Starz and stripes

The folks at DISH—sensing that it might be a sensible idea to remain on my good side—offered up what they call "Kids Binge-a-Palooza" in the latter part of July this month.  (Apparently this is their second year of sponsoring this, having had a month-long celebration previously in 2017.)  What this entails is offering subscribers gratis…

“I could show you scars that would tear your heart out…”

In the fifth season of NBC’s Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, the comedy/variety program commemorated its 100th telecast by inviting to mingle with its regulars several of the show’s “alumni”: Judy Carne, Henry Gibson, Teresa Graves, Arte Johnson, and Jo Anne Worley.  (Goldie Hawn had also been asked, but she declined.)  The special also made good…

From the DVR: …and justice for all. (1979)

By any measure of the yardstick, Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino) should not be a member of the legal profession.  He’s far too principled.  Which is not to disparage lawyers, you understand—it's just that Kirkland has difficulty functioning in a world where integrity and ethics take a backseat to winning at all costs.  Asked by his…

My heroes have always been in documentaries

I’m sorry that the blog has been kind of quiet over the past week; the good folks at DISH were generous enough to give us an HBO/Cinemax freeview, and I spent a little time getting re-acquainted with some old favorites including Secretary (2002—with my gal Maggie Gyllenhaal) and The Devil Wears Prada (2006).  (Prada may…

From the DVR: The Good Shepherd (2006)

The 2006 film The Good Shepherd is a fictionalized take on how the Central Intelligence Agency came to be, using the failed Bay of Pigs invasion as the starting point of its narrative.  Senior counterintelligence agent Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) learns that the operation was compromised by a leak inside the agency, and his investigation…