The Hollywood Bowles

Those who can't write, edit. Those who can't edit, blog. Operating at a loss since 2014.

  I have been a police reporter for 15 years, and a film reporter for another decade. So I feel comfortable committing the following double heresy: All the President’s Men is a lousy movie. As a book, it’s poetry. As a story, it’s the gold standard for every aspiring reporter. But, strictly from an entertainment …

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To miss a train or business deal, Because our clocks are without keel Can cause a nation loss of gold E’en worse than all the misers hold. — 1942 letter to Time magazine urging a national daylight savings time   One of the few undeniable benefits of living in the digital era is not having to …

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  I’ve never really had an issue with clowns. Krusty is one of my favorite Simpsons characters. The Joker is my favorite villain from the realm of superheroes (I even have a Halloween mask from The Dark Knight).  As a boy, I was one of Bozo‘s faithful TV servants (along with Bozo’s magician sidekick, Marshall Brodien, …

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  There’s an idiom in contemporary politics that goes, approximately, like this: Republicans wake up angry; Democrats wake up sad. It would seem an inescapable truism, particularly given the rancor that freights this presidential campaign. While it will go largely unnoticed, Mike Pence did something extraordinary Sunday: He promised the nation that his party would peacefully …

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  My head is going to pop off like a dandelion’s if I hear one more fresh-faced newscaster wax philosophic on how Donald Trump represents a true break from the political rules of old. True, Donald sealed his fate with last week’s hot mic, but the scandal, however salacious, is hardly new. I know Twitter …

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  A world in chaos. Terror attacks run rampant. Deportation is the hottest issue on a worried public consciousness as walls keep immigrants from interacting with native citizens. A documentary? A nightly newscast? A Trump political ad? Try Children of Men. Ten years after it hit screens, wowed critics and cemented the reign of the …

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  So rare, when sensation meets realization. How often do we hype up, only to be let down? Titanics sink. Hindenburgs blaze.  Y2Ks fizzle. Super Bowls are rarely super. And you just know the new Star Wars is gonna suck. But somewhere, a pig is flying over its pasture. Somewhere, Satan is getting pelted with snowballs. …

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