I was still thinking about Miramax's pending closing, and thought back on some of their movies I've enjoyed (apart from The English Patient, which was nine hours of Ralph Fiennes and sand.) Here are the trailers from those movies: (Note: The trailer for "Beautiful Girls" gives the movie a "Lolita-esque" vibe that the actual film doesn't really have. It's a great story about guys struggling to find their way as adults.) Read more →

Let me get this straight, I'm supposed to go outside in this cold so I can see the trainer at my gym? That's wrong on multiple levels. I'm going to need more Kona coffee, with no milk and a little sugar, before that even starts to sound like a good idea. Sorry to hear of the pending demise of Miramax Studios. To the extent that I ever paid attention to these things, seeing Miramax show up in the opening credits, particularly in the 1990's, was a good sign you were about to watch a cool film. I didn't realize they... Read more →

We're almost done with January already? I can't tell if it feels like it went by in two days, or if it should now be September. Crazy year so far. Joe Kennedy in 2012? Scott Roeder convicted of First Degree Murder for killing Dr. George Tiller. One of the Louisiana Watergate attorneys says the 24 year old suspects are just kids who didn't think their attempted felony through. We've all been there. President Obama and Senator-Elect Brown are related? Just when I thought this week couldn't get any odder. Wait, isn't Obama also distantly related to Dick Cheney? Or did... Read more →

Yesterday was brutal. I have no idea what time I woke up, but it felt like it was another three hours before the alarm went off. Even the large DD with milk and sugar couldn't fix me, so you know that's bad. Let's clear out some Clutter. It's been a rough 24 hours with the deaths of both Howard Zinn and J.D. Salinger. A hat tip to both men. The lifelong voice for moral superiority, Senator Joe Lieberman continues to work through his feelings of abandonment by and resentment of the Democratic Party by supporting Linda McMahon in her bid... Read more →

President Obama to Democrats: Grow a backbone. I thought that was a solid State of the Union speech. I'm not sure I've ever seen a president try to inject so much humor into his comments. My favorite part was when Obama challenged Congress to pass legislation to correct the Supreme Court's recent decision on campaign finance, and Justice Alito had his Joe Wilson moment. My friend Liz reports that the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne, has a new autobiography out, and he'll be signing copies on Thursday at the Barnes & Noble at Kenmore. I bet that will be... Read more →

I was saddened to hear about the death of Howard Zinn, the noted historian and author of "A People's History of the United States," among other books. I read "A People's History" after it was mentioned in "Good Will Hunting," and it hit me like a sledgehammer, offering a completely different version of history from what I learned in school. My mom had Howard Zinn for a professor when she was a student at BU, and she frequently told me how much of an influence he was on her in terms of her progressiveness and lifelong work for social justice.... Read more →

I hope your week is treating you well so far. I survived round two with the trainer, so I'm feeling good about that. I will have my own office for the first time in six years, for the next three months, starting tomorrow. I support maternity leaves. The medium DD with milk and sugar never hurts, either. Let's clear out some Clutter The Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger is expected to save the consumer money? Please. I just coughed up my Cliff Bar (blueberry, an underrated flavor). There's nothing about these two companies that's consumer-friendly. Combining them into one behemoth isn't going... Read more →

We have a number of soap operas in today's Clutter. Stay tuned for the next chapter, right after a brief commercial from DD. Have you had a medium with milk and sugar yet today? Condolences to the family of James Mitchell who played Palmer Cortland on the soap opera "All My Children," which was a favorite of a number of my baby-sitters. I remember him being the bad guy always in the middle of whatever the current drama was. Speaking of soap operas, so begins the latest chapter of my favorite saga, "Tales of Brett Favre." Will he retire this... Read more →

I went to a trainer on Friday, and the session didn't seem all "that" difficult, but I'm increasingly feeling like I've been in a car accident with multiple tears of things you shouldn't tear. Even the DD with milk and sugar hasn't fixed the damage yet. Going back for session #2 on Tuesday. What have I done? First off, news that the Scorpions are retiring leaves me sad. There's no way to remember the fall of the Berlin Wall without thinking of their song, "Wind of Change." Second, they've been around for 45 years? Holy crap! There's a state legislator... Read more →

Thanks to my new friend the DVR, I'm still catching up on David Tennant's amazing work in "Dr. Who." Now, I loved the original show as a kid, so I'm already biased, but Tennant continually raised the level of the bar in each episode, fleshing out The Doctor, with humor, angst and charisma, to a degree I would never have thought possible for this character. I really can't remember the last time I was so drawn in by an actor's performance. I'm not going to try to convince any of you to become "Dr. Who" fans, but I will encourage... Read more →