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The Great Pronzini

April 13, 2013
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The Great Pronzini

Today marks Bill Pronzini’s 70th birthday, and I want to join the discussion on the blogosphere with my own tribute to this admirable author of mystery, suspense, Western, and critical works. Pronzini is a well-known and respected author, but he’s something of a rarity on the modern mystery scene: he knows a lot about the genre’s history. His collection of books and pulp magazines is massive, and he has written and contributed to several reference volumes, including three books on “alternative classics” (i.e. books so bad that they…

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Annette Funicello, 1942-2013

April 8, 2013
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Annette Funicello, 1942-2013

Annette Funicello, famous as an early Mousketeer and as the star of a string of 1960s beach movies, died today at the age of 70. I remember her well. I wasn’t one of those who had a crush on her, since her wave crested before I hit adolescence, but I was well aware of her. After working many years with Disney she got cast with Frankie Avalon in a string of silly beach blanket movies. She also had a successful career as a singer. Through…

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Why Margaret Thatcher Matters

April 8, 2013
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Why Margaret Thatcher Matters

We in the United States should take good note of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's accomplishments. Thatcher's life's work is of immense relevance because today's United States has more in common with the Great Britain that Thatcher took over in 1979 than with the United States of 1981 when Ronald Reagan assumed the presidency after the inept Jimmy Carter administration. . . .

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Phil Mickelson Earned His Money and Should Retract His Apology About Taxes

January 23, 2013
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Phil Mickelson Earned His Money and Should Retract His Apology About Taxes

Phil Mickelson, the affable “aw shucks” fan-favorite on the PGA Tour and one of the game’s greatest golfers, really stepped in it this week. He ticked off liberals by hitting it Dead Solid Perfect in a few off-hand comments about his dissatisfaction with current income tax policy. Poor Phil. He was too naïve to know that such talk is to be left only to the real pros — the tax-hiking, redistributive masters of our modern economy. He didn’t realize that his job in today’s American Culture is…

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Te’o Hoax Tars Notre Dame with Embarrassment

January 17, 2013
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Te’o Hoax Tars Notre Dame with Embarrassment

Manti Te'o is in for a world of embarrassment, to be sure, in light of the revelation that his "late" girlfriend was a fiction. But there's more to the story, as Notre Dame's actions in this and other incidents throughout the past year bring its integrity into question and another major American institution shows clay feet. Corruption among a nation's authorities can undermine public confidence rapidly.

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Review: ‘Hitchcock’ Movie for the Ignorant Only

December 19, 2012
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Review: ‘Hitchcock’ Movie for the Ignorant Only

'Hitchcock’s' main problem is that it doesn’t find reality interesting enough. It decides to ignore the drama that actually surrounded the production in favor of the fictional and naturally far better drama that someone has invented in their heads, to make political points and strike blows for feminism.

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Killing Time Lamely—Brad Pitt’s Anti-Capitalist Mess

December 7, 2012
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Killing Time Lamely—Brad Pitt’s Anti-Capitalist Mess

Your humble writer's parents used to employ the phrase, "the height of laziness," whenever they perceived sloppy execution of household tasks, farm chores, or homework. If either of them had taken up criticism as a vocation, they would've applied that phrase to 'Killing Them Softly,' a Brad Pitt vehicle abounding with artistic laziness. A film noir of sorts, 'Killing Them Softly' attempts an analogy between the bad actors responsible for the 2008 financial meltdown and criminals of every rank and social standing in a film…

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The Exemplary Dave Brubeck

December 6, 2012
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The Exemplary Dave Brubeck

Jazz composer, pianist, and band leader Dave Brubeck was an exemplary artist and individual, and he represented some of what is best in the American culture.

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Eastwood’s Calculated RNC Performance Art

September 10, 2012
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Eastwood’s Calculated RNC Performance Art

An excellent article in Clint Eastwood's local newspaper shows just how canny the octogenarian actor was in developing his speech in support of Mitt Romney at the Republican convention. I watched Clint Eastwood’s speech more than once, looking for all the flaws and noting the leftists’ criticisms that it was a speech of an old fool. Old fool like a damn wily fox. The article notes he had specific goals in mind. . . .

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Interview: Crime Writer Peter Lovesey Talks About What Makes a Great Mystery

September 7, 2012
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Interview: Crime Writer Peter Lovesey Talks About What Makes a Great Mystery

TAC contributor Patrick Ohl interviews the multiple award winning British mystery writer Peter Lovesey. Lovesey is one of the few modern mystery writers to bridge successfully the traditional and police-procedural styles.

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Dowd Humble-Brags Obama, Confirms MSM Narrative of Obama Presidency

August 8, 2012
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Dowd Humble-Brags Obama, Confirms MSM Narrative of Obama Presidency

Maureen Dowd is the quintessential New York Times writer, and thus a perfect example of what ails the mainstream media. Her piece in yesterday’s Times at first seems to reflect a growing liberal disenchantment toward Obama, but it actually fits the mainstream media’s basic narrative of the Obama presidency, a narrative concocted by Obama himself: that any failures have been caused by shortcomings in the ability to communicate the wonderfulness of all things Obama-administration to the general public, and this failure is to be blamed,…

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Daniel J. Flynn and The Blue Collar Intellectuals

August 4, 2012
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Daniel J. Flynn and The Blue Collar Intellectuals

My grandfather was a self-educated man; it’s unclear whether he even made it to high school, yet he picked up a Masters Degree in Real Life via a voracious reading habit and thirty years in the Marine Corps. Of the many books he cherished, there was one he esteemed above all others: The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant. This general survey of the greatest thinkers of all time was the only book he refused to lend me–as he simply could not bear to part…

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A Century of Milton Friedman

July 31, 2012
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A Century of Milton Friedman

The hugely influential economist Milton Friedman was born one-hundred years ago today. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment was in spreading the understanding that free markets do the most good for those who have the least.

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“Theory Kings”: How Burke and Hegel Were on the Same Page at Least Once

July 14, 2012
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“Theory Kings”: How Burke and Hegel Were on the Same Page at Least Once

"The group-think of credentialed experts in large establishments tends to stifle creative and independent thinking. Those who question the experts are shamed into silence. If you don't think so, try contradicting an expert some time."

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Elia Kazan Reconsidered

June 28, 2012
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Elia Kazan Reconsidered

Elia Kazan’s body of work says a lot about the costs of freedom in the 20th century.

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"Culture is the expression of the guiding philosophy of the day."—Murray Rothbard
"To judge the quality of a cultural product is not to begrudge the preferences of the people who purchase it. It is simply to apply timeless, objective standards in assessing these products."—Ilana Mercer

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