Thank you. (Frankly, with Jackson's increasing self-importance to the point of self-parody over the course of "Bad" "Dangerous" and "HIStory," things start to blur.)

I posted below some of my serious reservations about "DEH." Practically no chance Ben Platt will tour with the show, so I hope the lead actor is seriously good when it comes through the PNW. Right now, I'm kind of waiting for the backlash (though apparently, Platt is so good, he's helped a lot of people step over…

Why are comics even a thing? Comic geeks spend their every spare moment obsessing about them, so why should the rest of the world care? (I kid: I like comic books and comic-book movies, but your comment was so off-kilter I couldn't resist.)

I haven't seen "DEH" but I've listened to the (competent but unmemorable) score 5-6 times and read the synopsis. "Heathers," even though it's based on a 28-year-old movie, seems a lot more biting and ultimately tragic (*Our Love is God"—chilling). "DEH" seems—only from my limited perspective—to be a show about a kid…

I think "The Addams Family" is a lot more queer than "The Babadook," but whatever. I don't have to like it or care about it, especially when Captain America Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes "Winter Soldier" slash stuff is more my jam.

Loved her. She did a great dramatic turn in "Mr. Holland's Opus" and it was nice seeing her in "Don Jon" a couple years ago. She was fine in "Dick Tracy," but her delicious last line in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"—"Let's go get 'em"—gave hints for how good she could really be. RIP.

Now that is an ace example of Black Power. Inspiring. Thrilling. (Kind of like Wonder Woman in No Man's Land.)

I remember when Perry tied Michael Jackson's number of #1s off of an album ("Teenage Dream" vs. "Thriller," and the unbelievable HATRED and hostility she got from the MJ-bots—those people are some of the most fiercely delusional fans in the world. (And the majority of the comments were about her appearance, and about…

Her agent (Sue Mengers) was married to Jean-Claude Tramont the director, so that's how it went down. Streisand actually isn't bad in the movie, but you're sometimes aware of how hard she's trying to scale down and blend in. Still, critics used to complain that she always played herself in big-budget musicals or…

The cast album of "Come From Away" before the Tony's on Sunday. A must for fans of Celtic-influenced rock.

The Mars Candy museum/factory is surprisingly interesting/cool, and the outside garden with tons of beautiful desert plants is great to walk around in, especially in the morning before it gets too warm.

Chthlhu: The Pop-Up Book

God, I get so sick of people who gas on and on about "Why do you still buy DVD's/Blu-Ray?" Just download everything!" And then you find yourself in a situation like this (or you want to show a film at school where you're teaching), and you remember EXACTLY why sometimes it's nice to have physical copies of things." …

I just remember reading a story about some guys in the balcony of a Los Angeles theater showing "Mulholland Drive," and at that moment of the film (when they're chasing Watts around the apartment), one turned to the other and actually screamed, "Oh, my GOD!! Are you SURE we're not high?!?!" Laughed myself sick when I…

The opening few minutes of "Blue Velvet" are so uniquely transfixing/disturbing, I used them in a high school history class I was teaching about the 1980's. Perfect embodiment of the era: shiny patriotic surfaces and happy, happy people; then the guy keels over, and we pan down into the grass, where insects are…

"I don't use the terms 'Democrats' and 'Republicans.' It's 'liberals' and 'Americans.'—Fired Reagan Secretary of the Interior James Watt, 1982. This sort of vitriol has been going on for several decades; it's just become more blatant under Trump and the neocons.

And "Frida." That 2003 Best Actress race was an embarrassment of riches.

I had the purple one (Dell Yearling) with Margaret rocking a blonde 'do (its a color version of the top left corner)—very Breck girl. "Then Again…" had a green cover and a weird drawing of Tony with his binoculars. Some Blume books had these VERY weird cover drawings where all the kids looked vaguely…

Yeah, years later, "Animal House" was a toughie for me. I still stand with most of the guys in their battle against other houses and the administration, but Bluto is such a moron (even if he is a great source of comedy) and a sexist pig, the tag it the end informing you he became a Senator is kind of…

Good points. I went to dinner with a friend and an actress/singer who loftily informed me that "all American music comes from the Blues." Having some background in history (as a teacher) and being a lifelong enthusiast of pop music, I tentatively offered my opinion that most mainstream music (jazz, R & B, soul,…