), won three games in that series, which was a nail biter to … Continue reading
Today I invoke the spirit of the crazy 1970s, the decade when I was weaned on baseball, and when I first met the man who would be my stepdad, James Younger. And I celebrate my new favorite Tiger, southern California … Continue reading
Today I invoke the the energy and spirit of one of the biggest Tigers fans I know, my stepdad, Jim Younger, who is currently in the throes of battling a failing liver at a hospital in Midland, Michigan. Not for … Continue reading