“Cruise hadn’t hurt his box-office draw — his movies continued to be successful. But Hollywood was convinced he was poison, a religious fanatic, and possibly unhinged.”
– Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly
Tom Cruise is an all-time great actor. Don’t believe it? Look at how many people have won or been nominated for Oscars playing opposite him. He makes every actor that shares the screen with him better.
It’s the 20th anniversary of Reasonable Doubt — the best album from an all-time great year in hip-hop — and since everyone else is weighing in with their Jay-Z takes, I thought I’d join the fun.
The following is an excerpt from Christopher Pierznik’s new book In Defense Of… Supporting Underappreciated Artists, Athletes, Actors, and Albums, in which the author defends and celebrates individuals, teams, and projects that were unfairly maligned or misunderstood from the world of music, sports, TV & film. It can be purchased in both paperback and Kindle.
It was the perfect ending.
“I had a period where I thought I might not be good enough to publish.”
Stephen King’s latest collection, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, comes out tomorrow (November 3rd). It is his sixth collection of short stories and tenth collection in total. At 68 years old, with millions in the bank, and almost 60 books and 200 short stories to his name, it would be natural for King to retire or slow down.
Instead, he’s still cranking out at least two books per year, adding to his legacy.
I feel like I’ve always fallen outside of the mainstream. Even as a child, I knew that many of my tastes were not in line with the majority. Often, my opinion is the unpopular one.
From the ages of about twelve to seventeen, I was alone for much of my downtime. I didn’t have a girlfriend, so if I weren’t at basketball practice, I was lounging around the house, either listening to hip-hop or watching my favorite movies over and over, quoting dialogue, imagining being a different person in a different world.
That all began with Young Guns II.
I’m a huge fan of The Godfather trilogy, so much so that the prevailing negative opinions about the third film led me to write an entire book defending it and other projects and people I think are unfairly criticized. The Godfather Part II is not only my favorite film of all time, but I truly believe it is the greatest American film ever made. It is perfect in every way.
And it was nearly all undone.
The Passion of Christopher Pierznik 