The glass bottom boat of the cultural press
Friends, sex symbols, actresses…lend Peter Bogdanovich your ears for this discussion of movie stars he has known and loved. It’s a sometimes maddening, sometimes sensitive, sometimes candid trip through Wonderland with filmmaker Bogdanovich your own private mad hatter. Ben Varkentine says pass the butter.
Skinny Dip,by Carl Hiaasen,Knopf,Ben Varkentine
In a Hollywood-ready plot, an attractive woman named Joey is tossed off a boat by her husband, for reasons unknown. With the help of her friends and relations–including a loopy sheepherding brother from New Zealand–she sets out to find out what’s what. Come on in, Ben Varkentine says. The water’s fine.
After taking everything he wanted from Liberal Hollywood, Joe Eszterhas, author of Showgirls, now lives in the happy heartland of Ohio. How did he get there from here? This book answers that question, spilling many secrets in the process, and Ben Varkentine stumbles across the biggest: Good writing.
Would the human race be better off without the urge to procreate – or at least, to get busy? That’s the theme explored in Michel Houellebecq’s latest novel, The Elementary Particles. Terry Eagan explores the novel and its core philosophy.
A.J. Croce celebrates the 50th anniversary of his father, Jim Croce’s, three ground breaking albums, with a nationwide tour of Croce Plays Croce.
High Above Harlesden 1978 - 2023 from On-U Sound collects 60 dub and reggae tracks from Creation Rebel, an astounding set of musicians.
Gerta O. Egy’s beautifully drawn fungi almost eclipse their fairyland habitats in her Mushroom Daydream Coloring Book.
One of the last of the classic wuxia swordplay films stands as a fitting coda to the grand period of the genre. Phil Bailey reviews a new Blu-ray release of the 1975 film The Valiant Ones.
The Complete Friends of Old-Time Music Concert (Smithsonian Folkways Records). Review by Bob Pomeroy.
Smash Mouth takes us back to The Brady Bunch circa 1973, with “Sunshine Day,” featuring Barry Williams, the original Greg Brady.
Not everyone can be excited by blocks spinning on a screen, but if you are, Ian Koss recommends you pay attention to Best of Five.
The final two films in the bonkers Hong Kong action comedy series The Inspector Wears Skirts hit Blu-ray from 88 Films.
A pair of early “girls with guns” action films from superstars Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock have arrived from 88 Films.