roeper
Richard Roeper biography
Richard Roeper's column has been appearing in the Sun-Times for more than 20 years. The column has garnered numerous awards, including the National Headliner Award …Read More
-
Like the snacks themselves, reports of Twinkies’ demise are hard to stomach
Diane Sawyer posted a photo of a pack of Twinkies on her shoulder. Rob Lowe said if Hostess was going out of business, he was going to go into mourning and wear a black arm band. At a press conference, the corpulent Chris Christie said, …Read More
-
Gambling movies not always a sure bet
As a serious amateur poker player and lifelong student of gambling, I expect most movies about poker and sports wagering and other forms of betting to get it wrong, or to take great dramatic license in the service of heightened storytelling. Authenticity takes a back seat to climactic scenes that have even casual gamblers rolling their eyes at the ridiculousness of it all.
-
A final cheer for the Overrated
Every time I hear “Fiscal Cliff” I wonder if he was on “Schoolhouse Rock” or “The Electric Company.” And if I see one more viral video parody/tribute/salute to “Gangnam Style,” I’m going to ask Gen. Petraeus if he can drive me right off that fiscal …Read More
Search recent columns
More Columns
The perfect Bears seat? The couch
For me and for millions of others, NFL football is the perfect made-for-TV sport. The multiple angles, the slow-motion replays, the super-duper-slow-motion replays, the close-ups of the coaches on the sidelines, the analysis from the former players, the cutaways to updates of other games — no sport is better suited to the hype and shine and pageantry of 21st century TV.
If David Petraeus can’t cover his tracks, no one can
In leaving an email trail exposing his affair with Paula Broadwell, the disgraced CIA boss showed a distinct lack of intelligence.
A slice of post-election cultural pizza
Before we get back to the pop culture business of doubting the critics who say “Skyfall” is the best Bond movie ever, a few final thoughts about the winners, losers, heroes and clowns of Campaign 2012.
Election day brings the blissful end to campaign 2012
It was like a game of “Sugar Rush” at my polling place early Tuesday morning: lots of excitement and enthusiasm, but you couldn’t go far without running into a Glitch. At one point, the machine refused to accept ballots, so a handful of citizens were …
Roeper: President’s path to re-election cleared surprisingly early
Biggest winner: POTUS. With big wins in key states such as Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Wisconsin, the president’s path to re-election was cleared surprisingly early in the night. Perhaps this item will be a mini-version of “Dewey Defeats Truman,” but as of this writing Obama …Read More
Election is last laugh for some impersonators
When all the votes are tabulated and a winner has been declared, the victor can look forward to four years of shining in the spotlight, while the loser will have to concede defeat and admit it’s all over. That holds true for Jason Sudeikis vs. Jay Pharoah as well as for Mitt Romney vs. Barack Obama.
Election prediction: Electoral votes will add up to Barack Obama victory
Somewhere around the time President Barack Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were standing in unison, while members of Team Romney reportedly were purchasing items to be given away at a fund-raiser for storm victims, it hit me. Somewhere around the time Donald Trump …
Richard Roeper: Fuzzy memories cloud ‘Star Wars’ vision
If you were 15 when the original “Star Wars” was released in 1977 and it changed your life and you saw how it changed movies forever, your memories of being swept into George Lucas’ amazing world will always be more precious than the experience of watching it now on Blu-Ray — and your strong emotional ties to that first viewing time will be much more intense than anything you’ll feel watching a seventh or eighth or ninth “Star Wars” movie.
World Series of Poker has better payoff
I’m not saying I think poker is a more entertaining sport than baseball. But in 2012, I was more invested in watching the World Series of Poker Main Event and a few other WSOP tourneys on TV than the baseball playoffs, up to and including Game 4 of the World Series.
Who put the zzz’s in zombies?
Zombie Mania shows no signs of subsiding. I get it. It’s fun to dress up as a zombie or dance as a zombie or pretend you’re a zombie-killing hero. But I still say zombies suck at being scary.
In sports stadiums, all that Glitter’s getting gross
That is one creepy-looking veteran cosmic rocker. British pop singer Gary Glitter (real name Paul Gadd) was arrested Sunday morning in London as part of a child sex abuse case. British authorities said Glitter was being held as part of a wide-ranging investigation centering on …
A clown in Trump clothing
Donald Trump apparently doesn’t understand the difference between “big news” and “publicity stunt.” Going on YouTube and Facebook and “The Twitter” to issue a $5 million challenge for the president to release his college and passport documents isn’t a scoop — it’s a new media variation on one of the oldest ploys in the world.
Even after debates, the pop culture shrapnel continues
After the third and final presidential debate in Del Boca Vista — sorry, Boca Raton — on Monday night, we had the traditional Gathering of the Families onstage, with lots of hugs and happy handshakes all around. Sweetest moment: President Obama leaning down to talk …
Can you smell what Brad Pitt is shoveling?
They let Brad Pitt off easy. Joining the chorus of viral spoofs, the good folks at “Saturday Night Live” took on Pitt’s begging-to-be-parodied Chanel ads in a series of devastatingly spot-on bits, with Taran Killam just crushing it as the goateed actor/philosopher. Looking like a …
‘30 for 30’ tells more of the sports story
ESPN has broadcast 49 films in the “30 for 30” series of documentaries. I’ve seen about half, and there hasn’t been a subpar viewing experience yet. Each film is a superbly crafted, in-depth look at a familiar sports story told in a way we hadn’t seen before.
Why does White Sox attendance keep falling? Fans weigh in
Last week I asked White Sox fans why they believe home attendance was down yet again this year, despite a team that exceeded expectations and was in first place for much of the season. At least 60 percent of the folks I heard from mentioned the financials, but many other factors were cited. Thanks to the hundreds of fans who weighed in. Here is a sampling of responses:
The show biz of politics
The candidates don’t control all of this nonsense, but my unsolicited advice for both of them for the home stretch would be to refrain from any more glittery fundraisers and tell their celebrity friends to cool it. Even as a Pop Culture Guy, I’m getting pop cultured to death in this election.
