Hollywood Holy Lands: Winnie the Pooh

The Dead Sea Scrolls. Mecca & Medina. St. Peter’s Square. Yearly, the faithful flock to connect with symbols and sites that dig deep in their cultural DNA. But, where shall the god-less go? For pilgrims who’ve ever culled soul-shaping parables out of pop-songs, cineplexes or TiVo, this column’s for you. For any believers as teary-eyed…

The Bliss of Not Knowing (Or, Ads At Nauseam)

“Let the Audience add up two plus two. They’ll love you forever.” -director Ernst Lubitsch Last October, an ex and I pried our bodies from our soft, safe sheets and plunged into a fog so moody and moor-ish, Poe would’ve positively beamed. It was a Sunday. And, rather than doze off during services, we’d decided to enlist…

Daisy Dukes: Superman: The Arctic Giant (1942)

Apes. Ants. Alligators. Spiders. Snails. Even Praying Mantises, for Christ’s sake. If it’s creepy, it’s crept down Main Street USA to the shriek of tax-paying citizens. Giant Things-That-Aren’t-Typically-Giant is nothing new. It’s like Yeah, yeah. We get it: Monster crushes car, Monster batters building, Monster is impervious to bullets. We’ve been at this since Godzilla. Except, wait: Fleischer’s Arctic Giant beats Godzilla by 12 years.