Bryce Zabel's FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH

Monday Memo: JFK's Very Own Warren Commission... Bad Journos... and Blasts from the Past

The alt.JFK site, Winter of Our Discontent: The Impeachment and Trial of John F. Kennedy posts up a provocative new twist today. If JFK survived Dallas, he would still have had to create a Warren Commission. It's our latest installment.

Meanwhile, over at the newly-energized Movie Smackdown!, two of our new Smackdown referees have weighed in this weekend. Recovering TV journalist Mark Sanchez lets loose with Perfect Stranger -vs- Shattered Glass, and our very own tower climber Jay Amicarella puts Premonition -vs- The Gift in the ring together. Plus, I've got one of my own just up: In the Land of Women -vs- Garden State.

Finally, at Instant History, we put school shootings in perspective with a look at Columbine from 1999 and Charles Whitman from 1966.

Monday Memo (4.23.07): 'Manifest' Destiny, Funeral for Camelot, and Motels from Hell

Just returned from Newport Beach where I moderated the screenwriters' panel consisting of Steve Oedekerk ("Ace Ventura," "The Nutty Professor," "Bruce Almighty"), Jeffrey Arch ("Sleepless in Seattle," "Iron Will") and Brad Gann ("Invinceable"). While we were there we also attended the premiere of my buddy Don Most's "Moola." At the afterparty, took this picture with William Mapother who a lot of you may remember as the snoopy, needle-wielding Ethan who is mysteriously missing from the plane's manifest on ABC's "Lost." That's my son, Jonathan, the USC School of Cinema near-grad. And, no, Mapother is not in the least creepy like Ethan. In person, he seems like a great guy, Don loved working with him and he does a very good job in the film.

• Meanwhile, our internet debut of Winter of Our Discontent: The Impeachment & Trial of John F. Kennedy book project continues. Every Monday brings a new installment in the novel-in-progress being written with alt-history author Harry Turtledove. Today begins Chapter 3: Damage Control which deals with a couple of funerals: reporter Lefkowitz attends the Arlington Cemetery burial of Secret Service agent Clint Hill along with a disgruntled LBJ while Duncan gets to fly to Dallas with JFK who's giving the eulogy for Governor Connally who died when the bullet intended for Kennedy took his life instead.

• Over at Movie Smackdown!, we're continuing to add more "referees" to our film critics group. I want to increase the overall content on the site which means I can't do it all myself. This week we introduce recovering TV newsman Mark Sanchez with his look at "Vacancy -vs- Motel Hell." You've probably already noticed Jonathan Zabel weighing in with "Meet the Robinsons -vs- The Incredibles" and "Grindhouse -vs- Pulp Fiction." Last week we add Jay Amicarella who reviewed "Disturbia -vs- Rear Window."

Monday Memo: Howdy Doody, Oswald Gets Lawyered Up and Springtime for Smackdown!

• Just returned from Palm Springs (okay, Indian Wells) where I co-hosted (with Hal Linden of "Barney Miller" fame) the "Gold and Silver Circle Awards" for television greats who'd been in the business 25 and 50 years. I inducted all the Gold Circle folks and that included Bill Asher, Sidney Sheldon (posthumously), Kaye Ballard and Velma Dawson (who brought along her Howdy Doody puppet). The clip reels alone were worth the trip. I originally signed on, however, out of support for my friend and mentor Bill Asher. Among his credits: directing JFK's inaugural and that birthday party where Marilyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday Mr. President."

• So, as a personal friend of JFK's, Bill has told me he'd rather not know about my Winter of Our Discontent: The Impeachment & Trial of John F. Kennedy book project. For the rest of you, though, remember that every Monday brings a new installment in the novel-in-progress being written with alt-history author Harry Turtledove. Today wraps up Chapter 2: Duck & Cover where Lee Harvey Oswald hires attorney William Kunstler to defend him, President Kennedy holds his first news conference and Jackie starts to wonder why people want to kill her husband.

• Over at Movie Smackdown!, we're entering a new phase. I want to increase the overall content on the site which means I can't do it all myself. So I'll be adding some new Movie Smackdown! "referees" (critics) in the next months. You've probably already noticed Jonathan Zabel weighing in with "Meet the Robinsons -vs- The Incredibles" and "Grindhouse -vs- Pulp Fiction." I will continue to edit their material for consistency of form and style, but the opinions will be their own. It's part of my overall plan to take the larger Movie Smackdown! concept of reviewing a film in theaters against a film available on DVD to an ever increasing audience because, based on response, it seems to be catching on. Today we add Jay Amicarella who reviews "Disturbia -vs- Rear Window."