Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule. Ever since I came up with the quizzical, whimsical (quizzimsical?) name for my blog way back in 2004, I’ve been asked how I settled on such an odd one. The answer is fairly simple: as originally envisioned, I supposed that I would split blog time between writing about movies and writing about baseball, therefore I wanted something that would effectively, fancifully evoke both worlds. But it wasn’t long before I realized that I was a much better baseball fan than I was a literary observer or analyst of the sport, and soon I stopped writing much about the game at all. Yet the name remained—it had become ingrained, and I liked it, yet I felt new readers might now find it puzzling, and for a while I flirted with the idea of changing it. Thankfully, one of those early readers of...
- 8/20/2015
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
Singer James Taylor and music producer Quincy Jones are among the 2010 Us National Medal of Arts recipients. The duo, along with eight others including former poet laureate Donald Hall, were honoured on Wednesday at a White House ceremony conducted by President Barack Obama. During the gala, Portnoy's Complaint writer Philip Roth and nine others were given the similarly prestigious National Humanities Medal, which is awarded to those credited with broadening Americans' understanding of the field of humanities. In his address to the honourees, Obama pointed to both Taylor and Jones as artists who have shaped the public consciousness. "One (more)...
- 3/3/2011
- by By Justin Harp
- Digital Spy
I present you with a short anecdote that I will later artlessly tie into this box-office round-up: On Saturday, I went to a church fair in a very small town in New Hampshire, a place that the rest of the world has largely passed by. This "fair," was comprised of a huge yard sale, where VHS copies of fitness routines and cassette tapes were on sale among scores of broken toys and mass market paperbacks. Homemade ice cream was sold, and at the end of the day, we ate potluck meals while an auctioneer sold off the nicer items, like "Extreme Home Makeover" baseball caps, left by a crew remodeling a house a few cities over. It was an interesting experience. But the big draw for the fair was former National Poet Laureate, Donald Hall, who did a poetry reading inside the church before the potluck. He's 84. He's also pretty incredible.
- 8/1/2010
- by Dustin Rowles
The mythical story of Dock Ellis and the no-hitter he pitched in 1970 while on LSD is one giant matryoshka doll. There's layer upon exquisite layer to be uncovered: The black power movement, the war on drugs, Major League Baseball's free-agency era. And that's just the first couple of layers.
In the last year, the story of Ellis, who died in 2008, has been resurrected in song -- it's the sixth time -- with folkie Todd Snider's "America's Favorite Pastime." That was followed by artist James Blagden's psychedelic animated short, "Dock Ellis & the LSD No-No." Now there's a movie, "No No: A Dockumentary," in production.
Austin filmmakers Jeffrey Radice and Mike Blizzard, "No No"'s writer/director and producer, respectively, took the occasion of June 12th, the 40th anniversary of Ellis' no-hitter with the Pittsburgh Pirates, to debut a seven-minute trailer of their forthcoming documentary. The location was The Highball, the...
In the last year, the story of Ellis, who died in 2008, has been resurrected in song -- it's the sixth time -- with folkie Todd Snider's "America's Favorite Pastime." That was followed by artist James Blagden's psychedelic animated short, "Dock Ellis & the LSD No-No." Now there's a movie, "No No: A Dockumentary," in production.
Austin filmmakers Jeffrey Radice and Mike Blizzard, "No No"'s writer/director and producer, respectively, took the occasion of June 12th, the 40th anniversary of Ellis' no-hitter with the Pittsburgh Pirates, to debut a seven-minute trailer of their forthcoming documentary. The location was The Highball, the...
- 6/24/2010
- by Michael Hoinski
- ifc.com
J.D. Salinger passed away yesterday, in his home in Cornish, N.H. He died at the age of 91, of natural causes. He was 91.
Salinger is best known for his novel, Catcher in the Rye, which is essentially responsible for half of modern fiction. He also wrote Nine Stories, Franny and Zooey and Raise High the Roofbeams before his self-imposed isolation out in the middle of bumfuck New Hampshire (I had no idea, but I must have driven fairly near his house five times a year -- it's not to far from poet laureate Donald Hall's home. I wonder ... ).
Salinger and, particularly, Catcher has inspired a lot of heated and mixed reaction on this site, between those that cherish Catcher and those that didn't get the significance. I'm of the former -- Catcher is the only book I re-read once a year. You can see the significance of Catcher's anti-hero...
Salinger is best known for his novel, Catcher in the Rye, which is essentially responsible for half of modern fiction. He also wrote Nine Stories, Franny and Zooey and Raise High the Roofbeams before his self-imposed isolation out in the middle of bumfuck New Hampshire (I had no idea, but I must have driven fairly near his house five times a year -- it's not to far from poet laureate Donald Hall's home. I wonder ... ).
Salinger and, particularly, Catcher has inspired a lot of heated and mixed reaction on this site, between those that cherish Catcher and those that didn't get the significance. I'm of the former -- Catcher is the only book I re-read once a year. You can see the significance of Catcher's anti-hero...
- 1/28/2010
- by Dustin Rowles
Veteran TV exec Henry Schleiff is stepping down as president and CEO of Crown Media, parent of the Hallmark Channel, at the end of May and will be replaced by William Abbott, exec vp ad sales at the company.
The resignation was announced jointly Wednesday afternoon by Schleiff and Donald Hall, Jr., co-chairman of Crown Media Holdings.
Schleiff's decision to resign came after discussions in which he indicated he had accomplished what he was brought in to do at the company and expressed a desire to return to his passion of helping smaller cable networks achieve their potential.
There was no official indication of what role or position Schleiff might play elsewhere, but tongues have begun wagging. One financial analyst, who declined to be quoted, suggested that the exec could play a useful role on the cable side at Viacom, where Schleiff was CEO of the Broadcast Group a decade ago.
The resignation was announced jointly Wednesday afternoon by Schleiff and Donald Hall, Jr., co-chairman of Crown Media Holdings.
Schleiff's decision to resign came after discussions in which he indicated he had accomplished what he was brought in to do at the company and expressed a desire to return to his passion of helping smaller cable networks achieve their potential.
There was no official indication of what role or position Schleiff might play elsewhere, but tongues have begun wagging. One financial analyst, who declined to be quoted, suggested that the exec could play a useful role on the cable side at Viacom, where Schleiff was CEO of the Broadcast Group a decade ago.
- 5/6/2009
- by By Elizabeth Guider
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.