There are certain actors and actresses whose names in the credits immediately make me more interested in whatever I'm about to watch. I don't really need to know the plot. I don't need to know who directed it. I don't necessarily need to know whether the movie is any good. If Rebecca Hall is in it, I'm interested. I think Rebecca Hall is one of the best actresses on the planet. She's one of those performers who brings intelligence, gravity and credibility to everything she do

Conan O’Brien is one of my favorite comic voices of all time, and I think at this point we can safely stop referring to him simply as a late-night talk show host. He is certainly one of the greatest late-night hosts ever, but the guy has now been doing this for so long, in so many different forms, that he has become something much bigger than that: a genuine American comedy institution. And the wonderful thing is that he is still really, really funny. With the third season of

There are comedians who make you laugh, there are comedians who make you think, and then there are comedians who do both while simultaneously making a whole room of people incredibly uncomfortable. Ricky Gervais belongs in that last category, and that's one of the many reasons I love him. I happen to think he is one of the most important comedic voices of the last thirty years. Whether he's writing a sitcom, directing a movie, performing stand-up, hosting an awards show, doin

One of the things I love most about having this website is that it gives me an excuse to celebrate the people who have brought me an enormous amount of joy over the years. Sure, I use this space to review new movies, talk about television, recommend books, rant about pop culture, and occasionally climb up on one of my many soapboxes But sometimes it's just nice to say, "Hey, here's somebody I absolutely love," and spend a little time talking about why. Usually there's somethi

With the release of Evil Dead Burn, I thought this would be the perfect time to look back at one of the greatest, weirdest, bloodiest, funniest, and most consistently entertaining franchises in horror history. And yes, I absolutely consider it a universe now. We're not just talking about six feature films anymore. There was the terrific Ash vs. Evil Dead television series, comic books, graphic novels, video games, stage musicals, crossover stories, documentaries, conventions,

I love Jackass. And I'm not even remotely embarrassed to admit it, in fact, I'm proud of it. I am a card-carrying member of the Jackass fan club, and I think the entire franchise (from the original MTV series to the feature films to the spin-offs and now the bittersweet final chapter) is one of the funniest, most joyous, and most misunderstood pieces of pop culture from the last quarter century. When Jackass premiered on MTV in October of 2000, I was there from day one. Like