Linda Holmes  

 

Topics by Linda Holmes

Television

For 'Downton' Fans, A New Season And A New Book



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By Linda Holmes
Jessica Fellowes, author of a new book about the successful series Downton Abbey, talks about the story of the Crawleys and the world they inhabit.
Pop Culture

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Our Fearless Predictions For 2012



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By Linda Holmes
We make our big predictions for 2012 and tell you — as we do — what's making us happy this week.
Books

Hard Choices: Do Libraries Really Destroy Books?



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By Linda Holmes
Libraries have limited space, but they face a constantly growing supply of books. From selling to donating to destroying, we look at the options when every book cannot be kept on the shelves.
Technology

Apple Announces A New Phone And Voice Recognition, But Not The iPhone 5



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By Linda Holmes
Apple introduced its new iPhone 4S today at an event at its headquarters. We consider the ups and downs for consumers.
Television

'Prohibition' Recalls A Law So Strict It Was (Tee)totally Doomed



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By Linda Holmes
Ken Burns latest PBS series, Prohibition, examines how a ban on alcohol in an alcohol-loving society ever came to be passed in the first place, and how its enforcement made it inevitable that it could not stand.
News

Amazon Unveils Its Tablet, The Kindle Fire: Can It Compete?



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By Linda Holmes
Today, Amazon unveiled the Kindle Fire, a 7-inch tablet that functions like a souped-up e-reader that can also give you access to music, movies, and apps. But questions abound about the device's ability to fit into a crowded market for portable media devices.
Television

The New 'Charlie's Angels': The Depressing Spectacle Of A Project No One Loves



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By Linda Holmes
The new Charlie's Angels isn't just a bad show. It's a show nobody even wants to be good, and that's what makes it so depressingly, offensively bad.
Arts & Living

Netflix Won't Send You DVDs Anymore; Now They'll Come From 'Qwikster'



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By Linda Holmes
Netflix has decided to spin off its DVD rentals into the new service "Qwikster." Will this really fix its customer-dissatisfaction problems and restore peace?
Television

Live-Blogging The 2011 Emmy Awards



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By Linda Holmes
Join Monkey See to follow the 2011 Emmy Awards in all their Jane-Lynch-hosted, crazy glory.
Television

Things To Watch For At Sunday Night's Emmy Awards



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By Linda Holmes
We consider a few questions heading into Sunday's Emmy Awards, including new blood, Prohibition versus the '60s, and the very strange case of Charlie Sheen.
Movies

'Better This World': A Documentary, A Thriller, And A Disaster Movie



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By Linda Holmes
PBS airs a documentary tonight that questions how two friends from Midland, Texas wound up arrested in Minnesota for domestic terrorism and the many ways their predicament could have been avoided.
News

Your Friends Are Not Your Audience: A Disturbing Internet Lesson In Perspective



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By Linda Holmes
A man recently stepped up to a microphone to tell a story he thought was about a really funny thing that happened to him. Others think he confessed to sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room. Still others suspect the story isn't even true.
Movies

Twenty Iconic Male Movie Roles In Which Helen Mirren Would Have Ruled



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By Linda Holmes
Helen Mirren can do basically anything, and we've come up with a list of 20 movie roles written for men where we still think she would have been pretty great.
Pop Culture

Powered-Down Entertainment: Staying Busy When The Lights Are Out



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By Linda Holmes
As a rough weather weekend looms, we take a look at how to deal with the minor but wearing irritation of losing power and entertaining yourself and your family.
Movies

Ten Alternate Identities For Conan The Barbarian If He Abandons Barbarism



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By Linda Holmes
Conan The Barbarian shouldn't be locked into a single life path just because of his name. We humbly suggest ten other identities — Conan The Fruitarian, anyone? — in case he's looking for a career change.
Arts & Living

Five Things Learned During A Strange Evening At The Playboy Mansion



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By Linda Holmes
Playboy TV held an event for TV critics at the Playboy Mansion on Wednesday night. Perhaps you know about the monkeys and the peacocks and the grotto, but just in case you don't, please join us.
Arts & Living

The Emmy Nominations: 'Mad Men' And 'Modern Family' Are Still On Top



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By Linda Holmes
The Emmy nominations were very good to Modern Family and Mad Men, of course, but they also found room for a few less likely but still satisfying nominees from the football fields of Texas and the government offices of the Midwest.
Arts & Living

Going, Going, And Gone?: No, The Oxford Comma Is Safe ... For Now



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By Linda Holmes
Yesterday, a brief panic ensued when it seemed like Oxford was abandoning its own comma. It isn't, but the whole kerfuffle raised the issue of how and why we care so much about these little things.
Arts & Living

'The Bully Project' Finds Its Moment


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By Linda Holmes
In The Bully Project, filmmaker Lee Hirsch captures several stories of kids who are being bullied or, in some cases, who took their own lives.
Arts & Living

'Being Elmo': Covering Raw Talent With Bright Red Fur



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By Linda Holmes
The documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey offers insight about the world of Sesame Street, but even more about the successful translation of an unusual talent into a profession.
Arts & Living

'The Swell Season': How Documentaries Can Tell Stories We Don't Want To Hear



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By Linda Holmes
The documentary The Swell Season tells a story that seems sad, but isn't really. As a work of fiction, it would be unsatisfying, but as a true story, it challenges assumptions about close relationships that storytellers find hard to break down.
Arts & Living

Quoth J.K. Rowling, 'Pottermore'



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By Linda Holmes
J.K. Rowling has announced that she's going to announce something big, and that's got her fans excited. All we know right now is that it's not another book. But what is it?
Arts & Living

