January 23, 2012
by Michael Barone
Those who take a certain pleasure in denouncing the evils of negative political advertising should have spent the last week in South Carolina. They could have plunked down in front of TV sets, especially during morning, early evening and late evening news programs, and by adroit use of the remote control seen one negative [...]
January 13, 2012
by L. Brent Bozell III
It was symbolically perfect that on the same day Hollywood went to the Supreme Court to make the case for broadcast profanity, Entertainment Weekly reported that the next showing of the ABC smutcom Modern Family would feature a two-year-old girl dropping the F-bomb. The episode's title will be “Little Bo Bleep.” Shameless. There's no [...]
December 30, 2011
by L. Brent Bozell III
Profanity and pop music go hand in hand these days. The pop star Rihanna recently appeared on the British version of Simon Cowell's singing competition The X Factor dressed in a demure plaid jumper with a prim white collar. It seemed like a bow to younger viewers (and their parents). But a glance at [...]
December 16, 2011
by L. Brent Bozell III
In this special season of giving, Hollywood is willing to give people what entertainment executives think the country needs: a vicious, bloody takedown of Christmas. The Dec. 11 episode of "American Dad" on Fox exemplified those with a complete absence of Christmas spirit; it was titled "Season's Beatings." Father Donovan announces he is running a [...]
December 11, 2011
by Steve Chapman
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has a new TV spot accusing President Obama of waging "war on religion." It's a reckless, overstated spot that exploits prejudice against gays while deliberately distorting major issues. But here's the surprise: Perry has a point. The First Amendment forbids any law "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion. It's a [...]
December 3, 2011
by L. Brent Bozell III
The Hollywood elite's concern for the children stops at the water's edge of physical fitness. They simply do not touch the subject of moral fitness. On The Huffington Post, former entertainment executive Laurie David offered this pre-holiday piece of encouragement: "Thanksgiving Conversation Starter: Is It Time to Ban Soda Ads on Prime Time Television?" [...]
November 27, 2011
by William Murchison
In the great scheme of things — greater things than worldlings imagine on a trip to the mall — it doesn't matter a bit that Texas A & M and the University of Texas are winding up their celebrated Thanksgiving Day, football rivalry. What matters — maybe more than a little bit — is [...]
November 12, 2011
by L. Brent Bozell III
In Hollywood, the only truly serious sexual disease is virginity. It's a dire and embarrassing condition, desperately in need of elimination. Teenagers that still have "it" are woefully immature. They might as well consider themselves to be walking the school hallways in diapers. Along comes Fox Entertainment to enlighten us. Get ready. It's sick. [...]
October 31, 2011
by Robert R. Reilly
As Halloween approaches, our thoughts turn to horror movies -- at least mine do, since I am a Halloween baby and have a disordered soul. I have followed this genre avidly and find that it contains some interesting and unexpected messages beyond Boo! While working for the Reagan administration, I was once dispatched on a [...]
March 31, 2011
by Margaret Cabaniss
On the hit show 24, Kiefer Sutherland spent a lot of time looking for stuff (bombs, chips, daughters, etc.); now he's back in a new web-only series on Hulu, looking for something slightly different. Over at Patheos, Tony Rossi explains: When a cold-blooded hitman bursts into a hotel room to execute someone, the intended victim [...]
February 24, 2011
by Russell Shaw
On the eve of the last Super Bowl, two men were discussing the great American ritual of watching football on television. The older man admitted that he just didn't do that anymore. In times past, he said, he'd seen his share of TV football, but twelve or fifteen years earlier he'd become aware that his [...]
February 17, 2011
by Margaret Cabaniss
I am an unabashed Jeopardy! fan. When I come across it on TV, I have to play, shouting at the TV like my grandmother. I think Alex Trebek should be president, if it weren't for the whole Canadian thing. I understand that all of this makes me a huge dork. And so, as a huge [...]
January 26, 2011
by Simcha Fisher
Here's something my mother sent me out of the blue (no, I'm not pregnant). Seems like an excellent follow-up to the March for Life. You know, that day when hundreds of thousands of ninjas march to show their support of women and babies. I say “ninjas” because they somehow slip by the attention of the [...]
January 12, 2011
by Zoe Romanowsky
Halfway through this Wall Street Journal article, I thought the author, Amy Chua, might be writing tongue-in-cheek. But the Yale Law professor and author isn't joking. Titled "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior," Chua compares the parenting styles of what she loosely calls "Chinese" mothers with that of "Western" mothers, arguing that the former produces the [...]
January 4, 2011
by Zoe Romanowsky
The Independent has a story about one mom's decision to bar the use of technology in her family's house for six months. Susan Maushart was becoming anxious about the amount of her time her three children spent transfixed by technology. Her son was hooked on his gaming console, one daughter was addicted to social networking [...]
September 11, 2010
by Eric Pavlat
Nine years ago today, my 10th graders and I were 10 minutes into an 85-minute 2nd period, doing Oedipus the King, when another teacher walked into the room and whispered into my ear that a plane had just hit the U.S. Senate building (wrong info, of course, but that's what he said). What to do? [...]
July 26, 2010
by Deal W. Hudson
I'm old enough to remember three channels on our black-and-white TV, which was topped with rabbit ears. Those were the days when neighbors naughtily listened in to conversations on the "party line," and the length of a long-distance phone call had to be carefully measured using the second hand on a wind-up clock.I've also lived [...]
July 8, 2010
by Margaret Cabaniss
IC's own Bob Reilly doesn't just know music; he also has a keen understanding of the history of Islam and insight into its radicalization and current struggle with the West. All of this is laid out in his latest book The Closing of the Muslim Mind: How Intellectual Suicide Created the Modern Islamist, which he [...]
July 6, 2010
by Joseph Susanka
This most recent press release from Relativity Media, as noted by /film's Peter Sciretta, is a bit of a bombshell: Netflix, Inc. and Relativity Media, LLC today announced a long term agreement through which major theatrically released films owned by Relativity will be licensed directly and exclusively to Netflix for streaming to its subscribers during [...]
June 4, 2010
by Margaret Cabaniss
Time for your Friday morning link round-up: Psychological exams for prospective priests have become more complicated in the wake of the sex-abuse scandal. For those who have trouble comprehending the current size of the oil spill, this will help put things in perspective. Top 25 conservative TV shows, and top 50 Catholic-themed movies. Plenty here [...]