If you’re new to the activity, it might seem scary to “ride the rim.” Maybe you haven’t met many people who are into it. Maybe you’re afraid the rim will be dirty. Maybe you won’t be able to stick through the whole thing. But riding the rim can be fun…
Right now, there’s an episode of Law and Order on TV. And here’s how it goes: If it’s the beginning of the show (DUN DUN), someone just found a body. A cop arrives to deliver some witty banter and point his blacklight at walls. Then, a suspect is booked (who…
Naturists. Nudists. Nakednessists. They go by many names. But despite what they decide to call themselves, one thing is painfully obvious: People who like to be naked outdoors are almost always not the kind of people you would want to see naked, much less be naked with. Just like the…
If you Google “mystical arts of Tibet,” you probably won’t be surprised that the first name on the screen will be none other than Mr. Richard Gere. In these parts, the man is known for three things: his average acting skills, his supposed foray into gerbilling and his well-publicized friendship…
For such a small country, Belgium is loaded with claims to fame. Many countries would be happy merely to be renowned for their chocolate and lace, but the Belgians know what really counts in life: booze. Belgian beer is the cream of the crop, keeping tongues, tummies and livers happy…
For much of the time I attended the University of Texas, corn dogs made me sick to my stomach (and I love corn dogs). You see, the bitter taste of defeat can ruin even the most perfectly designed of State Fair delicacies—and defeat was just the dish the Oklahoma Sooners…
Like many people, I’m thoroughly convinced that John Tesh is an alien. Who else but an alien would think to write the whitest theme song in history (“Roundball Rock”) for America’s blackest sport (basketball)? “It just came into my head. So I called my message machine and sang the chorus…
Modern spinmeisters covet the talents of someone such as Alonso Quijana, the chivalrous but insane protagonist of Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote. To be able to turn yourself into a knight, a sway-backed nag into a mighty steed, a dishrag into a silk scarf and a barmaid/whore into the ideal…
Among documentary muckrakers, Kirby Dick may not be as righteously indignant as Michael Moore or as brilliantly droll as Nick Broomfield. But say this for the maker and star of This Film Is Not Yet Rated: He’s not afraid to soil his hands to get the story. Rummaging through the…
One would never confuse the work of writer-director Todd Phillips with that of the late Robert Hamer, whose filmography includes the essential Kind Hearts and Coronets. Hamer’s movies had a gentlemanly quality, no matter the cruelty that skulked beneath their prim exteriors; one always felt the characters in his movies,…
Sweet, crazy and tinged with sadness, Michel Gondry’s new feature, The Science of Sleep, is a wondrous concoction. The tricksy romantic narrative–in which Gael García Bernal plays a hapless, Chaplinesque mad man–may be reminiscent of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which Gondry directed from Charlie Kaufman’s script. The look,…
Anyone who wants to start feeling good about war again–And hey, pilgrim, isn’t it about time?–might do well to take in Flyboys. In this elaborate, computer-generated fantasy, the plucky volunteer pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille are once more cast as “knights of the sky,” dashing young Americans who soar aloft…
She’s fat. No, really. But she’s OK with it. Just about as OK as any big girl can get in a thin-obsessed world. Question is, is he OK being the thin guy with the chubby chick? That’s the simple but strikingly profound premise of Fat Pig, a small play about…
The Big Animal (Milestone) It’s a simple yet lesser known law of comedy: Camels are always funny. There are the jaws that drool and chew side to side, the front legs that move like a human’s, the humps — but mostly it’s the eyes: There’s something of Buddha in a…
Football is a game of inches. The same goes for the Madden series. Each fall, a new Madden game arrives, with a roster update and an incremental change in the game-play formula. Last year brought a “cone of vision” for the quarterback, which mostly just annoyed the fans. Madden NFL…
Beowulf & Grendel (Anchor Bay) The Book of Daniel: The Complete Series (Universal) Bratz: Passion Fashion Diamondz (Fox) Con Man (Docurama) Curious George (Universal) Danger Mouse: The Final Seasons (A&E) Daniel Boone: Season 1 and Season 2 (Goldhil) Dark Shadows: DVD Collection 26 (MPI) Dracula: 75th Anniversary Edition (Universal) Drop…
For 11 years, Carol Burnett and friends would perform skits, sing and dance and crack each other up on TV’s Carol Burnett Show. Perhaps the best part of the hour-long variety show was the first few minutes in which Carol would take unscripted questions from the studio audience. Some wanted…
When Al Gore comes through town later this week, it’s anybody’s guess what he might talk about. I mean, dude was the vice president. He’s got more than a few stories to tell, you’d think. Perhaps he’ll talk about the glorious economic prosperity of the Clinton/Gore years or revisit his…
Steve Harvey is one impeccably groomed dude, always clad in a perfectly tailored suit (often with a matching hat), every hair in place, his giant teeth glistening as he laughs heartily at his own jokes. Considering how much upkeep his look probably requires, it’s likely the comedian (known best for…
Lea Hernandez may not be a household name like Stan Lee, but when tragedy struck the manga-influenced comic book artist of such titles as Killer Princesses and Rumble Girls, her fellow creators leapt to her aid faster than a speeding bullet and didn’t even have to pull on any spandex…
It’s sad but true. Every time I set foot on a skateboard, I either fall off or run face first into a car/dumpster/wall/etc. I learned early on to leave it to the experts and just sit back and enjoy the show. Well, whether you’re a skater or a spectator, The…
While other little girls were perhaps prompted to direct their affections toward the likes of Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp or Joey Lawrence, I was raised with more discerning tastes. I had no need for brat-pack tomfoolery; movie night at our house meant a screening of the 1963 classic The Great…
