As our kids march off to school or college in the coming days, a nagging question presents itself: Why are they so goddamn calm? Or are they numb?

I realize they occupy their own little world, but here's a reality check: Confronting them is a stalled economy and a stalemated...

I've always disliked casting meetings. Prepping a movie is an engaging process, but picking the right actor for the right role is downright frustrating.

For one thing, there's always somebody in the meeting who thinks he has the magic answers. He knows who is destined for stardom. Then there's the...

He is the hottest act in Orange County, and Orange County hasn't seen many hot acts. His venue is SRO every weekend, which means perhaps 20,000 souls; last weekend, it meant national TV exposure and international publicity.

So I decided to go to church (that is, mega-church) last Sunday to...

Decision time is at hand. The two presidential candidates must now choose their running mates and, if history is a guide, their choices will likely be appalling.

The names flash before you: Eagleton, Quayle, Ferraro, Lieberman, William Edward Miller, Agnew.

With all the resources available to a candidate, couldn't anyone...

George Clooney thinks it's risky. Sean Combs (P. Diddy) thinks it's urgently important.

Every celebrity feels differently on the question of political advocacy -- whether a star should campaign for a candidate and whether that effort helps or hurts.

That argument has taken on a different perspective now that John...

Come Labor Day, parents around the country can rightfully tell their kids, "I know what you did last summer." Against everyone's expectations, the kids went to the movies. In record numbers.

This behavior, to be sure, would seem counterintuitive since our kids supposedly are too pre-occupied with their...

While we all enjoy bashing the Hollywood studios for lack of imagination, at this point in the summer the naysayers should also own up to this reality: The world's filmgoers seem to like what they're getting.

The basic facts are as follows: Just about all the tentpoles and sequels have...

If I were an aspiring young film producer today, I'd be out there pitching an action movie about a WallWalker (remember those creepy blobs from the '80s?"} and his exciting encounters with creatures like Thundercats and Hungry Hippos. The WallWalker would go on to save the world, of course.

...

It's summer at the multiplexes, and the tentpoles are already teetering. The set-up is perfect for a hot comedy to come along and steal the spotlight.

So Knocked Up arrives and it seems the perfect antidote to sequelitis. The critics' reception is rapturous. Knocked Up is an "instant classic," proclaims...

CANNES—When Michael Moore was anointed King of all Media at the Cannes Festival a year ago, the city fathers here were alarmed. What would happen if Americans, or fest goers, looked upon Cannes as a forum for political agitation?

Their fears were not realized, and, if anything, the presence...