Charles Moss

Alex Proyas’ 1994 movie The Crow is arguably most remembered as the film in which Brandon Lee—son of legendary martial arts movie star Bruce Lee—was accidentally shot on set during filming, dying hours later in a hospital at age 28. But The Crow is…

The original Ghostbusters is a near-perfect film. It’s just the right blend of comedy and legitimate horror, with Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson in their prime. When it came out, it was innovative from both a technological…

Every Angeleno knows — and every tourist finds out — that spending time in Hollywood does not translate into hobnobbing with celebrities. For the three weeks of my contract job at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, friends and family…

Digital filmmaking and projection have been how we experience movies in theaters since the early 2000s. In fact, 12 years ago Kodak was very close to discontinuing IMAX 1570mm film in the face of the changed cinema landscape. But director Christopher…

Running Oppenheimer felt monumental enough. Then I saw Barbenheimer make an even bigger impact It’s astonishing that Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s three-hour biopic about the scientist who helped create the Atomic Bomb, raked in almost $1 billion…

“I feel like there’s someone in this room who needs to be saved,” hollered the old, red-faced, preacher. I looked around the congregation, praying that it might be someone other than me. Of course, it wasn’t. I was the only Jew in that tiny, country…

It’s not easy for men to admit when they’re victimized by women By Charles Moss There he is, the former Captain Jack Sparrow himself, trying hard to answer questions on the stand without getting cut off from a slew of “Hearsays” from lawyers…

Hanukkah is not the other white Christmas, but this still is an important time of the year for Jews. As we approach the end of 2020, there’s a collective sigh of relief from folks I’ve talked to, an ever-growing glint of hope in their eyes, that 2021…

The first sound I heard on the phone was heavy, harsh breathing. Then the stranger introduced himself to me. “You don’t know me but my name is Sidney Moss … and I’m your father,” he said. He sounded different than I’d imagined. The voice that, for so…

If you’ve noticed, I haven’t written a column in a couple of weeks. I want to chalk it up to being busy with my freelance clients, but I’d be lying. The truth is, I’ve lost my motivation. I’ve lost my drive. At 43, I’m having an identity crisis…

“Jesus, why can’t these men just fucking behave?” That’s what my dear friend, Rebekah, said when she read the news about Ryan Adams’ sexual misconduct allegations in February. Then she promptly removed all of his music off of her Spotify account. I…

When I first heard the news about Nipsey Hussle, I had no idea who he was. As a 43-year-old white Jewish guy from Chattanooga, Tennessee, my music taste teeters between dad rock and whatever my elementary-school-aged boys are listening to. But once I…

Boys who grow up without dads are always looking for father-figures—role models to provide them with the stability and life lessons they crave from the absent males in their lives. I was no different. Growing up in a small Jewish community in…

This was supposed to be a one-off piece about masculinity; a piece in response to the controversial Gillette ad that ran online a few weeks back and caused a digital uproar among a lot of men, conservative news outlets (here’s looking at you Fox…

When I was a kid, Luke Skywalker was my hero. More than that, he was a mentor to me. As I watched his character grow from a young farm boy with aspirations for bigger and better things in Star Wars, to a Jedi in training with Yoda in The Empire…

During my junior year in high school, my English teacher, Mrs. Self, had us write an essay to practice for the multitude of college admission essays we would be writing. From the list of topics, I chose “Who is your biggest role model in life and…

One of my fondest memories of childhood was watching the stop-motion animated special, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” every December. My mom would take my sister Meri and me to our friend Steven Votava’s house to celebrate Hanukkah. Once we lit the…

My 4-year-old son Emmett is adorable. I know, parents say that about their children all the time. But in Emmett’s case, he really is. Strangers attest to it at Costco and Publix and at our local children’s museum. Even Mayim Bialik, of “Blossom” and…

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recently made its annual announcement of nominees. Out of the 16 artists, half of them are nominated for the first time; one of those bands is The Replacements. In an excellent article over at Salon called “Keep the…