Priest really was chock full of cliched goodness...besides slumming graybeards, it also included "Beast who enters scene and roars." Is anyone else tired of this? I mean after LOTR's Cave Troll... ...Avatar's Thanator... ...Star Trek's ice monster thingy... ...and on …

You know, I was gonna write a thinky sort of post about Lars Von Trier's "I understand Hitler" press conference in Cannes, but really, the only thing that must be said is that someone needs to do a "Hitler reacts …

This week, David Elliott looks long into The Beaver, My Perestroika, The Robber, and Henry's Crime. Plus capsule reviews of Soul Surfer, Priest, The First Grader, Forks Over Knives, and The Double Hour.

As Naomi noted, tonight is the night for the San Diego Council on Literacy's Eat.Drink.Read event down at the NTC Promenade. This year, local chefs will be preparing dishes inspired by their favorite books, and Urban Solace's Matt Gordon was …

In his excellent book Adventures on the Wine Route, importer Kermit Lynch recounts an opportunity he had to taste the Rhone Valley's famous Vieux Telegraphe in both its filtered and unfiltered state: "The difference between the two bottles was striking. …

Good times.

File under: what a drag it is getting old. This is turning out to be something of a rich vein. So without further ado, four more late-career curiosities from the stars of the screen: Max Von Sydow in Judge Dredd! …

Watching Christopher Plummer gibber his way through his role in Priest... ...I found myself thinking back on other wondrous performances from the lions of the theatrical tradition. These are just a few that spring to mind: Laurence Olivier in the …

Good times.

Wow. A five-genre pileup. Let’s make a list: 1: A buddy cop movie, complete with a hero (Paul Bettany, who never seems to tire of these religious-type gigs) who gets told to turn in his badge because he wants to …

Well, as Twain said, it's difference of opinion that makes horse races. Actually, I agree with my esteemed colleague (see his post) about a lot of Ferrell's cinematic output; I found Talledega Nights mostly painful, except of course for the …

Spotted on the Cars 2 display in the lobby of AMC's Mission Valley 20: Well, I guess it is the most famous car in the world... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGHwlExcaqU "Are you ready?" "Is the Popemobile Catholic?"

Not that Naomi needs any kind of authentication, but reading her post on bugs and Mexican cuisine reminded me of this bit from Raymond Sokolov's Why We Eat What We Eat: How Columbus Changed the Way the World Eats: "The …

John Piconi has used a lot of different wine labels in his nearly 40 years as a winemaker - you can see a few of them in the photo that accompanies my most recent column. But I have a soft …

La Ferme Julien, $4.99 at Trader Joe's. No, you won't find subtle hints of tea leaf and rose petal, the way you might in something from Domaine Ott. But you will find a solid dry rose at a great price.

Good times.

This week in the Reader, John Rubio reviews Everything Must Go, Hesher, and Bridesmaids. Plus capsule listings of The Bang Bang Club, Insidious, Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, and POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever …

Good thing Marks got that Texas Chainsaw Massacre post up; it was starting to get mighty Jesus-y up in here. Let me help bring the tone down a notch with this excerpt from Jeffrey Sconce's Sleaze Artists: Cinema at the …

One more word on Christian movies and I'll stop. (Maybe we can talk about Tyler Perry next!) This trailer for Courageous ran before Soul Surfer. It's from the makers of Fireproof, which was not a movie so much as an …

“You give and take away/You give and take away/Still I choose to say/Blessed be Your name.” That’s a line from the song that gets sung during the Sunday morning church scene near the beginning of Soul Surfer, and it’s a …