Monthly Archives: December 2014

Foxcatcher may not be the best name a film has ever had (the title for best title probably belongs to The Silence of the Lambs), but it’s certainly more appropriate than Breakcatcher, because the film hasn’t caught too many breaks since it rode into town on a wave of Oscar hype. It’s not doing particularly well with audiences nor critics; it isn’t appearing on enough year-end Top 10 lists. Its lead actor, Steve Carell, was supposed to be one of […]

It took Anglo-American society about 750 years to assure us of our rights, from the Magna Carta of 1215 to the conclusion of treating colonial subjects and brown-skinned people like second-class citizens, roughly 50 years ago. It took the 21st century all of 15 years to reverse the progress of due process. 2014 turned out to be a turning point, and for that you can thank two septugenarians who wouldn’t ordinarily be seen in the same room, or mentioned in […]

Word coinage here! Today I would like to introduce the world to FAUTIGUE, pronounced “faw-TEEG.” Google away. As you’ll see, “fautigue” pretty much only exists on Web 1.o discussion boards where people were misspelling “fatigue.” Perhaps they thought they were being more British. Bad news for them: they weren’t. Some clothing brand you’ve never heard of, Wildfox, sells something called a Tres Fautigue; are they suggesting that it’s like buying “faux” fatigues? I doubt the name was well thought out. […]

Today is the one-year anniversary of FGH2013. Hadn’t you heard? On December 1, 2013, exactly a year ago today, Ray Subers of boxofficemojo.com surveyed the Thanksgiving weekend carnage, and marveled at the ladies who had just shattered domestic records. In its first five days, Frozen earned $94 million, making it the highest Thanksgiving opening ever, beating by $14 million the 14-year-old record set by Toy Story 2, and performing about $25 million higher than Tangled and, separately, Subers’ own predictions. […]