Monthly Archives: April 2026

“Normal” Movie Review: Bob Odenkirk Blows Up the Fonz

I don’t think I’ve ever laughed at so many people getting shot, stabbed, killed, maimed, or blown to smithereens—including Henry Winkler, aka The Fonz from TV’s Happy Days sitcom of the Seventies. Continue reading

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Jonathan Kennedy’s “Pathogenesis”: Mystery of the Neanderthal Extinction Solved!

A popular theory has been the humans basically pushed Neanderthals out of their territory some 50-40,000 years ago and prevailed because they were smarter. Not so, according to Kennedy. Continue reading

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The Finale of “DTF St. Louis”: Sad Coda to Great Character

Here’s what I find most fascinating and admirable about DTF: The writers/director cleverly frame the season as a murder mystery, when it isn’t. Continue reading

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Keanu Reeve’s New Movie “Outcome”: Schizophrenic Comedy/Drama on Fame and Goodness

Reeves plays this seriously. It’s like his Hamlet. He even has moments of anguished indecision, like the famous Dane, when he’s offered a way to short-circuit the extortion attempt by playing the victim-card. Continue reading

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Jim DeFelice’s “West Like Lightning: The Brief, Legendary Ride of the Pony Express” (2018)

“One of the keystones of the Pony Express was its sheer speed: They could get mail from St. Joseph, Missouri to San Francisco, California in 10 days.” Continue reading

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“Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen”: Either “Knives Out” or “Get Out” 

The latest Netflix miniseries to try to scare us all is Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, which should be required viewing for all young couples contemplating marriage—maybe the way that Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace should be required reading for all wannabe dictators eager to stumble into an unwinnable war. Continue reading

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“Your Friends and Neighbors” Season Two Begins With a Bad Back and a Huge Splash

The inimitable writer John Cheever explored this fantasy plot back in the 1950s with his short story “The Housebreaker of Shady Hill,” but Your Friends and Neighbors is definitely a worthy reboot of sorts. Continue reading

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“DTF St. Louis” Episode 5: David Harbour Deserves an Emmy

“In Episode 5 (there are many flashbacks) he confides in Clark an anecdote to explain how he got a ‘crooked dick.'” Continue reading

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