An episode of CBS-TV’s mystery series Eleventh Hour entered the debate over stem cells to make a strong and valid scientific point with important moral and political implications. It did more to educate viewers about the issue than the network’s news programs have ever done.
A new essay by S. T. Karnick outlines and refutes "the American fantasy that both individuals and society as a whole can overcome every obstacle to our numerous desires, provided we only wish strongly enough and get our friends on our side." It also points out how the recent comedy film Marley and Me constitutes a refreshing criticism of this vulgar and adolescent fantasy of godlike power.
Dennis Prager, a thoughtful writer about politics and other subjects, makes a very good point in an article praising a new Broadway play that bucks the trend of recent decades on the Great White Way by unapologetically presenting a Christian as an unambiguous heroine. Prager points out that whereas our culture’s strong strain of Rousseauan assumptions makes us unduly mystified by evil and thereby fascinated with it, what is really difficult to explain is the great amount of human goodness in the world:
Monsters vs. Aliens just achieved the best opening weekend at the U.S. movie box office this year.
A classic mystery novel has just received some well-deserved new appreciation, S. T. Karnick writes.
The latest PBS Masterpiece Classics adaptation of Charles Dickens’s classic novel Oliver Twist demonstrates the urgent need for reform of the taxpayer-supported broadcasting service, S. T. Karnick notes.
No. The Czar of the Teleprompter was not criticized for failing to fill out a hotties bracket. USA Today’s Christine Brennan, who is usually a sensible sports columnist, upbraided President Obama for filling out a men’s NCAA bracket and ignoring the women’s tourney.
For crime film fans, Turner Classic Movies offers a slate dominated by cult favorites this week, with a couple of acknowledged classics as well.
An imminent world catastrophe and Nicolas Cage drew U.S. audiences to the nation’s movie theaters last weekend.
What we think of our tax system is a good gauge of the health of our society, Mike Gray writes. "The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has."—Will Rogers
No concluding episode could live up to the overall accomplishment of Battlestar Galactica, but last night’s finale was an honorable try, and the series is one of the best ever. Joshua Trevino assesses the finale and commends the series.
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