Category Archives: Celebrities

Comic Con Rookie: Stan Lee, The Walking Dead, Lois Lane and “The Last Train to Clarksville”

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Kevin Walsh

photo 5

Somewhere between good dad and voyeur-geek you’ll find me.  The 24th Motor City Comic Con was this weekend at the local expo center and my son was interested.  No big surprise.  The popularity of the new generation The Avengers, The Dark Knight coupled with my generation’s Star Wars fan-base and going back another generation to Star Trek and Dr. Who, there was something for everyone there.  I’d never gone, not really liking crowds or costumed folks sneaking up on me.  But I agreed.

The bigger surprise was that my daughter and her friend wanted to go.  

Two … Read More… →

Zooey Deschanel is a Dark Skinned Male!

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Robert Phillips

 Zooey+Deschanel 

The Boston mystery has been solved. Police were searching for a “dark skinned male” last week until, after a few days, they identified him: Zooey Deschanel. That’s what you learned if you were getting your news on local channel Fox 4 in Dallas. John King from CNN reported the “dark skinned male” part, citing a government official as the source for his description. And in Dallas, a scrolling line below the Dallas anchors announced that Zooey Deschanel, star of the series “The New Girl,” the films “500 Days of Summer,” “Elf,” and other political diatribes, was the bomber. Most … Read More… →

Arrested Development–Pure Genius

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Sheri H.

The return of Arrested Development on May 26th should be hailed as a triumph, and as a display of the power of intelligence. To briefly catch you up, the show revolves around the exploits of the rich, incredibly shallow Bluth family. As the opening credits explain, they were a wealthy family that lost everything after the family patriarch is arrested for stealing from the company, and now has no choice but to rely on Michael Bluth, the most stable child in the family, to help bring them all back together. The show featured an insanely talented cast, many of whom gained their fame only after Arrested had ended: Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, David Cross, Portia de Rossi, and on and on.

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A Not-Love Letter to New York

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Robert Phillips

new york and philly

I grew up near Philadelphia, the birth place of the nation, the 5th largest city in the country, with a vibrant and still growing culinary, arts and theatre culture. But to a typical New Yorker, Philly is still New York’s largest suburb.  That attitude led me to jealously dislike the city the way a little brother may dislike a much more successful big brother. Imagine being Don Swayze when your brother Patrick brings up “Dirty Dancing” for the millionth time.  Imagine being Fredo when your little brother says, “Who’s the Don again, big brother? You? Uhm, no, that … Read More… →

Roger Ebert–The Man, The Legend

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Sheri H.

  Today was an incredible sad day for the movies, and for me. Roger Ebert, the man whose name became synonymous with film reviews, passed away at the age of 70. When I heard the news earlier, I actually cried as if a member of my own family had died. The memories of my favorite Sunday tradition, watching “At the Movies” with my mother, came rushing back to me. My mother and I would watch, offering up our own critiques along the way, but, more often than not, nodding along to whatever Ebert said. Reading his reviews at a very early age, as well as his “Answer Man” column, began my love of film, and the art of critiquing it. I hoped to one day … Read More… →

Willy Wonka, Shirking Responsibility and a Great Night Out!

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Kevin Walsh

 OompaLoompas

Tonight in Detroit you can once again blame your parents.  The punchline for the Oompa Loompa’s many songs dealing with Charlie and his competing four brats for the keys to the fabled chocolate factor is “The mother and the father.”  

I was only six years old when this classic film premiered and I remember nodding my head in the theater thinking, “Yeah, the little creepy orange guys are right.  Those kids are spoiled rotten.”  Perhaps it was some kind of smugness that I would later have a stuffy professor explain to me as the same joy that the … Read More… →

Seth MacFarlane’s Only Oscar Gig: Can’t we all just lighten up?

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Robert Phillips

sad face 

Actors (either gender) are, at their best, magicians. How scary was DeNiro staring into the mirror as Travis Bickle? How sad was it when Brando as Vito Corleone momentarily broke down over the body of his murdered son, Sonny? More obscure: do you recall Melora Walters smile at the end of “Magnolia,” which contained more meaning than entire movies? Their work deserves praise, but let’s put things in perspective.  Every year, they “roll the red carpet out” for themselves. They honor themselves and their work in a gala presentation that lasts about 15 hours. The Oscars this year started two weeks ago, and I think it’s still on. Every … Read More… →

Deja-Viewing: Jennifer Lawrence, Zombies and the Book of Job

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Kevin Walsh

jennifer-lawrence-oscars-fall-2013

Watching Jennifer Lawrence win her deserved Oscar last Sunday night–and better yet, seeing her respond so humanly to tripping on her crazy dress heading up the slippery stairs, I felt that she was someone that would be pretty great to know.  While she accepted her award, I suddenly flashed-back to another favorite of mine who won in 1989, Geena Davis, for The Accidental Tourist.  She too played a quirky, pushy character who knocks a self-pitying guy out of his funk.  In both cases, you’re siding with her over the guy, yelling at the screen for him, to quote Moonstruck, “Snap out … Read More… →