After seeing BRYAN CRANSTON in ‘Breaking Bad’ - ANTHONY HOPKINS sent this wonderful email to the show’s star full of admiration for Cranston's performance, claiming it to be the best acting he'd ever seen.

It really annoys me that “restive” means, essentially, “restless.” Until “festive” is redefined as “unfestive,” this inconsistency bugs

“The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.” —H.L. Mencken

For two days running, I’ve heard “Dark Side of the Moon” coming from my 18-year-old son’s room. Although I’ve never played Pink Floyd for my kids, I’ll take it as a parenting win. Bonus point: I’m 99% sure he’s listening to it sober.

"We must be free not because we claim freedom but because we practice it." —William Faulkner

Why are my Facebook reels overrun with AI slop of Mr. Rogers & Marilyn Monroe that I invariably click and invariably hate myself for watching? Is this what meth is like?

"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." —Aldous Huxley

Hey, fellow Oklahomans: Go outside! Fall finally arrived!

“To get back to my youth I would do anything in the world, except exercise, get up early, be responsible or be respectable.” – Oscar Wilde

the grim reaper driving a taxi full of meats and cheeses makes it a death cab for charcuterie.

Looking for lesser-known 21st century horror movies to stream this month? (say yes) I’ve got recs in this month’s Oklahoma Gazette…

For 20+ years, my favorite coffee mug has been grrreat. I guess there’s only so many times you can grab a tiger by the tail. …

As with AI "authors" and "artists" all I can say is what a sucker! See, AI is about eliminating the middle man and these people don't realize that they are the middle man up for the chop. Why go to Paramount or Warner or Disney for an AI movie when you can go to the AI company?

Heading into week 3 of (non/covid) virus from hell. Congestion, sore throat, cough. I know it’s been going around. Anyone know if it, you know.. ends?

Redford was a true supporter of Native narrative sovereignty, giving wings to the artists we celebrate on our podcast. Good journey, sir. And now a super keen story about him from Sterlin Harjo.

“If I could have convinced more slaves that they were slaves, I could have freed thousands more.” —Harriet Tubman

“Disrespect is the weapon of the weak.”—Alice Miller

Just curious if I’m the only one: When you find yourself in Walmart wearing the same T-shirt as someone else, do you feel sudden camaraderie? Or are you one of those people who don’t own an AC/DC shirt?

in case you care… cutting-2-the-chase.com/2025/09/03/1...

In case you had a burning desire to know my take on the 10 best opening titles in movies (before 1980)

Tell me the president doesn’t understand the economy without telling me the president doesn’t understand the economy.

Let’s talk about my favorite baseball movies…

“Fiction is a solution, the best solution, to the problem of existential solitude.” —-Author Jonathan Franzen, who turns 66 today

There’s no longer any pretense this has anything to do with crime (there are cities or parts of cities in SC and Ohio that have higher crime rates than DC — send the troops there!). This is about establishing a precedent for Trump seizing control of the nation’s capital when he wants to.

Heres a brief @okgazette.bsky.social piece from yours truly on a pair of sci-fi classics playing this weekend in OKC… www.okgazette.com/arts-culture...

My @okgazette.bsky.social column on my favorite films so far for 2025 (that’s the year we’re in)… www.okgazette.com/arts-culture...

Fun with numbers: # of times I’ve read “Moby Dick”: 0 # of languages I can speak: 1 # of times I’ve watched “Trainwreck: Poop Cruise” on Netflix: 3

"These are all our children. We will profit by, or pay for, whatever they become." —James Baldwin

“I don’t hate people. I just feel better when they aren’t around.” -Charles Bukowski

I will never get over the fact that this woman was once a respected 60 mins correspondent!

“I've been trying for some time to develop a lifestyle that doesn't require my presence.” —the great cartoonist Garry Trudeau, who turns 77 today

Because you all deserve to know!

“Life isn't about finding yourself; it's about creating yourself. So live the life you imagined.” — Henry David Thoreau, born on this date in 1817

Movies and summer: They go together like ramma-lamma-lamma-ka-dingity-da-dinga-dong. In this month’s Oklahoma Gazette, I regale you with my top summer-centric films…

“It is not what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.” —Moliere

“The first draft of anything is shit.” —Ernest Hemingway, who died 64 years ago today, dispensing some very valuable advice about writing

OKC cinephiles, the deadCENTER Film Festival kicks off today. On this, its 25th anniversary, I offer a few movies worth checking out (via Oklahoma Gazette), but there are many, many more you should see..:

Dropped off my son at school for his last day as a junior. Got a bit dusty-eyed. I don’t know if you’ve heard this before, but good gosh, the years go fast.

My thoughts on some movies currently in theaters, including SINNERS and THE SURFER, for Oklahoma Gazette

“Take a chance and you may lose. Take not a chance and you have lost already.” —Soren Kierkegaard, born on this date in 1813

“There is no power on earth that can loosen a man's grip on his own throat.” — the great writer Terry Southen, born on this date in 1924

“The worst thing is not that the world is unfree, but that people have unlearned their liberty.” —Milan Kundera

My Oklahoma Gazette review of a remarkable NatGeo docuseries (also streaming on Hulu & Disney) on the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

“The future is an apathetic void of no interest to anyone. The past is full of life, eager to irritate us, provoke & insult us, tempt us to destroy or repaint it. The only reason people want to be masters of the future is to change the past.” —Milan Kundera, born 96 yrs ago today

"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." —Aldous Huxley

"Thank you so much for taking the ONE TIME I messed up at baseball and turning it into an incredibly long poem. What a wonderful use of your creative faculties. You seem like a very chill person."

We join our colleagues in @nsfc.bsky.social, @nyfcc.bsky.social and @bsfc.bsky.social in condemning the attack on NO OTHER LAND co-director Hamdan Ballal.

Declaration of Independence: “…when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

If there is better TV than “Adolescence” in urgency, importance, writing, acting, filmmaking, character complexity & emotional punch, I cant think of what it could be. Cannot recommend this enough