Todd A

What John Stossel lacks in presentation in his Give Me a Break is an over-arching theme. Most of the book explores the various government foul-ups that Stossel has covered in his career as a reporter. But when he takes a turn into harmful lawsuits, he seems to go off course. He isn’t really: the unstated theme of the book is reason and the lack thereof in media, government and society. It’s just that Stossel never picks up this ball and runs with it. Perhaps wisely. Had Stossel battered a pro-reason theme into his readers’ heads, this might have turned into a polemic. I might have liked that; the casual reader probably would not. (continue reading…)

Initially, Hollywood Animal, the memoir of screenwriter Joe Eszterhas (he of Basic Instinct and Showgirls), is a tremendous read. The day I received it in the mail, I sat down and read through 100 pages. I had to force myself to put the book down. The next day, the same thing – another 100 pages. My pace slowed after the third day when I reached a point in the book where Eszterhas delved more into his childhood via “flashbacks.” (continue reading…)

[Capsule review for Popshot]

The question I keep coming back to is: how could you spend your twenties in such a boring fucking band? The answer I choose is always: dope. These guys must have smoked acres of weed to make even their “rockers” plod along like they do. Their early work is drenched in regretable reverb and throughout they cheese it up so much you feel like you’ll be constipated for a week. They’re not purveyors of the short songs either. I stopped looking for one under 4 minutes. Sure, the first minute forty-five of “Bittersweet Symphony” is tasty but they drag the fucker out for 4 more minutes! In that time, you could have listened to three of the greatest songs in the world from the Beach Boys, Beatles, Ramones or Motown. In fact, I think I will go do that.