What is "mumblecore?" March 29, 2010 | Comment on this article Leave a comment Stripped-down, rebellious movements by groups of young, avant-garde artists are nothing new in film history. From Italian Neo-realism to the French New Wave to the New German Cinema, youthful filmmakers have been forever trying to distance themselves from the groaning, big-budget studio apparatus of Hollywood-style... Read More
DVD review: 'Nurse Jackie' offers healthy dose of diversion March 29, 2010 “Nurse Jackie” Season One Life’s worries and troubles got you down? Take 30 minutes of “Nurse Jackie” every Monday night at 9, and see if you don’t feel better fast. Better yet, take all 12 episodes of season one at once if you’ve got six hours to kill and you’re not afraid of overdosing on one of... Read More
Greta Gerwig: Mumblecore Darling Grows Up March 29, 2010 BY DENNIS KING NEW YORK – Greta Gerwig has been characterized as “the Meryl Streep of mumblecore.” Thus far, the tall, blond 26-year-old Gerwig has exercised her considerable talents as an actress – as well as a writer and director – on the far fringes of movie fame, in the obscure realm of... Read More
Under the Radar DVD of the Week: "The Abbott & Costello Show" March 29, 2010 This week, the most offbeat DVD to appear on release lists is: “The Abbott & Costello Show: The Complete Series” When they weren’t arguing over “Who’s on First?” or meeting Frankenstein, the Invisible Man or other monsters of the movies, the comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello starred... Read More
Rock Musician James Murphy Knows the Score March 23, 2010 BY DENNIS KING NEW YORK – James Murphy knows what it’s like being a struggling musician finally breaking out of underground obscurity to find mainstream success. Long a fixture on the downtown Manhattan music scene, Murphy and his band, LCD Soundsystem, have grown to international acclaim and Grammy... Read More
Fall Girl: Breaking the Stunt World's Glass Ceiling March 23, 2010 Most movie fans don’t know the name Martha Crawford Cantarini, although they’ve most likely seen her astride a horse performing some daring, breakneck stunt in some Hollywood action scene from the 1940s and ’50s. During her stint as regular stunt double at MGM, Cantarini stood in for such well-known... Read More
Under the Radar DVD of the Week: "Zombies of Mass Destruction" March 23, 2010 This week, the oddest DVD to appear on release lists is: “Zombies of Mass Destruction” The latest entry in the After Dark Horrorfest DVD series comes out Tuesday and follows in the bloody footprints of such big-screen zombie comedies as “Shaun of the Dead” and “Zombieland.” “Zombies of Mass... Read More
Actress steps up, speaks for absent 'Ghost Writer' director March 19, 2010 BY DENNIS KING NEW YORK — The stark winter weather that hangs like a pall over Roman Polanski’s new political thriller, “The Ghost Writer,” has nothing on the storm raging outside the posh midtown hotel as British actress Olivia Williams showed up for a round of recent press interviews. The storm... Read More
DVD Review: Chrissie Hynde still bristling with punk spunk March 19, 2010 The Pretenders “Live in London” (E1 Entertainment) The Pretenders hit the ground in high gear from the get-go of “Live in London” with the double-time grind of “Boots of Chinese Plastic,” Chrissie Hynde’s distinctive, attitude-laden contralto at the fore, lead guitarist James Walbourne, bassist Nick... Read More
DVD Review: Rare 'T.A.M.I. Show' restored to original rock 'n' roll glory March 19, 2010 “The T.A.M.I. Show” (Shout Factory) The uncut version of the first and rarest concert film of the rock ‘n’ roll era is finally available for viewing for the first time since its initial theatrical release in November 1964. Shot in glorious black and white under director Steve Binder... Read More
Movie Review: Roman Polanski's 'Ghost' story quite a thriller March 19, 2010 Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost Writer” is a film flogged by nasty weather and an oppressive atmosphere of moral isolation and sinister suggestion. Its gray rains and nagging winter winds carry with them a relentless chill of delicious paranoia that is sure to excite fans of twisty cinema thrillers. While not... Read More
Movie Review: 'Repo Men' an operation in gore March 19, 2010 As a piece of grisly Grand Guignol horror, “Repo Men” is gut-wrenchingly effective and as visually arresting as a ghastly car wreck. As a dystopian rant on the ethical uncertainties of medical engineering and the greedy practices of big insurance, the movie is bloody silly. This over-the-top... Read More
Chris Cooper: An Actor's Actor March 16, 2010 BY DENNIS KING NEW YORK – Chris Cooper certainly didn’t build an impressive resume of 57 films and an Academy Award, plus television and Broadway work, by being a prima donna. The hard-working, plain-spoken actor takes a down-to-earth approach to his craft, one that’s not surprising for a guy who studied... Read More
Profile: Box set, book follow Clint Eastwood's long ride in film. March 16, 2010 BY GENE TRIPLETT Here are a couple of things about Clint Eastwood that might surprise most people: 1. He’s not particularly enamored of guns. 2. One of his best friends is a major film critic. Now, considering that he rode to fame on a horse, blowing away five bad guys at a time with a single-action Colt... Read More
Under the Radar DVD of the Week: "Mr. Bean's Most Memorable Moments" March 16, 2010 This week, the oddest DVD to appear on release lists is: “Mr. Bean’s Most Memorable Moments” British actor Rowan Atkinson is a rubber-faced wonder whose gift for sustained physical comedy invites comparisons to such masters as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. At the very least, Atkinson and his... Read More
Summer Always Comes Early to Multiplexes March 16, 2010 BY DENNIS KING Traditionally, summer officially arrives at the dawning of Memorial Day weekend, this year on May 28th. But by Hollywood’s unofficial calendar, summer always comes much earlier, usually while spring crocuses are still in bloom. The summer months constitute one of the movie business’s most... Read More
Movie Review: 'Remember Me' won't create many memories March 12, 2010 “Remember Me,” from its forgettable title to its by-the-numbers story structure, feels every bit like a student film project adapted by a big-league director and a star-heavy cast. It’s polished and earnest and in parts shows promise of a strong storytelling voice. But even with the sure hand of director... Read More
Review: 'She's Out of My League' has heart, laughs March 12, 2010 Can a blond bombshell really fall for a bumbling geek? Maybe in a terminally awkward and frustrated schoolboy’s fondest fantasy. Definitely in the puerile imaginations of screenwriters Sean Anders and John Morris, who took audiences for a ridiculously raunchy ride in “Sex Drive.” Now they’ve brought to... Read More
'She's Out of My League' star sees beyond romantic mismatch March 12, 2010 BY GENE TRIPLETT Alice Eve plays a gorgeous girl who goes gaga over a geek in the romantic comedy “She’s Out of My League,” which required her to neck with a nerdy-looking Jay Baruchel in several intimate scenes. But did feigning passion for a guy with droopy socks and bad posture prove awkward or icky or... Read More
Kudos for Keystone Kops Kreator March 08, 2010 BY DENNIS KING Mack Sennett’s name is synonymous with The Keystone Kops, that zany posse of clumsy lawmen who animated scores of Hollywood silent comedies. As a producer, writer, director and feverishly innovative movie pioneer, Sennett was an early-day, one-man movie machine who not only created the hilarious... Read More
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About the writers

