From Hollywood in Toto

  • Winehouse Biopic 'Back to Black' Puts Camera Where It Belongs

    It’s hard not to feel jaded by yet another musical biopic. “Ray.” “Rocketman.” “Bohemian Rhapsody.” “Bob Marley: One Love.” “Judy.” “Respect.” That’s a partial list, of course. What we really need is 'Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping 2.' Along comes “Back to Black,” the tragic tale of Amy Winehouse’s rise and fall, and we greet it with arms tightly folded. Will she hear her song played on the radio for the first time? What about fights with management over her career’s trajectory? “Back to...

  • Woke 'Wicked Little Letters' – Clapter: The Movie

    'Wicked Little Letters' might drag The Critical Drinker out of the multiplex and into the art house. It’s what would happen if Ken Loach tried to direct a comedy from a script by John Oliver and Hannah Gadsby. Each scene and every line seems shamelessly calculated to draw applause as well as laughter from audience members it expects to be on its wavelength. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeTeCWbF8KY The story is based on actual scandal that occurred in Littlehampton, England in 1920. The...

  • When Will Stars Speak Up for Canceled Jews?

    Hollywood rose up in the days and weeks following the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. Stars signed open letters decrying Hamas' ghoulish attack which killed 1,200 people and tortured many more. The documentary 'Screams Before Silence' tells the shocking story. Amy Schumer, Debra Messing, Patricia Heaton and Michael Rapaport led the charge, leveraging their social media platforms to pummel Hamas and demand the terrorist group release its hostages....

  • Six Reasons 'Baby Reindeer' Earned All That Hype

    'Baby Reindeer' is this year's 'Tiger King,' and it didn't need a global pandemic to forge its fame. The seven-episode Netflix series is a heady blend of fact and fiction that has audiences riveted. Even horror maestro Stephen King. Star/creator Richard Gadd used his life experiences to fuel the tale of a sad sack comedian named Donny and his relentless stalker (Jessica Gunning of 'The Outlaws' fame). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eafm1gB6SCM The show is a smash, and the numbers speak for...

  • Irreverent 'Mr. Birchum' Hammers Woke Culture

    Adam Carolla knew we needed “Mr. Birchum” both sooner and later. The cranky wood shop teacher, created by Carolla to break into LA radio in the 1990s, captured his real-world carpentry chops and no-nonsense style. Today, the character’s bluster is the perfect antidote to our woke, “this is MY truth” society. “Mr. Birchum,” the new Daily Wire+ animated series, leans into that cultural shift. Hard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jcSBYQVEHY The show finds Carolla’s character running afoul of a...

  • Tom Brady Roast Proves Woke Is on the Run

    Remember comedy? We used to embrace it without reservation, treating comedians like comedians, not politicians who hold sway over our lives. Tell a bad joke? Move along. Nothing to see here save the flop sweat on the stand-up’s brow. The woke mind virus changed all that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFWxEfzeYzs&t=184s Now, comedians have to watch what they say for fear of “offending” a group or single person. It’s had a chilling effect on creativity across the board, but comedians have felt...

  • How Did We Miss David Mamet's 'Spartan?'

    David Mamet's 'Spartan' (2004) opens with one of my favorite lines of movie dialogue. We begin in the woods, watching men and women run through a rigorous training course in which they are being pursued. At one point, a cadet stops to catch her breath and doesn't see a figure watching her, sitting nearby, observing her actions. He's identified only as Scott, the Master Gunner, and played by Val Kilmer. Scott asks her, 'You had your whole life to train for this moment. Why aren't you ready?' The...