Lesley Gore Sings To The Girls

It was Ladies Night Out.

There was a gaggle of them. Eight maybe in one notable group. Perhaps a baker’s dozen. It was a night for the Girls. Some had told hubby to make sure the kiddos finish their homework before bath and bed, they were going out. Others, single, or single mothers, or perhaps divorced, said the same to the babysitter. Some may have come as couples. Read the rest of this entry »

Mao, Dulles, Gorbachev and Louis Vuitton

The image doesn’t seem unusual at first.

A well-dressed elderly man is riding in the back of a limo. On the seat next to him is a Louis Vuitton bag, containing a newspaper and important papers. Obviously the photo is an advertisement. “Use my bags,” Louis Vuitton hints, “be a man of intellect, importance, wealth and taste.”

Upon closer inspection, one sees a birthmark in the shape of Italy on the man’s forehead. It’s a light bulb moment. The politically observant are prone to rhetorically ask, “What’s wrong with this picture?” Read the rest of this entry »

Review Of “Talk To Me” & “Stardust”

When it comes to romantic comedies, none are less likely to be criticized while being remembered with fondness than the screwball comedies of seventy years ago.

William Powell and Myrna Loy in the Thin Man series, where a hint of mystery added to the memorable marital banter. Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake in Sullivan’s Travels. Cary Grant. Irene Dunne. Claudette Colbert. Clark Gable, even the tight-sphinctered Katherine Hepburn — those are the names we revere. The banter was fast and loose. And funny. The situations just real enough to pull us in; just distant enough to give us perspective. What could we have loved more than two superstars in love and screaming at each other while standing by the side of the road in middle America? Read the rest of this entry »

Review Of “The Bourne Ultimatum”

That The Bourne Ultimatum made the most money at the box office this sweltering August weekend is little surprise. What is stunning to me is the makeup of the crowd.

The Film Babe and I went to an afternoon showing on the flick’s first day in theaters. In the crowd were a bunch of literary types rarely seen in testosterone-laden action movies. The head of the library and his spouse were there. The couple that owns Louisville’s leading indie bookstore were there. And a number of other professionals, educators and aesthetes — serious people — the kind you’d never see at, say, a Die Hard flick. Read the rest of this entry »

The Picasso Of Pizza Returns

I offer this laudation without trepidation. The gospel must be spread. Say hallelujah. Can I get a witness?

Several years back, a colleague asked what I thought was Louisville’s finest restaurant? Also, where was my favorite place to eat in town?

In total seriousness, the answer to both was the same. It was a quick response. Impellizzeri’s Pizza on Bardstown Road. Read the rest of this entry »