I’m not so sure about that old quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin, “Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.” Sometimes, 20 minutes can be enough. Even loved ones can get on your nerves. We all recall that moment…
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Let’s face it, most people only see movies at home. It’s more pleasurable (and less expensive) than the hassle of the “movie theater” experience. Save for the blockbuster that no one can wait for. That’s why all civility in theaters…
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Let me explain. I wrote this piece in 1992 for Paper magazine, and I have to hand it to the owners- David Hershovits and Kim Hastreiter– for publishing it. What was I thinking? What were they thinking? Macaulay Culkin was…
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A few weeks back I underwent an operation to save my right eye. I had just gone in for a check-up to see if I needed a new prescription and (thankfully) an astute technician sent me immediately to a retina…
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When you’re a teenager, you lie to your parents. About sneaking off to a party. Getting drunk with friends. Hooking up with a girlfriend/boyfriend/teacher. What I did was much more mortifying. I would tell my parents I was going over…
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Let me set the scene. We’re in Morocco, way out in a remote mountainous region where they are shooting The Last Temptation Of Christ. I’m with 6-year-old Jack, the son of the star of the movie, and we’re watching his…
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Maybe there should be a test that audiences take for the privilege of seeing a movie. Why not? You have to take lessons to get a driver’s license. Adopting a pet means submitting to a rigorous screening process. Something has…
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What happens to old film critics? Where do they go? Do they slink off to some elephant graveyard? Or do they all end up teaching at crappy colleges, having countless affairs with their students, and dying bitter alcoholics? These questions…
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I love my iPod. I used to see people with those telltale white earphones standing on the subway platform and think: “They’ll never hear it coming when a lunatic pushes them in front of a speeding train…” But now I’ll…
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Many summers ago I did something I’d always wanted to do. I made a pilgrimage to Gilmanton, New Hampshire, the final resting place of one of my favorite writers- Grace Metalious. The author of Peyton Place. Nowadays, most people barely…
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