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Mickey Rourke Whiplash Iron Man 2 movie image

Iron Man 2 is such a huge hit, it’s clear everybody’s going to see it regardless of critical praise or condemnation. Each of us can—or will soon be able to—fulminate about why it’s good, bad, or meh. We don’t need no stinkin’ critics, etc.

Personally, I enjoyed it, but then I hadn’t seen a movie in a theater in about a month, for various reasons I won’t bore you with, so I’d’ve enjoyed anything that oscillated onscreen to accompanying noise. Baby Einstein would’ve worked for me.

Bearing that in mind, I’d still like to make a case for points of avid interest in Iron Man 2. One thing I’ve noticed about professional critics, they’ll tell you everything except the interesting things that go on in a movie. They’re generally mum about those. Some guild rule, perhaps.

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May 10th, 2010 | Comments (43)

Toxic Shock: Delayed Reaction to the Oscars

I woke up for the second morning in a row with a vague feeling that something terrible had happened. Then I remembered I watched the Oscars.

March 9th, 2010 | Comments (36)

Colorado Springs: Home of the Original “Obamaville”

I had just moved into a house in the northern suburbs of Colorado Springs, and was getting to know one of my new roommates, a very attractive female in her mid 20’s. This was promising. At some point though, the…

March 9th, 2010 | Comments (72)

Slums of Detroit: A Look At The Heart of America’s 2nd Most Deserted City

I was in Detroit to visit my girlfriend’s family for Thanksgiving and decided to take a look around. Knowing my tastes, locals told me to head for a burnt-out slum called Highland Park, HP for short, as it’s hands-down the…

December 14th, 2009 | Comments (103)

Michael & Me: A Love Story

Capitalism: A Love Story is a fantastic slap-upside-the-head film, just what we need right now. It’s been playing a week in New York and Los Angeles, and just opened wide. The reviews are “mixed.” Critics say it’s just Michael Moore…

October 4th, 2009 | Comments (68)

JOURNALISM FACE-OFF: RUSSIAN SHADINESS VS. AMERICAN “OBJECTIVITY”

A few weeks ago, the Daily Mail wrote about a low-ranking British diplomat named James Hudson who was caught on hidden camera by the FSB (formerly the KGB, formerlier the MVD, formerlierer the NKVD, formerliest the Cheka) getting it on with two Russian hookers in…

July 28th, 2009 | Comments (15)

The Taking of Pelham 123: It’s All Denzel

Washington acting like a person Director Tony Scott ought to put up a statue to Denzel Washington in his sculpture garden, then pray to it at least three times a day to express his gratitude for the way the actor…

June 14th, 2009 | Comments (9)

Tax the Poor: California’s Evil Financing Strategy

It was 11:00 am on Saturday morning when I woke up and jumped out of bed in panic. I realized that the night before, I had parked my car in a 2-hour parking zone around the corner from my house….

January 30th, 2009 | Comments (30)

The Modern Speakeasy: Buying Smack on the Streets of LA

Drugs may be the major American story of our era, the thing that did more to alter behavior and law, that redistributed income to the poor far more dramatically than any tinkering with tax codes, that jailed more people and…

January 5th, 2009 | Comments (16)

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America Needs a New Religion: Let’s Pick a Pantheon!

Now that services have ended at the First National Church of Crawford, Texas, it’s clear America needs a new religion. Not to nitpick, but it could be argued that rule by the most loudly born-again or, as scholars call it,…

December 17th, 2008 | Comments (13)

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December 8th, 2008 | Comments (1)

America: Home of the Free & Land of the Armed

It’s 3:45 p.m. in Los Angeles. Outside, the sun is shining, people are walking their dogs. I can hear the laughter of children returning from school … Out here, in the land of sunshine, a few footsteps away from Venice,…

December 8th, 2008 | Comments (37)

December 3rd, 2008 | Leave Comment

Why Drug Addiction Isn’t That Bad

The real junk is inside National Geographic Tomorrow evening, the National Geographic Channel is going to hit cable viewers with a huge dose of drug propaganda cloaked as investigative reporting in a three-part special that will look at Heroin, Meth…

December 1st, 2008 | Comments (29)

BOOK REVIEW: Outliers: The Story of Success and Why You’re Not Having Any

Malcolm Gladwell, successful author. Ever wonder why you’re not rich and/or famous? If you’re an American, of course you have. Or, if you happen to be one of the lucky few who’ve actually gotten rich and/or famous, your reaction when…

December 1st, 2008 | Comments (12)

Treasure Map to Clinton’s Speaking Fees

November 30th, 2008 | Leave Comment

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