Blogcritics Author: Damian Penny

Book Review: Headless Body in Topless Bar - The Best Headlines from America's Favorite Newspaper by the New York Post staff

Damian Penny — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 11:44:03 EDT

The staff of America's most notorious daily paper compile its most memorable front pages.
After Barry Bonds hit his 756th home run, the headline in the New York Post was relatively restrained: "756: Bonds breaks home-run record." Of course, the font they used for the headline was a little unusual...You either love America's most notorious tabloid newspaper, or you despise it. I'd never recommend it as one's...

DVD Review: The Leaders - Breaking Racial Barriers in the NFL

Damian Penny — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 10:03:14 EDT

How African-American players eventually made up 65% of the NFL.
Professional sports might be considered "the toy department of life," as a sociologist interviewed for Breaking Racial Barriers in the NFL put it, but consider what happened just before the 1966 NFL All-Star game in New Orleans.Several African-American players were repeatedly turned away from clubs on Bourbon Street because of their skin...

Book Review: Boeing Versus Airbus by John Newhouse

Damian Penny — Sun, 9 Mar 2008 10:56:33 EDT

A detailed, engrossing profile of a competition between two giants.
Among the many inside stories recounted in John Newhouse's Boeing Versus Airbus, a fascinating account of the cutthroat battle between the world's dominant commercial aircraft manufacturers, is this account from a 1997 meeting between the chairmen of Airbus and U.S. Airways: Discussion then turned to the discount [at which Airbus would sell...

Movie Review: The Victim

Damian Penny — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 06:59:31 EST

Great-looking Thai horror film is creepy but confusing.
I've seen some questionable "police" procedures in the movies, but nothing quite like what the authorities in the Thai horror film The Victim do with high-profile murder suspects. They hire actresses to play the unfortunate murder victims, bring the suspects to the scene of the alleged crimes, and get them to act out what happened in...

Book Review: The White Book - The Beatles, the Bands, the Biz: An Insider's Look at an Era by Ken Mansfield

Damian Penny — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 08:34:21 EST

Beautiful-looking, occasionally interesting but slight addition to the long, long list of Beatles books.
Aside from their contributions to music and pop culture, The Beatles turned out to be pretty good for the publishing industry, too. A search for "Beatles" on Amazon.com turns up over 27,000 results in the Books section alone. Readers just can't seem to get enough material on this legendary band, and The White Book: The Beatles, the...

DVD Review: The World at War

Damian Penny — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:43:53 EST

The WW2 documentary series by which all other WW2 documentary series will be judged - with plenty of bonus material, too.
One of my pet peeves about television shows released on DVD is when the producers provide little, if any, bonus material. There's a lot to be said for being able to watch the third season of Happy Days whenever you want, I guess. But why pay for the whole season on video, when you aren't getting anything more than you'd see for free on...

DVD Review: Dirt - The Complete First Season

Damian Penny — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 15:41:28 EST

Gossip magazines get the treatment they probably deserve in Courtney Cox Arquette's FX series.
Would Britney Spears have turned into such a mentally unstable, drug-abusing, overweight, neglectful mess if she weren't hounded by photographers everywhere she goes? Yeah, probably. But being forced to drive through a wall of aggressive paparazzi at every stop sign certainly doesn't help matters.There have been gossip magazines and...

Movie Review: Hot Rod

Damian Penny — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:02:09 EST

Can you review a movie after watching just 20 minutes?
Comedy films are supposed to make you laugh, of course, but they can also make you feel many other emotions. They can touch your heart, make you cheer, or - in the case of a well-done political satire - make you angry. As a rule, they aren't supposed to make you feel depressed, though. The characters in Hot Rod are so pathetic and deluded,...

Movie Review: Santa Clause 3 - The Escape Clause

Damian Penny — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 07:40:05 EST

In the War on Christmas, I'm not sure whose side this movie is on.
I'm the only person on earth who hasn't seen the first two Santa Clause movies, starring Tim Allen as the big guy, but I had no trouble following the plot of Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. The third film in the series, however, does not make me want to rent the earlier films to see what I missed. This movie could make John Gibson...

DVD Review: Happy Days - The Third Season

Damian Penny — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:57:56 EST

The classic sitcom was at its peak - but the sharks were circling.
The phrase "jump the shark," referring to the point at which a television show went into decline, came from a season five episode of Happy Days in which the Fonz jumped over some kind of marine animal on water skis. After four years, this nostalgic look at the 1950s was one of the most popular shows on television. After Fonzie made his...