You can always find my movie reviews at EntertainmentTell and on my Rotten Tomatoes page; I’m also pleased to announce that I recently became a member of the Online Film Critics Society.
Here are some recent notable movie reviews:
Editing and writing for EntertainmentTell gives me a lot of opportunities to write essays and features about topics of my own choosing. Here are some from recent months:
– My take on Miley Cyrus and why it’s not like the MTV VMAs haven’t always been about sexual exploitation and attention-whoring.
– My rebuttal to the AV Club’s “Case Against Breaking Bad”
– Looking back once again at the “Skyler is a Bitch” issue, before the new season started.
– Why no one thinks about “Avatar” anymore.
– Why CBS must release Brooklyn Bridge on DVD or streaming.
– Thinking about whether or not Sex and the City was a great show.
– Why Paula Deen was not, in fact, “lynched.”
– On rape jokes and making fun of Steve Gleason.
So many contenders this week!
Was it the Daily Beast piece implying that the former Bradley Manning will enjoy going to prison for the rape? The Daily Caller HotTake that Barack Obama is the first female president? The latest Maureen Dowd disaster, this one driven entirely by an egregious misquote that spawned a correction almost as long as the column?
And that’s to say nothing about the self-righteous pearl-clutching that just about every sports columnist heaved at Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun. Good thing it’s August and half of America is on vacation.
“Charlie Manuel: An Appreciation”- Stephen Silver, The700Level.com, Wednesday, August 21:
He was as un-Philly as can be, a man who didn’t talk or act anything like a “Philly guy.” He was 60 when he was hired but could have passed for a decade older. Manuel spoke with a heavy regional accent of a region that is not ours...
“Charlie Manuel: An Appreciation”- Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial, Thursday, August 22:
Charlie Manuel’s accent is not a Philly accent. One of the skipper’s stars recently summed up the city’s initial assessment of his Southern inflections, stammering delivery, and carefree approach to grammar.
I have two big new pieces today, both in local Philly media.
In my first piece for The 700Level, I pay tribute to Charlie Manuel, a man who arrived in Philadelphia the same year I did and became an unlikely local folk hero.
And in the Philly Post, I implore the Alamo Drafthouse chain to come to Philadelphia.
Back to those link roundups tomorrow.
I’m still writing my weekly column for Philadelphia Magazine’s Philly Post website, and very much enjoying it. Here are some of my recent pieces:
– Why you shouldn’t worry too much about the Sixers’ owners purchase of the New Jersey Devils.
– My report from the recent convention, in Philadelphia, of the Society of American Baseball Research.
– Another look at the Obama/McNabb parallel.
– A funny look at that guy whose PayPal statement said his balance was $92 quadrillion.
– Why Philllies fans don’t hate Ryan Howard.
– Why I hate the “Stronger Than the Storm” campaign.
– On the retirement of Michele Bachmann.
– A review of the first day of Dick Morris’ local radio show.
I’m always looking for material for the column, so email me (stephensilverwriter at gmail.com) if you have any Philly stories I should know about.
I realize I’ve been way behind on posting links to my articles lately, so I thought I’d go publication by publication over the next few days. First, The Good Men Project, where I’ve been writing sports pieces lately.
First, I, like every other writer in the world, weighed in on Johnny Manziel and “Character Questions.” I really wish I’d dug more into his family, and discovered, as Timothy Burke of Deadspin did, that Manziel’s clan is basically Boyd Crowder’s family from Justified.
And last week, I wrote about controversy surrounding the Eagles’ Riley Cooper and his recent racial slur. “But,” I know you’re asking, “what about rappers?”
Coming soon from Regnery Publishing:
I love football too. But its concussion problem is legit, ex-players really are dropping dead left and right, and this isn’t a problem that can just be wished away via liberal-bashing.
Stephen Silver, Writer 