“Mitt Romney - he had a Rock Hudson thing going, shoeblack hair and a well-hung resume, but even for a shameless, position-shifting phony he seemed a trifle insincere.” WellsRocksPositionHairHungShiftingRomneyTriflesResumesPhonyShamelessInsincere Author:James Wolcott
“On August 28, 2010, Fox News messiah Glenn Beck hosted a 'Restoring Honor' revival meeting featuring sexy guest star Sarah Palin, much as Bob Hope would roll out Raquel Welch in white go-go boots on his U.S.O. tours to give our fighting men a morale lift in their khakis.” MenGivingFightingStarsWhiteHonorNewsMeetingsSexyLiftsGuestsBootsBobFoxesRevivalAugustMessiahPalinMoraleRestoringFox NewsGuest Stars Author:James Wolcott
“Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian would have left little more than lipstick stains in their passing had it not been for the sex videos that lofted them into reality-TV notoriety. Once notoriety has warmed into familiarity, celebrity itself becomes one big 'Brady Bunch' reunion, or a therapy session with Dr. Drew.” LittlesBigsRealityLeftSexTvsVideoBunchPassingPassingsTherapyParisDrsSessionFamiliarityLipstickStainsReunionKimReality TvNotorietyBradyBrady Bunch Author:James Wolcott
“Since I'm a fan of collections and anthologies, believe that the best writing often shines in shards and galloping stretches, I never find myself lobbying for a writer I enjoy reading regularly to hole up in Heidegger's hut for four or five years to bring forth a mountain.” WritingYearsBelieveReadingEnjoyFiveFourFansMountainShiningHolesFive YearsCollectionsAnthologyHutsLobbyingGallopingHeidegger Author:James Wolcott
“The advent of DVD/Blu-ray reissues of classic Hollywood and foreign films has been a boon to film buffs, who can now study their favorites in all their glistening detail and restored palettes.” Has BeensFilmStudyHollywoodDetailsClassicRaysDvdsAdventPaletteBoon Author:James Wolcott
“The unhappy irony is that, while 'Glee' is hitting the heights, school arts funding is being slashed across the country due to the steep recession and declining tax revenues.” ArtCountrySchoolTaxesDuesUnhappyIronyHeightHittingRevenueFundingRecessionsSteepGlee Author:James Wolcott
“What a turnaround in sentiment 'Glee' exemplifies. It was only a few years ago that pursuing the dream of a Broadway career or cabaret stardom relegated some poor yearning dope to a lavender ghetto of losers, self-deluders, and social rejects.” YearsSelfDreamSocialPoorCareersYears AgoRejectsSentimentsLoserYearningBroadwayGhettoDopeGleeStardomLavenderCabaretTurnaround Author:James Wolcott
“What had brought me to New York in the autumn of 1972 was a letter of recommendation written by Norman Mailer, the author of 'The Naked and the Dead' and American literature's leading heavyweight contender, to Dan Wolf, the delphic editor of 'The Village Voice.'” LiteratureVoiceWrittenNew YorkLettersNakedAutumnVillageEditorsRecommendationsAmerican LiteratureHeavyweights Author:James Wolcott
“What's happening to movie critics is no different from what has been meted out to book, dance, theater, and fine-arts reviewers and reporters in the cultural deforestation that has driven refugees into the diffuse clatter of the Internet and Twitter, where some adapt and thrive - such as Roger Ebert - while others disappear without a twinkle.” InspirationalHas BeensArtBookDifferentFineInternetHappeningsTheaterDanceCriticsDisappearDrivenThriveReportersRefugeeRogerFine ArtsReviewersDeforestationMovie Critic Author:James Wolcott
“Whenever I catch a chunk of an Adam Sandler comedy on cable, it looks as badly shot and goofily tossed off as a Jerry Lewis gag reel once he hit the late downslide with 'Hardly Working' and 'Cracking Up.'” LooksComedyLateShotsAdamCablesJerryChunksGagsCracking Up Author:James Wolcott
“With 'Black Swan,' the ballerina saga flips its tiara and goes on a hallucinatory bender, a scary acid trip where transfiguration and disfiguration meet.” BlackGoes OnScaryAcidFlipSwansBallerinaSagaTransfigurationTiarasBlack SwanAcid Trip Author:James Wolcott
“Wisdom is for statues. Humor uncaps our inhibitions, unleashes our energies, seals friendships, patches hurts. Laughing is probably the most alive you can be.” EnergyHurtLaughingAliveStatuesPatchesSealsInhibitions Author:James Wolcott
“I never accepted why there should be some invisible, wavy cutoff line separating Great Fiction from phosphorescent beauties and dollhouse miniatures, novels that contain a whole world in a snow globe.” WorldShouldWholeLinesFictionNovelAcceptedInvisibleWhole WorldSnowGlobesSeparatingMiniaturesDollhouses Author:James Wolcott
“I root for hurricanes. When, courtesy of the Weather Channel, I see one forming in the ocean off the coast of Africa, I find myself longing for it to become big and strong--Mother Nature's fist of fury, Gaia's stern rebuke. Considering the havoc mankind has wreaked upon nature with deforesting, stripmining, and the destruction of animal habitat, it only seems fair that nature get some of its own back and teach us that there are forces greater than our own.” BigsSeemsMotherStrongForceAnimalTeachGreaterMankindStupidOceanFairsRootsDestructionLongingWeatherConsideringCoastFistsCourtesyFuryHurricanesMother NatureHabitatHavocRebukeGaia Author:James Wolcott
“It's the contemporary woman that movies don't know what to do with, other than bathe her in a bridal glow in romantic comedies where both the romance and the comedy are artificial sweeteners.” KnowsRomanceComedyRomanticContemporaryArtificialRomantic LoveBridalSweeteners Author:James Wolcott
