There’s a lot of “buzz” surrounding the new Batman summer movie. One aspect that critics point to is the film’s faithfulness to the original concept of a dark and mysterious character committed to fighting injustice — a departure from the over-the-top cartoon characters present in earlier films. However, before the Bat-man’s appearance in 1939, before Superman debuted in ’38, another...

Psychiatrist and radio personality Frasier Crane is wrestling with an ethical dilemma. Dr. Honey Snow is not only a pop-psychologist, best selling author and knockout blonde, she also has a crush on Seattle’s resident narcissist and relationship expert. (That’s not the dilemma.) When the stunning Snow asks him to write the forward to her new book, Frasier struggles to craft...

There’s a scene in the ’97 noir classic, “L.A. Confidential” that takes place after a front-page story breaks detailing local police beating-up helpless prisoners in the lock-up.  After straight-arrow cop Ed Exley unsuccessfully tries to stop the fight, the next day he’s asked if he would be willing to testify against his fellow officers. “Justice has to be served,” Exley...

THE MOST SACRED RELIC ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH… FILLED WITH INCREDIBLE POWER… AND INDIANA JONES MUST GET HIS HANDS ON IT BEFORE THE EVIL (NAZIS/CULTISTS/NAZIS/RUSSIANS) DO… THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD DEPENDS ON IT! World-traveling (and world-weary) archeologist Indiana Jones has studied ancient cultures, read sacred texts, raced Nazis for possession of religious artifacts, not to mention whip...

“Why is it so hard for a man to see clearly beyond the letter of the law?” This deft piece of rationalization comes courtesy of Mr. Voysey, Sr. to his son, Edward, Jr. from a play by English dramatist Harley Granville Barker, edited by David Mamet. “The Voysey Inheritance” is a 103-year-old morality play that gives proof to the notion...

Steve Allen wrote 52 books, acted on stage, films, and TV, created and hosted The Tonight Show as well as more than 1,000 episodes of Steve Allen Shows and in his spare time, composed more than 9,000 songs! In the last several years of his life, he traveled around the country speaking to groups about the importance of ethics and morality. Although I received...

Cue the summer movie, world-in-peril music, followed by a deep-voiced narrator. “There has always been a delicate balance between chaos and control.  Now, with that balance threatened, it’s time to turn to one man…” CUT TO: A ROTUND MAN SITTING AT A MICROPHONE – “Rush Limbaugh had listeners register as Democrats for one day to go vote for Hillary… This...

Moral relativists won’t lose any sleep over this one. Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Errol Morris (“The Fog of War,” “The Thin Blue Line”) has apparently pulled off another controversial winner with his new film “Standard Operating Procedure” which examines the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq at the hands of our own military. This time, however Morris got a...

John McCarthy is a former knuckleball pitcher in the Baltimore Orioles organization who, in 1992, started his Home Run Baseball Camp for kids in Washington, DC.  John teaches that“Talent is what you have; effort is what you give,” and there’s no room for drugs in striving to be your best. We had a conversation about baseball’s steroid scandal shortly after the...

One of the best things about the new HBO mini-series “John Adams” is the humanity the actors bring to their parts. While I was watching I kept thinking,“I’ll bet that’s the way it was.”The second is how the filmmakers allow us to witness the turmoil, much of it gritty, and triumph that ultimately gave birth to the United States. If ever...