Email Author Bill Gallo

2006 Stories by Bill Gallo

• The Longest Yawn

  published September 13, 2006

  "The Rock" — formerly known as "Flex Kavana" and, a bit later, as "Rocky Maivia" — was a practicing actor long before he turned to... More >>

• Practical Magic

  published August 16, 2006

  If, at this remove, we can imagine Vienna in the late 1890s, we behold a great imperial capital in ferment. Gustav Mahler is not only reinventing... More >>

• Baby Steps

  published August 9, 2006

  Snort a few lines of Fame, screen Save the Last Dance a couple of times, and channel what you've learned through the bad-ass pose of... More >>

• London Fog

  published July 26, 2006

  For 35 years, Woody Allen was a long shot to stray into the Bronx or Staten Island — much less the alien reaches of London, England. The... More >>

• Free Kicks

  published July 19, 2006

  When the clueless U.S. men's soccer team got dumped in the first round of the World Cup last month, American sports fans generally shrugged and... More >>

• Turkish Delight

  published July 12, 2006

  The strategically crucial Eurasian city now called Istanbul (population: 13 million, and growing by 700,000 a year) has had its share of upheaval... More >>

• Fun With Flesh Wounds

  published June 28, 2006

  If nothing else, give the makers of Beowulf & Grendel high marks for boldness, and for a certain playful irreverence. It's a good bet that... More >>

• Deep Doo-Doo

  published June 21, 2006

  About three-quarters of the way through Waist Deep, the hero of the piece — an indestructible ex-convict who calls himself O2 (2... More >>

• Royal Flush

  published June 7, 2006

  It's clear by now that British director James Marsh regards America as a vaguely amusing madhouse — a reliably primitive, thoroughly... More >>

• Psycho Cowboy

  published May 17, 2006

  The Old West has vanished, John Wayne is dead, and — this just in — the two most famous ranch hands in America are gay. But there... More >>

• Unamerican Dream

  published May 10, 2006

  The lovable hero of Goal! The Dream Begins is the kind of guy some Americans don't find very appealing these days — a Mexican... More >>

• Home Life in Hell

  published May 10, 2006

  World-weary skeptics might be tempted to pass on Iciar Bollain's Take My Eyes the moment they learn its heroine is yet another victim of... More >>

• Troubled Water

  published April 26, 2006

  If some religious extremists in India had gotten their way, the gorgeous fury of Deepa Mehta's Water never would have reached the screen.... More >>

• Here's Your Insight, Pal

  published April 19, 2006

  Vast legions embrace the thing as gospel. Skeptics dismiss it as ecstatic nonsense. In any event, James Redfield's peculiar novel The Celestine... More >>

• All Gave Some

  published April 5, 2006

  The impassioned new documentary Sir! No Sir! never mentions the words "Iraq" or "Afghanistan." It doesn't have to. Unseen and... More >>

• Cold Serial

  published March 15, 2006

  Who knows. Maybe he developed writer's block. Or joined Up With People. Or dropped dead from shock the day Bush got re-elected. In any event, the... More >>

• Hoop Dreams Come True

  published March 15, 2006

  Through the Fire (Disney) He's averaging just nine points in his second season for the Portland Trail Blazers, but considering... More >>

• Primal Fur

  published February 15, 2006

  Penguins, shmenguins. If you want some new insight into the codes of animal behavior, have a look at Eight Below, an inspirational... More >>

• Diamond in the Rough

  published February 8, 2006

  This is not George Lazenby making his doomed run at James Bond, or even Mel Gibson presuming to play Hamlet. This is serious heresy,... More >>

• Ride the Legend

  published February 1, 2006

  Anthony Hopkins lends style points to any movie in which he appears. The thing may be a dog, but the actor who brought the gruesome psychopath... More >>

• Rocky Waters

  published January 25, 2006

  No one has ever mistaken Rocky Balboa for an officer and a gentleman, but that's just about what we get in the numbingly predictable and... More >>

• Heavenly Hag

  published January 25, 2006

  There is evidently no limit to the sacrifices actors will make for their art. If you thought beautiful Charlize Theron went the distance by... More >>

• Tarnished Ivory

  published January 11, 2006

  With the release of The White Countess, the much-honored Merchant Ivory canon is complete. The Bombay-born producer Ismail Merchant died in... More >>

• Bet on Black

  published January 11, 2006

  Over the years, moviegoers who double as sports fans have had ample opportunity to pick and choose their favorite miracle -- Shoeless Joe Jackson... More >>

• Romeo in the Rough

  published January 11, 2006

  Over the centuries, the legend of Tristram and Iseult has fueled the derring-do of King Arthur, aroused Richard Wagner's operatic thunder, driven... More >>