Liars and Saints

  Elizabeth Strout writes odd and compelling characters. Artie Dam--her new protagonist--is silently considering suicide. He teaches history at a high school, and his boss has said that local pro-Trump forces are demanding curricular revisions. Artie can no longer ask his students to play the roles of Northern soldiers in a Civil War reenactment. He must now offer a choice between a Northern *or* a Confederate role. Meanwhile, Artie has an angry protege whose talent involves Shakespeare studies. Artie's little protege causes a problem by insulting another student in class. Artie digs deeper. The insult grew from a personal wound; Artie's protege understands that his mother is having an affair, and he doesn't know what to do with his pain. Elsewhere, Artie's adult son Rob suspects that Artie's recent boating accident was not an accident. "You have to promise me you won't kill yourself," Rob says. "Because everything you do is like a map of the stuf...

  My son was mildly ill yesterday, so he and I stayed in to watch "The Simpsons." This was my ideal Sunday. As an adult, I feel that "The Simpsons" is essentially a documentary about my parenting experiences. Josh and I watched not one but two spoofs of elementary-school birthday parties. In "Grade School Confidential," Martin's mom hires a "math magician," who bores the children with (incorrect) demonstrations of long division. Many seasons later, Nelson hires a professional Spider-Man, who is distressed by the party's low turnout. ("Listen, kids. I've got just ten minutes of material....Maybe I should come back later?") Josh tends to vote with his feet. If he doesn't like a show, he leaves the room. But he did stay for the entirety of "The Simpsons." Because of a communication delay, I'm not always sure what Josh is processing (and I suspect it's quite a bit). For now, he likes to quiz me on the main ...

  I'm watching "The Pitt," and occasionally I grow tired of the melodrama. Yes, we are all at war with ourselves, but sometimes the Dr. Robby struggles seem over-the-top. We get it. A little more subtlety would be helpful. By contrast, "The Simpsons" does a great job of showing Principal Skinner on a particularly bad day. Bart has smuggled his dog into school--but the dog escapes through an air vent. Groundskeeper Willie coats himself in lunchroom grease, and his rescue efforts are successful; however, Willie destroys a piece of school property and falls from the gym rafters. Having witnessed this, Superintendent Chalmers fires Skinner. Things don't get better. In an amazing scene at the laundromat, Skinner tries to entertain himself by reciting the names of each and every detergent. He can't even secure a playdate with Bart. Miscreants appear and steal his underwear--though he vows to buy a new pair, he soon discovers that he is penniless. Nelson's ...

  "Obsession" is a retelling of "The Monkey's Paw." In that famous story, a man wishes for great wealth. But the wealth turns out to be blood money--it's a corporation paying cash to cover up the death of the man's son. At the end of the story, the man wishes to have his son back. Fair. But the tapping on the door--is that a human being or a zombie? With "Obsession," young Baron wants the love of his old friend Nikki. He goes to a spooky voodoo shop and "gets" his wish. But Nikki's love seems problematic. Nikki begins screaming at random intervals. She tells lies about cancer. We reach a "crisis point" when Nikki cooks and eats a portion of Baron's dead cat. This movie has a little bit more on its mind. Baron's friend Ian has secrets--we're not sure we can trust Ian. Additionally, there is a colorful cameo at the voodoo store; the clerk is maybe not the helpful neighbor we imagine him to be. Beneath the layer...

  My daughter is now at a stage where she states her questions aloud while watching a movie. I've learned that I do not have to answer the questions. She is just thinking out loud. Her questions are spot-on. They are the questions that any engaged viewer would want to explore. In his new book "Make Believe," Mac Barnett argues that kids are the ideal readers. Their minds have not atrophied. They do not grow impatient if a story "breaks the rules." They are comfortable with uncertainty--because their growing brains have not learned it's possible to *reject* uncertainty. (By contrast, in my old age, I don't have much patience for a novel if it fails to feature a detective. If I can't immediately sink into the standard detective rhythms, I get crabby and anxious.) Barnett suggests that 95 of every 100 picture books are very bad. But he says this is not alarming, because 90 of every 100 "adult" books are very bad. Barnett argues that many adult...

 Like Anne Lamott, I'm not a great fan of Mother's Day. It's not clear to me why parenting demands a celebration--no one puts a gun to your head and requires you to become a parent. So the expectation of being celebrated--this feels narcissistic. At least until our culture establishes a Single Person's Day, and a Gay Uncle's Day, among several other random days that come to mind. Recently, the Times ran a letter by a single woman who had an inner conflict. A friend was marrying for a second time--this friend was staging a splashy second wedding. The letter writer makes an annual trip to a particular concert with another single friend. There is a kneejerk reaction: A second wedding is "more important" than a single person's ritual. But why should this be the case? I admired the Times's response: Cite a scheduling conflict, go to the concert, and move on with your life. My daughter brought home a Mother's Day card. In one spot, the paraprofession...

  One error of the current revival of "Chess" is a wish to make the characters likeable. Trumper's bad behavior is "explained" through a new subplot about mental illness. There are machinations around Florence--but these machinations do *not* include lies about her dead father. Her father is, in fact, alive; he pops up at the end. (Heaven forbid we leave the theater with a feeling of sadness!) I do not like or understand "Chess"--and I think it should be retired. But--watching clips of Judy Kuhn--I can get a sense of a slightly weightier "Chess," a better "Chess" than the one we have to swallow in 2026. Kuhn is capable of acting--she seems brittle and conflicted. This is more than Lea Michele can offer--with Michele, we get an unconvincing pantomime of distress. We also get some loud "Mariah"-inflected pop numbers. As others have observed, the current "Chess" is half-redeemed by its Anatoly. Nicholas Christopher ...