“She would create a movie about outlaw women on the run, busting out of tedious, thwarted humdrum lives – lives like hers – for freedom that let them finally become their true selves. She imagined it all: a movie unlike any other she had ever seen, where women drove the story, maybe even got to […]
Books
Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night by Jason Zinoman (HarperCollins, $35.99)
“…Letterman inspired an entire generation of comedians. He created a blueprint that was followed by almost every late-night show with an adventurous bent, and helped define a sensibility that changed the entire culture.” -Jason Zinoman (from Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night) During my college years there were few options for after primetime comedy/variety/talk […]
Charlton Heston: Hollywood’s Last Icon by Marc Eliot (Dey Street Books, $36.99)
“He still wanted to work, not only for the money – he had, by now, made plenty of that – and not for prestige – he had more than most in Hollywood ever get and was still greeted with shouts of “Moses” by fans wherever he traveled all over the world. He simply loved acting […]
Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Twilight Zone (Mark Dawidziak, St. Martin’s Press, $37.99)
“It has often been said that the episodes of The Twilight Zone are parables – short allegorical stories designed to illustrate or teach some truth or moral lesson.” -Anne Serling (from the Introduction to Everything I Need to Know I Learned in the Twilight Zone) I first heard of The Twilight Zone in the mid-seventies. […]
Anatomy of a Song by Marc Myers (Grove Press, $37.50)
“In my mind, a song is not iconic until it has stood the test of a generation – twenty-five years.” -Marc Myers (from Anatomy of a Song) When I was very young I would often spend afternoons playing my family’s modest single 45 record collection of mostly children’s songs and the theme from the Batman […]
This is a Book About The Kids in the Hall by John Semley (ECW Press, $19.95)
“Their namesake sketch series helped define Gen Xers, arresting their generational sensibility mid-eyeroll: sarcastic, sneering, derisive of authority and self-importance, yet also progressive, compassionate, wildly intelligent, and maybe more than a little self-indulgent.” -John Semley (from This is a Book About The Kids in the Hall) In the Late eighties SCTV was gone and although […]
Must-see Montreal events in February 2017
Here are some Montreal arts and culture highlights for February 2017: MUSEUMS The blockbuster exhibition Chagall: Colour and Music at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts features some 500 works and documents—paintings, collages, watercolours, sculptures, stained glass windows and ceramics—which show how the aesthetic and artistic world of famed Russian-French artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985) is imbued with […]
In Such Good Company by Carol Burnett (Crown Archetype, $37)
“We all get older, if we’re lucky. So, if I had to choose, I’m happy I was there at that time…to have a laugh or sing a song.” -Carol Burnett (from In Such Good Company) I make it no secret that my favorite television genre is comedy/variety. Growing up in the ‘70’s every network had […]
George Lucas: A Life by Brian Jay Jones (Little, Brown $42)
“Lucas had controlled the way his movies were filmed, edited, financed, and merchandised. Now he would control the way they sounded in theatres as well-and get paid to do it, no less.” -Brian Jay Jones (from George Lucas: A Life)
The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher (Blue Rider Press, $35)
“Who do I think I would’ve been if I hadn’t been Princess Leia? Am I Princess Leia, or is she me? Split the difference and you’d be closer to the truth. Star Wars was and is my job. It can’t fire me and I’ll never be able to quit, and why would I want to?” […]