The Sports Riot: First We Lose (Or Win), Then We Set This Sucker On Fire



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By Linda Holmes
Sports rioting is a mystifying phenomenon, accompanying wins and losses alike. Is it the alcohol? Is it the youth? Or is it just a reminder that we all live with really angry people all the time?
Politics

Anthony Weiner Takes Full Responsibility ... Whatever That Means



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By Linda Holmes
The TV event that is the contrite press conference always includes something about taking full responsibility for one's actions, as Rep. Anthony Weiner did yesterday. But what does that even really mean?
Arts & Living

Seeing Teenagers As We Wish They Were: The Debate Over YA Fiction



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By Linda Holmes
A current debate looks at whether young adult fiction is too dark. But in fact, many of us remember reading very, very dark books as teenagers, whether anyone called them "YA" or not.
Television

Five Things I Really Did Learn From Oprah Winfrey, No Kidding



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By Linda Holmes
Oprah Winfrey's show is going off the air this week. Surprisingly enough, although she may not have taught all the lessons she intended to, she taught a few along the way.
News

The Royal Wedding: A Crowd's-Eye View



BRITAIN WELCOMES NEWEST ROYAL COUPLE
By Linda Holmes
The royal wedding gave a large crowd an opportunity to listen to the ceremony and await the opportunity to see the couple — not to mention the Queen — close up.
Arts & Living

The Library Card As A Pop-Culture Fiend's Ticket To Geek Paradise



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By Linda Holmes
We've talked many times about all the different ways you can interact with the things you love, but we've never really talked about using a public library as a point of contact with pop culture. It's time to investigate.
Television

'Extreme Couponing' Is Here To Prepare You For The Coming Mustard Shortage



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By Linda Holmes
TLC's show Extreme Couponing might seem like just the right thing to show in a time of economic hardship, but mostly, it's a sideshow.
Pop Culture

Twenty Villains Arnold Schwarzenegger Should Fight In 'The Governator'



By Linda Holmes
We consider exactly what supervillains would be good opponents for Arnold Schwarzenegger as he starts up his new comic/movie project, The Governator.
Movies

Everything We Know About Celebrity, We Learned From Elizabeth Taylor



BU FILM PROF ROY GRUNDMANN ON TAYLOR
By Linda Holmes
Elizabeth Taylor came to stand for just about everything, both good and bad, about American celebrity.
Arts & Living

Ridiculed YouTube Singer Rebecca Black Grabs A Mountain Of Bull By The Horns



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By Linda Holmes
Singer Rebecca Black was looking for something when she posted a video on YouTube. But it probably wasn't instant infamy for making what some people have told her is the worst video ever. Surprisingly, she's chosen not to be all that bothered.
Arts & Living

In Praise Of Cultural Omnivores



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By Linda Holmes
A new study suggests that we're experiencing a drop in cultural "omnivores." The first step to making the world safe for them is stopping the war between art and fun, which never should have been undertaken in the first place.
Pop Culture

Paying A Penny At Bedlam



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By Linda Holmes
As late-night host Craig Ferguson understands — but one of CNN's flagship talkers doesn't seem to — we've reached a tipping point when it comes to the media and Charlie Sheen. NPR's Linda Holmes asks how many more pennies we're willing to spend at this particular Bedlam.
Movies

'King's Speech' Shines, But Oscar Show Stutters



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By Linda Holmes
The odds-on favorite won Best Picture and dominated Sunday night's Oscars — but the telecast itself suffered from lackluster hosting, odd musical numbers and disjointed production.
Television

Dr. Cornel West's Extraordinary Conversation With Craig Ferguson



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By Linda Holmes
Craig Ferguson invited Dr. Cornel West to his show last night for a discussion to kick off Black History Month, and the result was a genuinely different way to use a late-night talk show than you've probably ever seen.
Pop Culture

Mark Zuckerberg Meets Jesse Eisenberg On The 'Saturday Night Live' Stage



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By Linda Holmes
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg showed up on Saturday Night Live to come face-to-face with Jesse Eisenberg, who played him in The Social Network. As the video shows, Zuckerberg is no comedian, but he put in a good effort.
News

Few Surprises In This Year's Oscar Nominations



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By Linda Holmes
This morning's Oscar nominations were headed up by The King's Speech with 12, followed by True Grit with 10. There weren't many surprises, although Inception missed out on one major award.
Television

The Regis Retirement Continues The Transformation Of Daytime Television



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By Linda Holmes
Regis Philbin is retiring later this year. Oprah is leaving, too, and she's taking her magic syndication touch with her. So what happens to daytime television now?
Television

'Downton Abbey' Creator Julian Fellowes' On His British Hit Coming To PBS



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By Linda Holmes
Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey, talks to Guy Raz about his acclaimed series, and about the casting of the legendary Dame Maggie Smith, as it begins its run on PBS.
Television

At Last! Stephen Colbert Surrenders NPR's Shiny Medal Of Fear


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By Linda Holmes
Stephen Colbert recently awarded NPR a "Medal Of Fear," but he didn't actually hand it over. This is the story of how we finally got hold of it.
Pop Culture

Highs And Lows From The 'Rally For Sanity And/Or Fear'


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By Linda Holmes
We look at some of the highs and lows of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's big rally on the National Mall, from words forgotten to words painted in great big fonts on signs.
Pop Culture

Pop Culture Happy Hour: BOO! Halloween Fears And Costume Theory


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By Linda Holmes
This week: It's Halloween, and Pop Culture Happy Hour is ready to embrace it, from spooky ghosts to amusement park menaces to costumes we love our mothers for making. Or, in the alternative, resent our mothers for making us wear.

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