“I’m an old, broken down piece of meat, and I deserve to be all alone.” You couldn’t find a better phrase to sum up Randy “The Ram” Robinson’s (Mickey Rourke) life. In the 1980s, his wrestling career soared, and he had tons of adoring fans. Twenty years later, and he works part-time in a grocery [...]

On Aug. 8, 1974, Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, resigned from office. At the time, he was under investigation for his involvement with the Watergate scandal, and he was charged with a bill of impeachment by the House Judiciary Committee for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Because Gerald Ford, his replacement [...]

In an interview last December, Clint Eastwood admitted that he enjoys “being politically incorrect because (he) thinks political correctness is boring.” That explains a lot, especially his decision to direct and star in “Gran Torino.” His character, Walt Kowalski, is a racist Korean War veteran who makes Archie Bunker look tolerant. This quintessential “grumpy old [...]

While walking from my car to AMC Oakview cinema for the 10:10 a.m. showing of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” I was thinking of all the reasons I was going to hate this film. My Top Two: The screenplay is by Eric Roth, who wrote “Forrest Gump,” one of the most contrived films in [...]