film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997
I have no doubt that when historians look back at us from two thousand years in the future, they will sneer and express shock at reality television in the way that we sneer and express shock at the Roman spectacles of throwing Christians to the lions.
Is something less horrifying when it’s also inevitable, or more horrifying?
If the news has become entertainment, then surely there’s something of a pop culture perfect storm brewing over the spectacular exit flight attendant Steven Slater made from a Jet Blue plane on the tarmac at New York’s JFK airport the other day…
We as a society are in danger of drowing under not a flow of information but a flow of entertainment…
I find it wonderfully ironic, and just plain wonderful, that the asinine MacGruber — about the guy who can never stop a bomb from going off in his his face — bombed at the box office this weekend. (Maybe it’s not the end of civilization after all!) Estimates put it in sixth place, with takings … more…
This is the metric by which I ended up measuring *Iron Man 2*: By the time it was over, did I actually *want* to see it again this weekend with my geek gang? And the answer ended up being Yes…
Every week my browser gets cluttered up with tabs for stuff that I stumble across and figure I might be able to use as a Question of the Day or a WTF Thought for the Day or grist for some other post. And inevitably, I end the week with most of that material unused. But … more…
Are you ready for “reality TV” as seen through the eyes of Michael Bay? Well, get ready: Michael Bay, the director of blockbuster films Transformers and Armageddon, is to bring his high-octane style to television with a new reality TV series called One Way Out. According to Deadline Hollywood, the show, described as a “game … more…
Every week my browser gets cluttered up with tabs for stuff that I stumble across and figure I might be able to use as a Question of the Day or a WTF Thought for the Day or grist for some other post. And inevitably, I end the week with most of that material unused. But … more…
Every week my browser gets cluttered up with tabs for stuff that I stumble across and figure I might be able to use as a Question of the Day or a WTF Thought for the Day or grist for some other post. And inevitably, I end the week with most of that material unused. But … more…
