Busting out the big summer movies

Summer is officially upon us june 20, but the summer movie season starts in early May. It’s a time of big-budget franchise films and family oriented crowd-pleasers, despite t... Read More

Coastal Commuter

Parking up your problems

By Michael Snyder

For all of the current lobbying and enthusiasm over public transportation (including taxis and app-enabled car services), automobiles remain an inescapable fact of urban life. And ... Read More

Movie Reviews

Ticket to ‘Toon Town

‘My Life As a Zucchini’ & ‘Your Name’

By Michael Snyder

I remember when 2D cartoons and various sorts of stop-motion animation were considered niche or kiddie fare. Even the word “cartoon” suggests something frivolous and tr... Read More

A & E, Movie Reviews

Ticket to ’Toon Town

By Michael Snyder

I remember when 2d cartoons and various sorts of stop-motion animation were considered niche or kiddie fare. Even the word cartoon suggests something frivolous and trivial. Not tha... Read More

Movie Reviews

The message is the medium

By Michael Snyder

The message movie isn’t quite a staple of Hollywood filmmaking, which is an enterprise generally dedicated to crowd-pleasing entertainment for over a century. But that doesn&... Read More

Coastal Commuter

 Two women, two musicians, two cities

By Michael Snyder

It never fails to amaze me how a city and its scene can inform, nurture, or undermine talent. As it turns out, both of my West Coast hometowns have provided inspiration and support... Read More

Television

Found in translation

By Michael Snyder

Globalization can be seen as a curse or a blessing, but in the television business, it’s been a welcome business model. The thought came to me as I was catching up to the Fra... Read More

Coastal Commuter

Everything new is old again

By Michael Snyder

As this is being written, New Year’s Eve — with its champagne revelry, midnight kisses, and the promise of bright beginnings — and New Year’s Day — with its Alka-... Read More

Movie Reviews

Big-screen hits and shouldn’t-misses of 2016

By Michael Snyder

Rather than serve up my annual carafe of whine about the burden of compiling yet another best-movies-of-the-year list, I’ve accepted that it’s in-line with my responsib... Read More

Coastal Commuter

Politics as unusual

By Michael Snyder

As the calendar goes, this is a time of peace on Earth and goodwill to all men. Then, there’s the recent, hotly contested, downright coarse presidential election and its aftermat... Read More

A & E, Movie Reviews

Two for the ballot

By Michael Snyder

As December tumbles in to the sound of jingle bells and cheer, awards season ramps up in Movieland. Holidays mean blockbusters and prestige releases from the major studios. But the... Read More

Coastal Commuter

Dinner after midnight

By Michael Snyder

If you keep the sort of hours I do, you know that dining can be a very haphazard thing. Generally, I’m up at the crack of noon. Don’t judge. The validity of my lifestyl... Read More

A & E

Eat to the beat

By Michael Snyder

If music be the food of love, play on.” Thus wrote good Will Shakespeare in his fanciful comedy Twelfth Night. If it’s clever and pithy and insightful about the human experienc... Read More

Coastal Commuter

The grass is always greener — and probably costlier

By Michael Snyder

As much as i love the change of pace and professional opportunities that my frequent time in Los Angeles provides me, I can’t imagine packing up all of my belongings, pulling up ... Read More

Television

From best to worst on fall TV

By Michael Snyder

Although new television programming comes our way all year long in the modern, multiplatform digital world, there’s still something comforting and even a little exciting about th... Read More

Michael Snyder