Rich Heldenfels, Pop Culture Wanderer

Thanks to a Regal Unlimited card and my wife's masterful handling of our schedule, November has been loaded with movies in theaters. I have thoughts on all we've seen below, including the blockbuster "Frozen II," but first up is the best of the lot, "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood," with Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers. Hanks is wonderful as the children's-TV host, capturing his warmth, his thoughtfulness and his challenging of himself and others. I knew Rogers a little; I arranged for him to appear at a press conference for the Television Critics Association, and he gave me a fine interview for my book Television's Greatest Year: 1954. A memorable aspect of the book interview was Rogers's repeatedly urging me to include a section about Frieda Hennock, a crusading member of the FCC in the early '50. An even more noteworthy part of the TCA appearance was Fred encountering some children who had brought him gifts in the lobby of the hotel...

Topics: a new Paul Simon biography, Michael Beschloss on presidents in wartime, Green Book, Aquaman, Roma, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, A Very English Scandal,  and more. As I mentioned before, I have used my school break to enjoy some reading, and I have managed to squeeze in a couple of more books before classes resume tomorrow. One was Robert Hilburn's biography of Paul Simon, noteworthy because Simon cooperated -- well, mostly; he declared questions about his children and about an incident with his wife Edie Brickell off-limits. There is still plenty to talk about, particularly when it comes to Simon's writing process and the changes in it. You get the details of the makings of his landmark songs, plenty about his complicated relationship with Art Garfunkel, Simon's forays into an array of musical styles (and the resulting debate over his work with South African musicians in the apartheid era) and a close look at his later, less...