Dennis King


Movie Critic
King spent 31 years as an ink-stained wretch working for newspapers in Seminole, Ada, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. He holds a B.A. degree in English from the University of Central Oklahoma and for 16 years served as an adjunct instructor in journalism and English at Tulsa Community College. For 20 years, he was full-time film critic at the Tulsa World.

In 2006, he left Tulsa and along with his wife, Suzan (a retired English professor), moved to a cabin in Dingmans Ferry, PA. There, along the banks for the Delaware River, he chased after two rambunctious Labrador retrievers, fly fished the waters of the Poconos and did his best to become a full-time trout bum. Still scratching a writer’s itch, he freelanced articles for Explorer magazine and Gray’s Sporting Journal and wrote a stage play about classic movies and old movie theaters, titled “Spirits of the Coronado” (after his long-gone boyhood theater at 39th Street and MacArthur Boulevard).

In December, he and Suzan moved into an apartment in upper Manhattan, where they plan to eat bagels for breakfast and street-cart hot dogs for lunch, haunt the Angelika Theater and the Film Forum, go to plays and museums, ride the subways, complain about the subways and generally live like true New Yorkers.

Gene Triplett


Entertainment Editor

Gene Triplett is another Oklahoma newspaper dinosaur who's been cranking out copy for 34 years, first at the upstart, long defunct Oklahoma Journal, covering just about every news beat imaginable, then at The Oklahoman, where's he's bounced back and forth from features to the news side as assistant city editor, city editor and entertainment editor, managing to hold down the latter position for more than 10 years. He holds a B.A. degree in journalism -- also from the University of Central Oklahoma -- and, also like his colleague King, chases after two loony Labrador retrievers. He does not live by a trout-filled river, but he and his wife Carol do own a swimming pool, much to the delight of their dogs.


The Tripletts enjoy gourmet outdoor cooking year-round (rain, sleet or snow), entertaining friends, road trips to scenic wooded parks that rent rustic lakeside cabins, listening to music, watching classic movies and, in the summertime, swimming with their dogs.



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