Excerpt from Bright Shiny Morning

There once was a shiny new writer on the scene whose novel was the talk of the town. He even made it on to Oprah’s coveted and massively influential Book Club list. Everyone was reading A Million Little Pieces. Then the word spread like wild-fire that what James Frey had labeled a “memoir” was nothing more … Continue reading →

Spike Jonze is brilliant, just ask Her

INSPIRED – Spike Jonze’ new film, Her, is a mature film about an immature generation. If that sounds like an insult…sorry, Millennials. It’s not your fault. You are merely the cynical, complacent slippery slope bi-product of the Baby Boomers, who are merely the pampered, self-indulgent bi-product of the Greatest Generation, who are simply the inevitable slippery slope bi-product of … Continue reading →

The Butler got hustled: 12 reasons why Lee Daniels’ film is superior

12   The Butler reminds us of how seamlessly our unique government – our republic – passes the torch from one administration to the next. American Hustle reminds us how important the script is to the film. Without a good one the actors may be left to creating their own dialogue – and actors, by and large, aren’t very … Continue reading →

Lone Survivor says it all; Mitty modest but amusing

INSPIRED – Lone Survivor opens with real training footage of Navy Seals being put through their stress tests and closes with real images and clips of Seals we recently lost in Afghanistan. In between those painful but uplifting montages exists a dramatic recreation of Operation Red Wings, the true story of the failed 2005 mission to “capture or … Continue reading →

Another excerpt from ‘End of Days’

From James Swanson’s End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy: “The Book Depository clock read 12:30 p.m.  Abraham Zapruder’s finger maintained constant pressure on his camera’s RUN switch, and he continued filming. Through his telescopic sight, Oswald expected to see the evidence of his deed. But the president’s body displayed no reaction to being … Continue reading →

Excerpt from James Swanson’s ‘End of Days’

I love a good book almost as much as I love a good film. Almost. This is the first of what will now be a weekly posting of excerpts from a present book I am enjoying, an influential book/story I’ve read, or something I am aiming to read. I hope my spectacularly bright and dynamic … Continue reading →