Everything else is just made up
I started this dumbest commercial category late last year and didn’t have enough contenders to announce a year’s worst. This year I’m sure I’ll have plenty of bad commercials to choose from. This one is from Allstate Insurance, the same company with the amusing Mayheim commercials. My guess is that this series of commercials is [...]
Moneyball by Michael Lewis – Rating **** 1/2 Moneyball the film directed by Bennett Miller and written by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Zorkin Rating **** I always enjoy having the option to read a book and then seeing that book come to life in film. This blog is full of examples of this. One that comes to [...]
Amazon recently tested a marketing program called 100 books for under $3.99. This is for Kindle books only. The test program went so well that they decided to make it a regular feature. Hey, everyone likes a good deal. So when my distributor asked me a few weeks ago if I wanted to participate I [...]
Review of Dead Reckoning by Caitlin Rother Rating ***** I first learned of this story from a 48 Hours episode. Or maybe it was Dateline. It could have been 20/20. The fact is that all of these shows and more covered this story. It’s one of the dumbest yet heinous crimes imaginable. A kid in [...]
One of the great things about having a blog like this is knowing that there are people all over the world accessing the content. So whenever a writer or filmmaker reaches out to me, I’m always happy to help them spread the word. Such is the case with this post. A filmmaker/musician from Osaka, Japan, [...]
Review of The Murder of The Century by Paul Collins Rating ***** This book involves a murder that took place in 1897. It’s not so much a mystery. Two people were arrested and charged with the murder, with both pointing the finger at the other. What makes this story so interesting are the parallels of [...]
A review of The Conspirator written by James D. Solomon and directed by Robert Redford Rating **** 1/2 I’m not sure how well this film did at the box office. My recollection is that it got mixed reviews and probably didn’t make a whole lot of money, at least not in theatres. My guess, though, [...]
Review of Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer written and directed by Alex Gibney Rating ***** This film came out around the same time as the documentary The Inside Job. In many ways this film is a prequil to that documentary, because before Eliot Spitzer resigned from office he was well on his way [...]
Review of Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World written by Joan Druett Rating ***** The story told in this book has a lot of similarities to the story of Endurance and Earnest Shakelton but with a few interesting twists. First, this story involves two shipwrecks not just one. And interestingly enough [...]
Review of Soul Surfer directed by Sean McNamara and written by Sean McNamara, Matt Allen, and Brad Gann Rating **** I’ve never surfed, though I would jump at the opportunity if it presented itself. Since starting this blog I’ve covered a number of stories revolving around surfing. One was a documentary I highly recommend called [...]
I don’t think anyone watching the Dateline episode The Mystery on Halloween Night could conclude other than an innocent person was convicted of a crime he did not commit. If the judge currently deliberating on Ryan Ferguson’s fate doesn’t overturn his conviction, it will be a miscarriage of justice of monumental proportions. The only thing I [...]
Review of Exit Through the Gift Shop written & directed by Bansky Rating *** 1/2 What is it that makes one work of art worth thousands of dollars and another similar work of art worth almost nothing? That is a question that has been addressed on this site a number of times. First there was [...]
Casino Jack written by Noman Snider and directed by George Hickenlooper Rating **** 1/2 At the very beginning of this movie is the tag “inspired by true events,” which usually means that very little of what you are about to see is factual. But after just watching the excellent documentary also named Casino Jack, written [...]
A review of Casino Jack written and directed by Alex Gibney Review ***** In my most recent review of the documentary Gasland, I commented that it was a must see film. The same can be said about this film, especially right now. If you want to know what’s going on behind the scenes in Washington with [...]
