Kansas

Ever wonder what NCAA basketball team the presidential candidates would put their money on?

Me neither, but John McCain's campaign just sent out the senator's picks for one of the regional finals. And, like a true ex-maverick, McCain predicts that the big regional game will be decided between number 1 and number 2-ranked teams Kansas and UCLA [bracket noted].

-- Azi Paybarah

Our madcap couple has just returned from having spent Thanksgiving with a large piece of the country  read more »

Our madcap couple has just returned from having spent Thanksgiving with a large piece of the country  read more »

Our madcap couple has just returned from having spent Thanksgiving with a large piece of the country  read more »

Our madcap couple has just returned from having spent Thanksgiving with a large piece of the country  read more »

George and ... Hillary  read more »

Abdul Rahman had to live 41 years before he became an international celebrity.  read more »

Abdul Rahman had to live 41 years before he became an international celebrity.  read more »

Ya know, many people have talked loudly and often about how trannies and homos might sweep the movie awards ceremonies this year. Last night, they rather did--Brokeback, Transamerica, Capote--at the Golden Globes.

(And how were the Golden Globes? Dunno; The Transom doesn't watch awards given out by foreigners in Hollywood. Now, if all the nannies out there organized and gave out awards, hell yeah, turn it on. Those dudes selling fruit on the off-ramp? We'd watch that. But not this crap. And; has anyone ever said out loud that Transamerica is a horrible, horrible title? Yes, they have? Okay.)

Anyway.

Maybe everyone's noticing the gay/trannie content in these films, but is missing the point. The other film reeling it in this year is Walk the Line, and, like those other three films, it also takes place in the middle of the American sandwich, as it were; not, at least, in the elitist God-hating cities of the coast, except a few scenes as moments of contrast. (In Capote, Manhattan represents his bitterness and degradation; in Transamerica, the moral blight of the big city couldn't be underlined more boldly.)  read more »

Maybe what's doing well this year is movies about "real" America, whether that's a Hollywood lie or not. Maybe it's all best viewed in context of Sharon Waxman's Times article from, we think, June, about Hollywood being willing and oh-so-ready to cater to the post-Mel Christian market. (Plus: "No, really! Hilarious! We filmed in actual Kansas! Yes, we literally got that bitch Catherine Keener out to Kansas with only a staff of two!") And don't forget: If they think there's an audience for midgets, they'll start making movies about midgets. Maybe Hollywood wants America back, and bad.

Is The Transom a johnny-come-lately to this theory? No idea. Probably. The RSS feed conglomeration of those good folks at Defamer and Carpetbagger and TheEnvelope and all that hooplah had to be dismantled recently. Perhaps it was giving up coffee last week--our bad!--but suddenly the full venality of Hollywood awards shows has smacked one in the kisser very hard and we've decided, for now, at least, to let them go on without us. After all, the only awards those people out west should be getting is for Most Retardedly-Run Industry of Retards of All Time.

HILLY came late to our sixth session of couples therapy ….  read more »

HILLY came late to our sixth session of couples therapy ….    read more »

Film festivals are like funerals: As soon as one door closes, another one opens.  read more »

Film festivals are like funerals: As soon as one door closes, another one opens.  read more »

My and Hilly’s first session of couples therapy seemed to be going well; we’d already covered th  read more »

My and Hilly’s first session of couples therapy seemed to be going well; we’d already co  read more »

When the great, irreplaceable Rosemary Clooney died, she left her lifetime collection of musical arr  read more »

What's the Matter with Kansas?  read more »

Ahoy, matey!  read more »

To: Jayson Blair, c/o David Vigliano Literary Agency, New York From: Myndee Brady-Stahr, Director of  read more »

New Year's Eve in Times Square: Cops with metal detectors manned all entrance points.  read more »

The right wing in this country would die for their guns, while some of the rest of us do just that.  read more »

Much as I like the sound of my own words, there are times when it's better to sit back and let someo  read more »

For the past three summers, Francis has put in five weeks from mid-June to mid-July at the wonderful  read more »

The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton , by Jane Smiley.  read more »