Baseball

“I wrote 63 songs this year. They’re all about Jeter.” Just kidding. The game we love, the players we hate, and more.

Culture and Criticism

From Norman Mailer to Wendy Pepper — everything on film, TV, books, music, and snacks (shut up, raisins), plus the Girls’ Bike Club.

Donors Choose and Contests

Helping public schools, winning prizes, sending a crazy lady in a tomato costume out in public.

Stories, True and Otherwise

Monologues, travelogues, fiction, and fart humor. And hens. Don’t forget the hens.

The Vine

The Tomato Nation advice column addresses your questions on etiquette, grammar, romance, and pet misbehavior. Ask The Readers about books or fashion today!

The Cove
February 15, 2010 · 15 Comments
<em>The Cove</em>

…Man.The Cove is a gripping documentary, but “hard to watch” doesn’t begin.It’s hard to watch Ric O’Barry, who worked as the dolphin trainer on Flipper, trying to atone for his part in the culture’s continuing …

Julie & Julia
February 14, 2010 · 46 Comments

The Julia half of the movie is delightful. Meryl Streep is wonderful, in no small part because Julia Child is written so wonderfully here (and I have fond memories of her from my early childhood).
I …

The Secret of Kells
February 14, 2010 · 3 Comments

Whimsical but not twee, grand but not grandiose, The Secret of Kells put me in mind of certain Samurai Jack episodes, specifically the one with the Viking-esque hall-of-warriors sequence.The animation is nothing technologically ground-breaking, but …

Up
February 13, 2010 · 64 Comments

The tears started rolling five minutes in. I always cry at Pixar movies — even Cars; shut up — so I don’t know why I thought I would escape from Up with a dry face, …

Precious
February 13, 2010 · 9 Comments

I don’t know what to make of Precious. It shouldn’t have worked for me — I expected it not to work for me — and yet, somehow, it did. Despite Precious’s situation being so bleak …

The Vine: February 12, 2010
February 12, 2010 · 10 Comments

Hello, Sars!
I’ve always enjoyed reading your advice, but didn’t think I had anything to write in about. Then, I remembered how great you and your readers are at finding difficult-to-remember books, and I was wondering …

The Blind Side and Avatar: Let’s Congratulate Ourselves On Re-Colonizing The Other With Weaponized Syrup
February 12, 2010 · 59 Comments
<I>The Blind Side</I> and <I>Avatar</I>: Let’s Congratulate Ourselves On Re-Colonizing The Other With Weaponized Syrup

Watching The Blind Side and Avatar in a 12-hour period is not recommended, but is nevertheless instructive.
For those of you who avoid my baseball entries, I’ve written in the past about the reaction to players …

Food Inc.
February 11, 2010 · 17 Comments

If you’ve read Fast Food Nation or The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Food Inc. won’t cover any new ground for you.It’s a well-crafted doc, though, and I filled up with rage all over again at the way …

The Vine: February 10, 2010
February 10, 2010 · 85 Comments

Hey Sars.
So, of course, there’s this Boy. My question is about whether or not it would be nuts to pursue him.
We know each other because a friend of his has been dating a friend of …

A Serious Man
February 10, 2010 · 8 Comments
<I>A Serious Man</I>

Coen movies live near that line that separates the unlikeable characters who nonetheless hold your attention and the unlikeable characters who are merely unlikeable. There’s something to be said for realistic portrayals of selfish, unpleasant …