The Real Star of M*A*S*H
A personal tribute to the overlooked genius of writer W.C. Heinz.
Kevin Mims
· 13 min read
Entertainment
A collection of 34 posts
B.S. Moss and the Dawn of the Movie-Palace Era
Although the vaudeville circuits would last through the 1920s, the way was now paved for impressive purpose-built movie houses with proper lighting and sound that would exhibit first-rate popular entertainment to general audiences.
Charles B. Moss Jr. and Jonathan Kay
· 16 min read
Play Anything—The Case for Colorblind Casting
Colorblind casting is precisely what it sounds like—the practice of filling roles in a play or film regardless of skin color.
Graham Daseler
· 18 min read
Life as a Stand-Up Comic Can Be Brutal. ‘Safe Space’ Call-out Culture Is Making it Unbearable
“Cancel culture” has become a trendy term in recent years. But public shaming has always existed. It’s a social tool, and like all tools can be used for good or ill.
Jessica Pigeau
· 35 min read
In Praise of the Novelization—Pop Fiction's Least Reputable Genre
This month brings us the release of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. No, not the film. That came out in 2019. But now HarperCollins is publishing a novelization, written by Tarantino himself, and based on the earlier film. This particular type of fiction—the bastard offspring
Kevin Mims
· 20 min read
Splendid Triviality: Philosophy, Art, and Sport in a Time of Crisis
They are necessary because without them none of the things that are noble can flourish.
Craig Clifford
· 9 min read
Before 'Groundhog Day': The Time-Loop Novel that Started It All
On March 4th, the Ringer, a website that covers pop culture, featured an article entitled “We’re in a Time Loop of Time-Loop Movies.” Similar articles have appeared in many other pop-culture venues of late. Suddenly, time-loop stories seem to be everywhere. This month Hulu began streaming director Joe Carnahan’
Kevin Mims
· 11 min read
With Theatres Shuttered, I Tried to Stage a 'Zoom Play.' (It Didn't Work)
I once directed a classical musical—Anything Goes—at Canada’s Shaw Festival. But that’s the only play I’ve directed that was seen by a large audience.
Sky Gilbert
· 8 min read
The Hustler and the Queen
NOTE: This essay contains spoilers. The surprise success of the Netflix miniseries The Queen’s Gambit has brought me a great deal of delight—I’m a longtime fan of both the novel and its author, Walter Tevis. Just this summer, I wrote an essay about all the great American
Kevin Mims
· 14 min read
The Videogame That Takes Us Inside the Hell of a Nazi-Run World
The New Order starts off in 1962, but not the 1962 we know. In this timeline, the Axis powers have conquered Eurasia, and are now seeking to bring Africa to heel, along with other far-flung corners of the world.
Carlos Miguel del Callar
· 9 min read
Farewell, Alex Trebek
On Friday, November 6th, between 1 and 2pm Pacific Daylight Time, I participated in an audition for the TV game-show Jeopardy!. Normally auditions are conducted in person at various regional locations around the US. As a Northern Californian, I should have been attending a live audition in San Francisco. But
Kevin Mims
· 14 min read
A Reasoned Judgment and a Reputation in Ruins
Depp has found that using the law to defend your reputation is a very expensive way of shattering it.
Matthew Scott
· 10 min read
What We Owe to ‘The Boys in the Band’—and Other Classics of Gay Film
I’m grateful to every straight director, actor, and writer who has taken up the cause over the last 60 years, and to their closeted friends and colleagues who inspired them.
Allan Stratton
· 15 min read
Elder Millennial Metalheads: Our Shrinking World of Dark Thoughts and Bad Jobs
We are a generation of smart, strong, caring, conscientious men, full of kinetic energy that I now see dispersed through alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, anxiety, violence, and death.
Matthew Amos
· 8 min read
Why Is Funny? How America Lost Its Sense of Humor
Jokes entail risk, because in order for them to work, they need to be a bit unsettling, and to get better at telling them we need to be allowed to fail.
Robert Lynch
· 18 min read