The second part of my two-part review of Flicker Alley’s monumental release of all of Charlie Chaplin’s extant films for Keystone is now up on the still not safe for work Bright Light Film Journal. I’ve now reviewed all of Chaplin’s films except the two weakest, Limelight and A King in New York. The link…
It profits me not
I’ve just noticed that certain words in my blog are highlighted that I didn’t highlight. If you run your cursor over them, an ad pops up. Well, in case you’re wondering, Literature R Us doesn’t get a dime from them. I’ve just noticed them at New York magazine as well. Maybe it’s a function of…
Do I look like I need to be protected, girlfriend?
The Times has a nice story by Mark McDonald arguing the ins and outs of protecting great white sharks. A good case can be made for either, depending on where you stop reading the article. Alexia Wellbelove, senior program manager with Humane Society International, sounds like a bit of a jerk when he says “Australia…
Pseudo-New Yorker. Pigs can talk! And humans too!
Well, they can. But mostly pigs. Because I guess it’s funnier. Legal humor here. “I’ll cover my genitals when you cover your mouth, honey. Your tonsils are uglier than my balls.” “Lady, you stop busting my chops. Your sign don’t say ‘Human Complaints.’ It says ‘Complaints.’” “Yeah, well it may be fine with Farmer Brown,…
Fred in Full
My review of Silk Stockings, Fred Astaire’s final dancing film, is up at the not entirely safe for work Bright Lights Film Journal. I’ve now reviewed all 27 of Fred’s dancing films for Bright Lights, and the link for each is given below. Flying Down to Rio The Gay Divorcee Roberta Top Hat Follow the…
Niall Ferguson wrong-foots me
Generally, I’m not a fan of Niall Ferguson, that frenziedly self-promoting neo-imperialist Caledonian, who now hangs out at the American Enterprise Institute, where he spends his time toasting Winston Churchill and telling us Yanks that we’re not man enough to run the world the way the Brits did. But in his latest effusion, Civilization, which…
You don’t get it—she deserved to die!
That seems to be the gist of conservatives’ complaints regarding the Romney campaign’s argument that if Ranae Soptic had lived in Massachusetts, she wouldn’t have died of cancer, thanks to RomneyCare. Ranae’s sad story is the centerpiece of the, um, “controversial” ad made by Ranae’s surviving spouse Joe on behalf of Priorities USA, a pro-Obama…
No Country for White Men
This used to be a white man’s country. All the good jobs were reserved for men, and most of the good jobs for white men. After World War II, blacks crowded into the great Midwest Great Lakes manufacturing swath that ran from Gary, Indiana up to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but with the constantly expanding economy, there…
Tampa strippers ready for Republicans—there’s a First Amendment too, ya know!
Over at the New Republic, Emily Witt lives up to her name with a hilarious take on the doings at Mons Venus, 2,500 square feet of fun in Tampa, Florida, site of this year’s Republican Convention. Joe Redner, owner of the Mons, who doesn’t believe in God and thinks g-strings are optional, and his long-time…
The Guns of Aurora
The recent murders in Aurora, Colorado had no more impact on the possibilities for new legislation regulating firearms than a snowflake on the bosom of the Potomac, as Everett McKinley Dirksen might have said. The NRA definitely had the bit between its teeth with the infamous “Fast and Furious” “scandal”—which I strongly suspect is a…