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Articles in Culture and Criticism

21 Jump Street: “Blindsided”
March 21, 2011 – 4:26 PM | 8 Comments
<I>21 Jump Street</I>: “Blindsided”

The Plot: Hanson and Penhall go undercover in one of their habitual guises, the McQuaid brothers, for one of Jump Street’s habitual drills: buy drugs in increasing quantities from a couple of middlemen in an …

The Crying Game: In A Twist
March 21, 2011 – 9:46 AM | 24 Comments
<I>The Crying Game</I>: In A Twist

I had never seen The Crying Game, despite knowing the twist most of my adult life — which is why I had never bothered seeing it. The spoiler aspect didn’t bother me, but everything except …

The Verdict: Facts Not In Evidence
March 19, 2011 – 12:45 PM | 17 Comments
<I>The Verdict</I>: Facts Not In Evidence

Let’s leave aside for a moment the fact that I could barely choose among the myriad vaguely pejorative courtroom-drama puns for the subhed, and focus on what makes The Verdict unique. It’s not the acting, …

The Amy March Shirt Of Justice: Update(s)
March 18, 2011 – 10:46 AM | 14 Comments
The Amy March Shirt Of Justice: Update(s)

3/18: ALL PRE-ORDERS OUT! Thanks so much for your business (and patience); enjoy. I recommend laundering both types of shirt in cold water, inside out.
Bummed you didn’t get one? No problem! You now have two …

Bradelor! DUN!: Let’s Get This Over With Live Chat
March 14, 2011 – 12:39 PM | 7 Comments
Bradelor! DUN!: Let’s Get This Over With Live Chat

Join your fellow sufferers for a live Bradelor! DUN! chat tonight, Monday 14 March at 8 PM ET as we send Brad (and, presumably, bride) down the aisle, into the sunset, between the goal posts, …

Bradelor! DUN!: Boot and Rally
March 9, 2011 – 4:56 PM | 4 Comments
Bradelor! DUN!: Boot and Rally

What can we really say about the latest edition of The Women Tell All: Crocodile Tears? Not much, as it turns out; we spent the bulk of our discussion on things we wish we’d seen …

TN Read-Along #8: Little Women Discussion Thread
March 8, 2011 – 11:09 AM | 89 Comments
TN Read-Along #8: <I>Little Women</I> Discussion Thread

Touched to the heart, Mrs. March could only stretch out her arms as if to gather children and grandchildren to herself, and say, with face and voice full of motherly love, gratitude, and humility:
“O my …

Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman
March 3, 2011 – 9:21 AM | 13 Comments
<I>Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman</I>

I’ve read Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild and Into Thin Air several times each, and I ripped through Under the Banner of Heaven in a day and a half; his prose is among the most …

Tomato Nation Read-Along #8: Poll
March 2, 2011 – 4:01 PM | 11 Comments
Tomato Nation Read-Along #8: Poll

After losing out to Zinn by a mere two votes, the Shannen Doherty book is back for another crack at the TNRA, along with Grann’s nonfiction yarn; a fistful of Alcott; and a couple of …

Bradelor! DUN!: Live-Chat Sleepover!
February 28, 2011 – 6:00 PM | 3 Comments
Bradelor! DUN!: Live-Chat Sleepover!

…In which we braid each other’s hair, eat tons and tons of candy, and debate whether Brad has any idea where anyone’s rosebud is and/or what to do with it. Chat goes live at 7:45 …