Linda Holmes

Why Angelina Jolie's Op-Ed Matters

Linda Holmes — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:28:00 +0000

Pop culture does not mean celebrity culture; I have perhaps said this more often than anyone you're going to meet. Who dates, who gets a divorce, who has a tantrum, who has surreptitious photos snapped of him by mangy, grim opportunists — these things are not culture of any kind, popular or otherwise, unless there is something else at stake. They are curiosities, and given that we are curious creatures, their pull is not surprising, nor is it new, nor was it invented by the internet, or television, or Americans.

Loving 'Gatsby' Too Much And Not Enough

Linda Holmes — Fri, 10 May 2013 16:49:11 +0000

[I really hope it goes without saying that this piece about the film adaptation of a decades-old novel gives away the plot of a decades-old novel. But: Be aware.]

The sheer zazz that Baz Luhrmann introduces into The Great Gatsby is so imposing in quantity that it's surprising that it can get out of the way enough not to be the biggest problem in the movie.

Boston's Art Museums Offer Free Admission To Provide A 'Place Of Respite'

Linda Holmes — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:29:00 +0000

UPDATE, 4:08 p.m.: In addition to the institutions mentioned below, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum has announced that admission will be free on Wednesday, April 17.

At least two art museums in Boston, the Museum Of Fine Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art, have announced that admission on Tuesday will be free as a service to a city still dealing with the trauma of the explosions Monday at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

Big Hair, Big Shoulders And Big Money: Linda Evans On '80s Excess

Linda Holmes — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 06:16:00 +0000

You may find a hint to the era in which you were born (as well as your taste in entertainment) in Linda Wertheimer's clarification that on the '80s nighttime soap Dynasty, actress Linda Evans played Krystle Carrington — Krystle with a K, that is.

Thank G-O-O-D-N-E-S-S: The National Spelling Bee Adds Meaning

Linda Holmes — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:51:00 +0000

As Eyder Peralta reported last night, the National Spelling Bee has made a big change to its rules.

For the first time, the written (or computerized) test students use to qualify for the semifinals and championship finals will include vocabulary questions requiring them to know the meanings of words, not just the spelling.

Death And Dyeing: Five Thoughts About The Return Of 'Mad Men'

Linda Holmes — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:39:50 +0000

1. The symbolism was a bit heavy-handed. It's frustrating that Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner doesn't trust viewers of the show enough to allow symbolism to live in an episode as suggestion and not insistence. The Mad Men audience is small and self-selecting; it is made up of people who choose to watch a show that requires attention and rewards patience.

Putting Late Night In Perspective: Under The Massive Boot Of Judge Judy

Linda Holmes — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:52:50 +0000

While we go on about the Johnnys, Jimmys, Daves, Jays, Conans, and additional Jimmys of the late-night wars, where was Joe?

Viewer Discretion: Deciding When To Look Away

Linda Holmes — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:17:00 +0000

I was out of the house, as it happens, for most of the first half of yesterday's Louisville-Duke game, and when I got home and looked at Twitter, before I turned on the TV, there was a huge stack of stuff to read, and the first thing that caught my attention about the game was this.

That's Dan Fienberg of Hitfix, tweeting about the grisly broken leg suffered by Louis

Here We Go Again: Leno, Fallon, And Why The Late-Night Wars Are So Boring

Linda Holmes — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:48:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYzVdv6V5Vs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXnh4tYpA-U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq-URl9F17Y

The Oscars Broadcast, Zooming Way Past Cheeky To Land Squarely On Crass

Linda Holmes — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 07:33:00 +0000

If you like Argo (which won Best Picture), the movie Chicago (which made a couple of appearances) and jokes about women (which just kept coming), you probably had a substantially better night than the average viewer, who was subjected to Seth MacFarlane's delivery of one of the worst hosting performances in Oscar history.

In fact, David Letterman is writing Seth MacFarlane notes of gratitude right now for taking all the pressure off of "Uma, Oprah, Oprah, Uma," the most famous bomb of 1995, and more recent troubled hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway are feeling a little l