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Dodger Hero Freddie Freeman Is in It for the Love of the Game. And More.

Dodger Hero Freddie Freeman Is in It for the Love of the Game. And More.

Let’s start with the fundamentals. Tonight on Fox at 5 p.m. Pacific time brings Game 3 of the Dodger-Yankees World Series, with the Dodgers holding a surprising (to most) 2-0 lead. Even more than typical in this grand a setting, the game offers multiple converging narratives, some bearing

Sean Baker's "Anora": You Can't Touch Her But She May Touch You

Sean Baker's "Anora": You Can't Touch Her But She May Touch You

Well, actually, you can under certain conditions touch Anora, the central figure in almost every scene of the 139-minute Baker film that bringsus joyous farce as laced with societal critique. Just don’t break the rules and lay hands on her in the dimly-lit public confines of the Brighton Beach

Cameron Crowe Talks Petty and "Heartbreakers Beach Party"

Cameron Crowe Talks Petty and "Heartbreakers Beach Party"

I don't believe the good times are over/I don't believe the thrill is all gone/Real love is a man's salvation/The weak ones fall/The strong carry on... (from "Straight Into Darkness,' as heard– and seen--in the film) This post

"Saturday Night": SNL Had Mad Sack in Belushi's Day

"Saturday Night": SNL Had Mad Sack in Belushi's Day

I was just stuffing my knapsack under a linen-draped table of hors-d'oeuvres when John Belushi thumped me on the spine, not all that gently. It was a warm May evening in 1979, following the finale of the show's fourth season, and there was an open-air party

"Joker: Folie`a Deux...That's Entertainment?

"Joker: Folie`a Deux...That's Entertainment?

Okay, we all know this is where the slagging is meant to come in. Where the writer cites the grand success of the first "Joker" movie and proceeds to indict director Todd Phillips for catastrophically and self-indulgently, in league with his cast, screwing up the sequel. So is

Saoirse Ronan, in "The Outrun", "Rides It Like A Soldier"

Saoirse Ronan, in "The Outrun", "Rides It Like A Soldier"

Who here can stomach a medium-grade blast of positivity? I ask because the current entertainment climate, as depicted by blogger Ted Gioia in a post this week, is trending away from hopefulness and joy. “The pop culture audience today,” he notes, “craves darkness and dysfunction.” The mission of today’s

The “Cultural Tragedy” of the Suppressed Prince Doc

The “Cultural Tragedy” of the Suppressed Prince Doc

The words in quotes in the above headline for this post come from New York Times Magazine culture editor Sasha Weiss, as spoken in a podcast cited below. And she’s right, of course—she steadily proves that throughout her exemplary, 9,000+-words article on the topic (“The Prince