Murder Most Foul
A new generation of cribs of great literature shows how badly great literature is being taught
— From The Wall Street Journal
Divorce, Le
Trust Merchant-Ivory to find a way to transform the elegant and the sophisticated into the banal
Freaky Friday
Disney once again offers teenagers just what they want — fantasy wish-fulfilment.
Entry from August 1, 2003
Great news! Our troubles are over! The New York Times is at last to appoint an ombudsman. A report prepared by a special task force formed by the New York Times under its assistant managing editor, Allan Siegal, to look into the Jayson Blair affair has recommended not only an ombudsman but an ethics czar…
Magdalene Sisters, The
Peter Mullan finds yet another scandal in the Catholic church, presenting us with movie nuns who are nothing like the ones in The Bells of St. Mary’s
Breaking the Code
Oh for the good old days of the censor and the smack of firm government in Hollywood!
— From The American Spectator, June-July, 2003
Buffalo Soldiers
A trip down memory lane to those dim and distant days before September 11th when everyone in Hollywood knew that America’s armed services were manned by criminals and psychopaths
Entry from July 22, 2003
“Archduke Ferdinand found alive: World War unnecessary.” The spoof headline from the 1930s neatly sums up the attitude of the baying pack of journalistic hounds who have been on the hopeful trail of presidential wrongdoing since my last look at the media in mid-May. After a month of attending — though only with half an…
Spurious Objectivity
How the media use the myth of “objectivity” to trample on the claims of elementary fairness.
— From The New Criterion, June, 2003
Hard Word, The
The three Australian Twentyman brothers are such lovable criminals that we’re even supposed to love their criminality. In short, they’re just like American movie criminals.