It's becoming more and more apparent that todays "musical artists" rely more and more on shock value and less on true musical ability. This appalling trend seemed to begin with Madonna and has spread to every flash in the pan "star" in the business today.

Hey, I'm not against combining theater and music. I thorughly enjoyed Pink Floyd, Kiss and Alice Cooper when I was young. All of them integrated theatrics into their live performances. There was some shock value, especially with Alice, but it involved mock hangings and songs like "Dead Babies". Altar boys praying to a woman's crotch wasn't in the picture. And it damn sure wouldn't have made it's way into a live television broadcast.

I hope her candle, and Lady GaGa's and too many others to mention, burns out soon. But I wonder what the hell comes next?

Oh, you really MUST give "Man on Fire" a look. Not perfect, but very good, and quite intense.

Jeez. A beach where you can't play Frisbee or drink a beer? So the local lawmakers actually took the time to construct and pass legislation to ban these horrible activities, and will spend money enforcing them?

Okay, it's official. The lawmakers in California, and the people who keep electing them, are a half a bubble off of plumb.

I like Adam, and have ever since that sex show he and Dr. Drew had on MTV. I watched "The Man Show" whenever the wife was away (hey, that's how you stay married for 35 years...don't rub their nose in it). Conservative Liberal, Liberal Conservative, Libertarian call him what you will. His opinions are generally well thought out and logical. Cheers, Mr. Carolla.

I remember reading the paperback adaptation of this movie, and seeing it when it came to my local theater. Even at the tender age of 19 I could tell this wasn't your typical Hollywood movie...not as slick, definitely grittier. I enjoyed it then. Guess I'll need to see just how I feel about it almost 4 decades later. Thanks for jogging my memory, Mr. Nolte.

One of the best documentary's I've seen in years in "Standing in the Shadow of Motown -The Funk Brothers". The story of this amazing group of musicians, who provided the instrumental tracks on ALL of the Motown hits, is just wonderful. Their story, interspersed with a reunion of all of these great old men playing their greatest hits with some new and one or two veteran singers, makes for a great evenings entertainment.

Hank, I started reading Spidey comics in the 60's and stopped in the early 70's. Spidey's parents were never mentioned much, except that they were killed in a plane crash or some such. I understand the storyline has been updated somewhat...they were some kind of intelligence agents. Who knows what the movie will bring.

Please, some more current readers of the comics chime in here.

"Government supported independent films" sounds like an oxymoron to me. And just what would my tax dollars get me for this government supported art? Films like "The Brown Bunny", which ends with a full blown (pardon the pun) graphic oral sex scene?

Or maybe that wonderful piece of art, "The Piss Christ"?

No thank you.

If an artist can't sell his or her work, they need to change their approach or get another job.

I for one really want to see this movie. And I think some folks are forgetting that this is a MOVIE, not a documentary. I don't expect this to be an absolutely factual account of the Tuskegee Airmen. Like a lot of "historical" movies, it is based on their story, not a historical treatise. Certainly the film makers have taken liberties with the story in order to make it an effective piece of entertainment...just like Mel Gibson did with "The Patriot" and "Braveheart" (two movies I love) and a whole bunch of other writers and directors who have made fact-based movies.

And for those who have a problem with them portrying racism as it existed in the 1940's, let's wait and see how they handle it, okay? It did exist, it was a part of their story, and I don't see how they could make the movie without telling that part of it.

Eddy Murphy, in one of his stand up films, explained why he agreed to do "Best Defense", a movie he agreed sucked. "Cause they threw SO much money at me."

Hope Wiig can resist. Don't know if I could.

...and his turn as the heavy in "The Fifth Element"? Kinda hard to do real evil and funny at the same time.