My favorite segment in A Hard Day’s Night is George’s, where he wanders into the production office of the station’s Ready Steady Go-esque teen dance show and mocks its clueless trend-tracking. This was part was tacked on and, I believe, written on the spot when George complained to producer Walter Shenson that he…

No one plays Roman Castavet better than Sidney Blackmer. The role he was born to play.

Milland is miscast, but the sequence where he demonstrates the “safeguards” created to prevent premature burial is a hoot. Worth watching for that alone. The movie also features a couple cool-creepy Burt Schoenberg paintings.

The family kicked off its annual Halloween film festival taking place each weekend through the end of October. We’ve already watched a number of the usual suspects: Plan 9, Carnival of Souls, Body Snatchers, Nightmare Before Christmas, Village of the Damned and Legend of Hell House. On my own, I was able to enjoy a…

Still my all-time favorite opening (and closing) credits. RIP Diana Rigg.

“Jenny is the one who tries to shape the world, to sing Bob Dylan in a strip club. The story gives her nothing but pain in return.” Thanks, Tom. That perfectly sums up my contempt for Forrest Gump. Another reason I detest this emotionally manipulative, reactionary crap is that I was working in a new job in a new city…

Cedric telling Harry that he told his housemates not to paste anti-Potter flyers across Hogwarts was disingenuous bullshit. He was a priveleged pretty boy whose primary talent was charming people into thinking he was a fierce friend.

Can’t stand Will Smith, so that’s a hard pass on Gemini Man. Might be too old for the likes of Blockers. But Piranha 3D sounds like a lot of fun. Will watch

Criss Cross - OK noir starring Burt Lancaster as a well-meaning hothead who can’t help being chumped by Yvonne De Carlo. Expertly filmed by Robert Siodmak with a top-notch score by Miklós Rózsa. But despite Dan Duryea at his most villainous, this one suffers from a lack of chemistry and emotional stakes. Notable for…

In the second half there's also the intent to bring dinosaurs to a San Diego park, similar to bringing Kong to New York.

I agree. It’s more realistic that Hammond is too ensconsed in wealth and privelege to even consider he is endangering people and violating a variety of ethical boundaries.

Disclosure was where Chrichton became the Scott Adams of bestselling authors.

Lost World borrows too much from King Kong. It's almost a remake, but with dinosaurs instead of apes.

Good movie. But I most remember the orgy lead by James Fox as the bank chairman, where Ian McShane finds out about the vault. I think McShane was the youngest actor in that scene.

1960s Spider-Man cartoons. Please.

I think this was an inspiration for Malcom McDowell’s Alex in A Clockwork Orange. But not even McDowell could tease and execute a stooge while casually eating a drumstick.

Binged the first season of Broadchurch. Decent writing, stellar acting and awful music. Watched first 10 minutes of season 2's first episode which seemed too determined to fuck up expectations. I'll watch more, but only because of the acting. 

Station to Station, Hunky Dory and “Heroes” are my favorites. Young Americans has definitely grown on me despite the “Across the Universe" cover. I like Earthling but really like Heathen from that era.

It’s far from my favorite Bowie album, but the Nile Rodgers-Omar Hakim tag team at the beginning of “Modern Love” on Let’s Dance is perfection. Unfortunately, the rest of the album never matches that moment.

Agree on the Boardwalk Empire criticisms. The show had flashes of greatness (especially during the first two seasons) but ultimately never met its potential. I dipped my toes in the last season but *Spoilers* couldn’t understand why it skipped over the latter half of the ‘20s (when Prohibition-era gangland warfare was…