I laughed at some of the gags in Mel Brooks' "The Producers," but I also felt uncomfortable with many of the portrayals. I wrote this in my notebook: “Gay minstrel show.”

As a bank robber, John Dillinger  demonstrated some style. Unfortunately, these scenes don't appear in "Public Enemies." Director Michael Mann focuses instead on Dillinger's physicality as a bank purloiner, leaping on top of counters, threatening bank employees and blasting his way out of jams.

When I was a kid, growing up and impressionable, Michael Jackson was the coolest person. I wanted to sing like him, dance like him, dress like him – I wanted to be him. My parents even got me a Michael Jackson coat one year for Christmas. I was the bomb, doing a little dance and turning around.

A climb aboard the Ford Tri-Motor is a step back into the infancy and glamour of early commercial air flight.
 

It is time to Rock the Docks again in Springfield and Lakemore. The village and township have once again combined their efforts to host this very unique event which begins on July 10 and runs through July 12. Last year’s event drew over 50,000 rockin’ people from many communities and a variety of states.

More than 1,000 guests visited the show this year.

If you were in the Springfield, Uniontown or Portage Lakes area on June 27, you might have been stuck in a long line of traffic and wondered why. It was the day 800 visitors toured some of the fantastic gardens in the area.

Dinosaurs, Dillinger, and a pair of films imported from Europe.

New OMIMAX film explores the importance of water conservation.

Computer animated movies have come a long way. They typically attract top-notch talent for the voice work and, while aimed mostly at children, have enough oomph to keep an adult entertained. That’s why, when a derivative stinker such as the first “Ice Age,” rolls around, it’s almost shocking.

“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” may start out slow and dumb, but once it finds its feet and begins to evolve and adapt, it grows into something pretty special.

Whoever thought it a good idea to cast Johnny Depp as the infamous John Dillinger should be shot in a dark alleyway, along with director Michael Mann.

The Akron Zoo jaguar cubs, born at the zoo on March 3, are now on exhibit everyday starting at 10 a.m. The cubs will be on exhibit for at least a couple of hours each day with their mother Naom. The public naming contest has also concluded and the cubs’ names will be Nakita, Bella and LeBron.

For two years, Larry Tye pored through thousands of research pages and wrote hundreds of pages about an often-overlooked American icon: baseball great Leroy “Satchel” Paige. Satchel’s story, said Tye, is about overcoming “every obstacle any human being could ever imagine.”

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has announced that it is making available to the public a number of VIP, floor, and sideline seat tickets for the 2009 Enshrinement Ceremony as well as additional sideline and end zone seats for the NFL Hall of Fame Game. The newly released seats will go on sale to the public beginning June 24. Tickets may be purchased online by visiting the Hall’s Web site at Profootballhof.com or by calling 800-913-9788.