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!

There Will Be Blood
February 24, 2008 · 13 Comments

As I just said in the Michael Clayton comments, sometimes a movie I go into expecting two hours of torture will fare better in my esteem merely by not sucking as much as I’d expected …

Michael Clayton
February 23, 2008 · 20 Comments
<I>Michael Clayton</I>

“Maybe if you’d gotten a pageboy you’d have a snowball’s chance in hell at Best Supporting Actor, crazy.”
This is a really well-built movie. You can’t see any of the joints or threads until the end, …

American Gangster
February 22, 2008 · 8 Comments
<I>American Gangster</I>

“That hat better get itself correct.”
Any rise-and-fall-of-the-gangster movie made after GoodFellas has a problem, namely that it is probably not GoodFellas, so even if it’s pretty good, it’s going to suffer by comparison. American Gangster …

The Vine: February 22, 2008
February 22, 2008 · 41 Comments

Dear Sars,
Quick question for you: My mom has always said you don’t tip the owner of a hair salon if he or she cuts your hair. This does make sense to me because they often …

The Times Of Harvey Milk
February 22, 2008 · 15 Comments

Great documentary; it won the Oscar twenty-odd years ago. I knew who Milk was, and what had happened to him, but not the details, and my God what a crazy story — did you know …

The Dewey Donation System Annual Book Drive
February 21, 2008 · No Comment

It’s time once again for the annual Dewey Donation System book drive. My mom used to tell me, “Books are treasures,” and it may have been her profound aversion to the sight of a hardcover …

For The Love Of Mike
February 21, 2008 · 5 Comments

My recap of the Knight Rider pilot/reboot is up on TWoP now.

Okay, bad guys of television and film, listen up: if a given hostage is the only means you have of attaining your goal, and …

Product Crush: Jelly Fruit Slices
February 19, 2008 · 81 Comments
Product Crush: Jelly Fruit Slices

“Har dee har har.”
I just ate a package of Chuckles, and I hate myself a little bit for settling, because I didn’t really want Chuckles — I didn’t set out for the deli on a …

Elizabeth: The Golden Age
February 18, 2008 · 17 Comments

Let me just ask right up front: what is going on with Elizabeth’s hair? I get that it’s a wig, but then, when she’s reviewing the troops and it’s down on her shoulders, all lank, …

Atonement
February 18, 2008 · 22 Comments

I’ve got to put the book on my wish list; I could swear a friend of mine gave it to me as a gift, and I just hadn’t gotten around to reading it, but I’ve …