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UPDATE: My friend the Anchoress tweets on Ted Danson: “ …and he’s wearing his “smart” glasses, so we’d better listen.”

With his tired “wonderful entertainer” swipe, Ted Danson tries mightily to laugh off all-things Rush Limbaugh, but the bitterness is just too deep to keep the charade going for long; and let’s face it, Danson’s just not that good of an actor.

Longtime Limbaugh listeners know where Danson’s anger comes from. Who could ever forget this: (more…)

If you haven’t heard of Adam Lambert, you will soon.  He is the flamboyant rocker who recently came in second on “American Idol” in a stunning upset by boy-next-door Kris Allen.  Adam, the judges’ obvious favorite throughout the show, is a 27-year-old actor-singer who was struggling to make it in the music business until “Idol” came along.  A former cast-member of “Wicked,” Adam worked in various Broadway touring groups and avant garde shows in order to pay his rent.  But his real dream was to become a pop-rock star.

Adam has an amazing vocal range and a falsetto so rich in quality that it is imperceptibly different from his chest voice.  His incredible ability to control his vocals enables him to hold his high notes seemingly forever.  His versatility is unmatched in “Idol” history.  With the arguable exception of country music (his rendition of “Ring of Fire” received strong emotional reactions both pro and con, as it was more like Johnny Cash doing Goth music with Middle Eastern undertones), Adam excels in every genre of music.  He sings soulful ballads to pop to heavy metal and glam rock, all with ease, style, and pitch-perfect tone. (more…)

In the 1930’s, when world audiences were asked to name the capital of the U.S.A., one answer was high on the list: “Hollywood.” That was the location listed at the end of every amazing movie: “Made In Hollywood.” How could such magic not come from America’s capital?

Such is the power of a single word.

That power has not diminished but only increased with an ADD, multi-channel, hyperactive media-centric world. The silver screen has long given us immortal dialogue which now blends so deeply into the culture that people may not know their origin, but we know the meaning.  A wise man I know said, “Image creates perception, perception creates reality.”  It couldn’t be more true in the film business.

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In a media-centric world, from motion pictures to internet to phones, we are pounded with images, forming our perceptions and then creating our reality. How fast did the Internet meme “Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys” become a daily reference at the coffee klatch, in your email, or on phone calls?  Not long.  We forget how powerful words can be when written in a clever and pithy way.  The masters of dialogue like Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, and the Epstein brothers, knew irreverent and immortal lines.  And as producers, writers or just Americans who appreciate a good, nimble turn of a phrase, we should excel at creating phrases that demonstrate the values we hold dear.  Don’t understand?  “What we have here is a failure to communicate!” (more…)