Who’s Got the Straight Edge (Besides Ian)?

November 28, 2021: It’s me! It’s me! After several decades of being straight edge, I wrote a cheerful little screed …

No Thanks to (Most) Rom-Coms

September 26, 2021: The problem with romantic comedies is that you already know the ending, so what’s the point? Having …

July 2, 2021: You know how you were always rooting for Jerry Hall for some reason, but you didn’t know …

May 9, 2021: Oh, hello. Today I review a fine novel by Eleanor Morse called Margreete’s Harbor for the Portland …

April 5, 2021: Oh yes: That’s Eve Plumb in a scene from 2013’s stellar indie neo-noir Blue Ruin. Say, did …

March 24, 2021: That’s what I think, anyway. I wrote an essay on my little hypothesis, and the great Bright …

January 31, 2021: Well, insert sigh here: I was already planning to use this Cloris Leachman photo for this post …

December 31, 2020: In response to an overwhelming lack of demand, I’m listing the five best books about old Hollywood …

December 27, 2020: Oh good: today the Portland Press Herald runs my review of a thriller set in the Bronx—it’s …

December 25, 2020: Merry Christmas to me: Salon has selected my essay “‘Low Class’ Donald Trump and the Wasps: Reckoning …