Jerry Curl

Today marks a week since the new and retooled version of The View started and I have a few things to say about it. This is an especially important moment for the long-standing program because it’s the first season without its creator at the helm, Barbara Walters. While her send off last season was tearful and rightfully grandiose, she left big heels to fill. After all, who can replace BabaWaba? The short answer is: no one. And thankfully no one at The “New” View is trying to. The cast of characters this year is diminished to four, but that’s about as diminished as these ladies get. The incomparable Whoopi Goldberg returns to the show as its moderator and resident pragmatic voice. Seated to her left is perhaps the least known of the bunch, Nicolle Wallace. More on Ms. Wallace in a minute. Actress Rosie Perez is the first Latina panelist on the show and quite the firecracker. (I’m Hispanic too; I can call her a firecracker if I want to!) And finally, Rosie O’Donnell returns...

Joan Rivers died today and I’m not entirely sure how we’re all still going. I mean, it feel s like we all just had a collective stroke. She was a mean, funny, and truthful voice in a world where those traits rarely intersect. I had the great big pleasure of being insulted by her in 2009 and I ’ ve never forgotten it. In truth, the best tribute that I can give this Queen of Comedy can only come from her own lips: Can we talk...

Lionsgate has announced today that it will release a new Mighty Morphin  Power Rangers  movie on July 22, 2016.  Zack Stentz  and  Ashley Miller  ( Thor ) wrote the script based on a story by Robert Orci ( Star Trek ) that reinvents the tale of ordinary high school kids who possess the power to save the world. No word of yet on casting or directing. As many of you will undoubtedly remember, the color-coordinated crime fighters first jump-kicked into our national consciousness in 1993 with TV series, and just two years later  Mighty Morphin Power Rangers : The Movie hit screens. That film made close to $38 million. If you’ll excuse me, I have a morpher to dig up and Power suit to slip back into. (Via EW )

Another day, another sad death to report.  Lauren Bacall has passed away at the age of 80. Although much as been said about her sultry beauty now and over the years, I always valued and enjoyed her sultry on-screen personas. She always seemed to play the kind of woman that was smarter than every other person in the room. Not an easy feat when her onscreen partners included Gary Cooper, Gregory Peck, Barbra Streisand, and Humphrey Bogart. More than Marilyn and better than Rita Hayworth or Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall showed us how to be sexy and classy. I mean, who doesn’t remember this scene when she taught America how to whistle . Her passing away today also marks a sad personal moment in my life. Years ago I was going through a Golden Age of Hollywood phase. Thanks in part to Madonna’s rap in “Vogue”, this phase involved extensive research on classic actors and the films they made. I read autobiographies, bought and watched the films and documentaries-- I even made a ...

I scarcely know how to convey the tremendous sadness I feel in my heart over Robin Williams’ passing. The first word and the one I keep coming back to is obliterated. I am completely and utterly obliterated by the untimely passing of someone who taught me so much about being a funny grown up. As Mork, he taught me to see things differently. As an aging Peter Pan, he taught me how to keep believing. He taught me all about being a friend as the Genie. He taught me compassion as Patch Adams and he taught me about boundless and unconditional love as Mrs. Doubtfire. Then there were the less obvious, but supremely important lessons in  Flubber , Ferngully , and Jumanji . Perhaps most important of all though, he taught me how to love myself no matter what anyone may think in The Birdcage . I am sad that the joy he brought me and countless others was not something that he could find for himself. Whether he was a good man, or a drunk man, or a sad man in his personal life-- Ro...

Today, in the unlikeliest place imaginable, a musician restored my faith in music. His name is Steve Grand and believe me when I say that he lives up to his name. I first heard about Steve a year ago when his video for “All-American Boy” spread across the Internet like a wildfire. Being an ardent supporter of talented people (because there are so few of them left!) I downloaded the song, donated a little money to his Kickstarter campaign for an album, and followed him on the Twitter. Then last week I found out that he’d be at Market Days this weekend and quickly made arrangements to be there, too. Given the venue and nature of the audience, I was not expecting much. Steve is handsome and built like a truck, so I thought he’d come out shirtless, the audience of boys would fawn over him for the duration of three songs, and that would be that. How wonderfully wrong I was. Steve came out fully clothed-- wearing a plain white V-neck tee shirt, skinny black Levis, and...

The littlest JoBro is proving that he’s every bit the man of our girlish dreams. Biceps, chains, and biceps in chains basically sum up this video. But I’m not complaining. The song is also incredibly catchy and already on my summer playlist. Enjoy the sites and sounds.