crude futures

Is CHLOE a "risible" movie? Four critics have their say.

I had a really good time watching Chloe at the Westfield Mall yesterday. Here are four of the countless things I enjoyed about the movie:

• A gynecologist (Julianne Moore) hires a lady of the night (Amanda Seyfried) to aggressively flirt with her musicologist husband (Liam Neeson).
  
  
• Will Neeson lunge at the dangled bait? (If he does, he sux!!!)
  
  
• Julianne Moore gives Liam Neeson a bottle of Laphroaig ("The World's most richly flavoured Scotch whisky") for his birthday, even though (or maybe because?) she suspects him of long-term serial infidelity.
  
  
• Liam Neeson's home-office library includes a hardcover book by Rush Limbaugh.

Is the movie "risible"? Here's what four critics have said:

• "'Chloe' [is] the risible new marital drama-thriller from Canadian director Atom Egoyan ('The Sweet Hereafter')." —Leah Rozen
  
  
• "[I]t's all too soigné to be truly risible..." —J. Hoberman
  
  
• "Even the throbbing score, by Mychael Danna, sounds unwittingly risible..." —Anthony Lane
  
  
• "The final third is so outrageous, so risible, as to approach high camp." —Phil Bacharach

There's a lot of super-implausible stuff in this movie—the hardcover Limbaugh book is but the tip of the iceberg—but I really liked it.

Sketches for an artwork e-commissioned by Barack Obama

I've known for a long time that Barack Obama loves contemporary art, and I've also known for a long time that Barack Obama cares deeply about the welfare of America's contemporary artists.

Still, I was very surprised, proud, and flattered when President Obama emailed me personally this morning to commission a special project. The subject line says it all:



As you can probably imagine, I couldn't wait to get started!

Here are some preliminary sketches for the piece I'm constructing for our president. I'm super-stoked to finish it up and send it along to him this weekend.

Brian-Barack ObaMcMullenma

BaraBricank McObamaMullen

BaBrirackan McMObamullena

BriBarackan OMcMulbamalen

John Davidson's double mispronunciation of "Galoob" on Hollywood Squares (1987)

Wow! I'd figured that this TV moment—utterly trivial, but highly memorable to me—was lost forever:



John Davidson's doubly flubbed pronunciation of "Galoob" in this 1987 episode of Hollywood Squares has always burned brightly in my memory. After this episode aired, I could never look at a Galoob toy without thinking "GALLUB... or GAYLEB" silently to myself. It's crazy, sometimes, the things that stick with you.



Thanks to Craig Brolley, the voice of Mr. Gameshow, for posting this video clip.

PS: Smash TV's gameshow host owes a debt, certainly, to Galoob's Mr. Gameshow. Likewise, Galoob's wildly successful Game Genie product line owes a debt to blockbuster videogames like Smash TV. #symbiosis

New at Costco: 109 Forgotten American Heroes

A pile of copies of 109 Forgotten American Heroes was sighted today at Costco! To celebrate, I now present a two-page outtake from 109 Forgotten American Heroes: