It's time to say "goodbye," according to Kevin Smith, to his token recurring characters -- the C3PO and R2-D2 of the local Quick Stop -- Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith). Since their inception as two stoner losers hanging out in front of the local Quick Stop "smokin’ blunts and kickin’ asses" in Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob have received ever expanding roles in Smith’s later features -- Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma. But when these two guys showed up in a cameo in Scream 3, that was the moment when they "jumped the shark" (aka lost their unique appeal and devolved into would-be Happy Meal figurines). I wouldn’t be surprised if two 10-foot tall character replicants greeted all guests at Miramax’s HQ....more

The first rule of Fight Club is "Do not talk about Fight Club." So I'm breaking the rule. I figured you'd want to hear about it. Invoking memories of The Matrix, 12 Monkeys, Crash, and American Beauty, Fight Club has had a lot of hype behind it for close to a year now. Is it deserved? I'm still trying to figure that one out. I saw the film 6 hours ago. I liked what I saw. I'm just not sure what I saw any more. Fight Club is the story of Jack (Edward Norton), a mild-mannered day-job schlub/insomniac. To combat his lack of sleep, Jack takes comfort in various support groups for ailments he doesn't have, where he finds a sudden freedom from life's pressures, surrounded by people on the verge of recovery or the verge of death....more

One of the classic films that defined American cinema, Gone With the Wind is a rare example of a collaboration involving hundreds of talents and egos that turned out great. Dozens of uncredited screenwriters (including F. Scott Fitzgerald, briefly) and hundreds of actors were marshaled by David O. Selznick for this effort. The resulting four-hour epic is, inflation-adjusted, still the highest-grossing movie of all time -- and it deserves to be. For millions of people, Gone With the Wind has helped to define the myth and reality of America’s most tragic (and much-misunderstood) period of history, the Civil War and Reconstruction....more

The intro sequence of Chasing Amy, comic book frames of oddly familiar characters, informs us immediately that we are entering the world of Kevin Smith. That world is one over-populated with comic book fanatics, philosophical drug dealers, and ambitionless twenty-somethings. To Smith, the film's director, that world is New Jersey. Like characters found in other recent Gen X movies, Smith's heroes are unjustifiably hip. In Chasing Amy, there are two groups of characters, Jersey boys afraid of the city, and fixtures of the NYC underground. But regardless of background, every character in Chasing Amy is poised with a witty remark or comical/philosophical riff on love or life....more

After sixty-five million years, the ancient world isn’t looking too bad. Ankylosaurus is still the walking epitome of a good defense. T-Rex still struts his stuff as the godfather to our culture’s dino fascination. Nature is lush and green and flourishing. Just throw in Michael Douglas and we’re good to go. In Dinosaurs Alive! The two-time Oscar winning actor provides the narration to a 40 minute adventure through the Triassic, the Jurassic, and the Cretaceous period – an adventure spanning from the Gobi Desert in East Asia, all the way west to Ghost Ranch amidst the buttes of New Mexico. Writing/directing duo Bayley Silleck and David Clark succeed with an enlightening discussion of these animals that is both fun and quite enthralling (and it always helps to have a voice like Douglas to relax the audience with a tinge of familiarity)....more

It may be foolhardy to do so, but there is plenty to dispute in Rocky – The Undisputed Collection, the new Blu-ray boxed set of all six Rocky movies.   That lovable, sometimes punchy, lug from Philadelphia; the Italian Stallion; Philadelphia's Favorite Son went through a heck of a lot over the course of the movies, but the movies, as with Rocky's life, are something of a bumpy road....more

Kenneth Taylor – well known as the author of The Living Bible, and founder of Tyndale House publishers – was a man dedicated to conveying the Christian message to children (he had 10 himself) in simple, understandable truths. Big Thoughts for Little People, a much-loved, best-selling picture book has now received fresh new illustrations while maintaining Taylor’s text from the original edition. Many readers my age may be familiar with the original version of this classic title, which was wildly popular during the ‘80s, and be looking forward with nostalgic fondness to sharing this new release with their own children. I however, missed out on the first edition as a child, so it was with fresh eyes that my daughters and I dug into it together....more

Where The Wild Things Are is a fairly straightforward movie tie-in game. Containing some basic art influences from the film, as well as some general story themes, you control Max as he explores the island of the Wild Things, completing tasks and solving adventures, in an attempt to earn their trust and become king, as well as to save their world which is rapidly being destroyed. The game is a fairly straightforward action-RPG (a la Baldur's Gate or the Marvel Alliance franchises - although don't expect that same level of quality), with a lot of hacking and slashing, and some puzzle elements thrown in....more

There are many possible reasons that the sport of soccer hasn't taken off in this country the way that it has in the rest of the world.  It's not as conducive to television viewing as other sports – there's no easy way to break for a commercial.  It can often be a low scoring affair and as a nation we tend to like to see points/goals/runs rack up.  Oh, every few years, people in this country get excited about the sport, but usually that's a momentary world cup thing.  Maybe if the game was as fast-paced in real-life as it is in FIFA Soccer 10 it would be more popular in this country....more

There are the ladies on the right: Laura Ingraham, Anne Coulter. There are the ladies on the left: Rachel Maddow, Laura Flanders. Amy Goodman, host of Pacifica Network's Democracy Now!, is just about as left as they come; she's the kind of liberal Rush Limbaugh loves to hate; she could be the model for his portrait of the lunatic left. Moreover, she would probably welcome his bloviating attack. There could be no better sign of a person's righteousness and basic humanity than to be the object of the Limbaugh ire....more