J Lee The Media Critic
I have no shortage of opinions to spout off. I do try, however, to make those opinions well-reasoned and not just emotional ranting. My opinions do get emotional sometimes, but at least I attempt to base them in reason.
In this section, the term “media critic” is rather broad. I include here book, movie, and TV program reviews. (Music reviews are found in my Music Central section.) Also included here are my opinions about topics brought up in the media, as well as my opinions about the news media itself.
I like being on my soapbox!
MOVIE REVIEWS
I have reviewed a a few movies at Amazon.com. Click here to see all my reviews (sorry, movie reviews are mixed in with CD & book reviews).
Here are some movies I have reviewed on my blog:
This charming documentary should definitely be seen on a big screen if possible!
This movie was made in Afghanistan soon after the Taliban was brought down. It tells a story set in the Taliban era of a girl who pretended to be a boy in order to be able to work to feed her and her mother.
A documentary about the Al-Jazeera network. It gives a different picture than the ominous tone usually given by U.S. news media.
This movie gave me an entirely new perspective on the issue of dealing with terrorism. It was made in the 1960s and is about Algeria’s struggle for independence from France.
In this movie, Michael Moore thoughtfully ponders the question of why Americans have so much gun crime, even though other nations may have more guns per capita than we do. While Michael Moore regularly distorts facts, sometimes to the point of giving false impressions, he is a master of the edit and his movies are entertaining.
This movie covers the abortion debate through the story of one woman who becomes pregnant and doesn’t want to be. It is amazingly objective on the issue.
This documentary covers the experiment of a guy who decides to see what happens if you eat too much fast food.
NEWS MUNCHIES & COMMENTARY
See this section of my blog where I comment on various things I’ve read about or seen in the news media.
THE CULTURE WAR
See this section of my blog where I discuss debates going on in the Culture War, particularly focusing on media coverage of them.
J Lee the Media Critic is a sub-website of J Lee Harshbarger’s personal website. To visit other sub-websites, click the links below.
BOOK REVIEWS
I have reviewed a number of books at Amazon.com. Click here to see all my reviews (sorry, book reviews are mixed in with CD reviews).
Here are some reviews I’ve also posted on my blog:
Righteous: Dispatches From The Evangelical Youth Movement
A secular journalist decided to see just who these crazy people were who voted for George W. Bush in 2004. She hung out in a variety of evangelical youth subcultures and wrote about her impressions of them.
A scholar looks at all that surrounds the racism issue and dissects it, giving critical analysis to the flaws found in current arguments about racism, as well as a history of how it developed.
The most thorough and inspiring book I’ve read on spiritual growth.
Here are some book reviews that you will find in my website section, Pondering God & Church.
This hard-hitting book pillories the overly feminine focus of churches, giving both anecdotal and statistical proofs as to how this focus keeps men away from church.
Dancing Alone: The Quest For Orthodox Faith In The Age Of False Religion
This book is even more hard-hitting than the one above, so much so that I jokingly call it “Convert to Orthodoxy--or else!” In this review I evaluate Frank Schaeffer’s claims that the Orthodox Church is the one true church.
Name: J Lee Harshbarger
Age: 53
Location: Ypsilanti, Michigan
Favorite Type of Books:
Non-fiction, especially books on Christianity, society, and politics
Favorite Author: John Eldredge
Some books I’ve particularly liked:
-
Waking The Dead by John Eldredge -
The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard
-
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
-
The End Of Racism by Dinesh D’Souza
-
The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents Are Going Broke by Elizabeth Warren & Amelia Warren Tyagi
Favorite TV News Anchors:
-
Rachel Maddow (MSNBC)
-
Erin Burnett (CNN)
-
Anderson Cooper (CNN)
-
Greta Van Susteren (Fox)
Favorite 24-hour cable news network:
-
I switch fairly evenly between CNN and MSNBC
Favorite Newspaper:
-
The Wall Street Journal
Favorite Types of Movies:
Comedy and documentary
Favorite Actors:
-
Jim Carrey
-
Eddie Murphy
Favorite Movie of All Time:
The Back To The Future trilogy
Other movies I’ve particularly liked:
-
Bruce Almighty
-
Dogma
-
Amelie
-
Coming To America
-
Trading Places
-
Liar Liar
-
The Mask
-
Dumb And Dumber
-
The Secret Of My Success
-
A Beautiful Mind
-
The Austin Powers movies
-
The Distinguished Gentleman
-
The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming
-
Tampopo
-
A Taxing Woman
-
A Taxing Woman Returns
-
Bowling For Columbine
-
The Red Tail
Favorite TV Shows:
-
The Colbert Report
-
The Daily Show
-
Family Guy
-
The Simpsons
-
American Dad
-
‘Til Debt Do Us Part
-
Meerkat Manor
-
Ninja Warrior
-
The Unbeatable Banzuke
-
This Hour Has 22 Minutes
-
Royal Canadian Air Farce
-
Reno 911
-
Robot Chicken
-
South Park
-
King Of The Hill
J Lee’s Soapbox is my “official” blog, where I give you my two-cents’ worth on various topics.
Web Communities
You can find me camping out at the web communities listed below. If you are a part of any of these communities, please let me know.
Currently where I’m most active, since many members of my extended family, my friends from church, and some old college classmates are all on here.
This has been my major blogging community since October 2004. Most of my online-only friends are here.
I have written reviews for over 100 CDs and books at Amazon. You can find these plus my Listmania lists and Wish Lists at this page.
My Twitter ID is “songsequencer.” I only tweet about music, mostly what I’m listening to at the moment.
I’m only here so people can find me. If you’re on MySpace, go here to find my MySpace spot and add me as your friend.
A community for alumni of Anderson University. Includes reminiscing of college days and current discussions.
A place for customer reviews of all kinds of products. I have some reviews here.
A place for travelers to review hotels, restaurants, and sightseeing attractions. I plan to add my own reviews as I have time.
I joined this when I worked at Borders because they have a presence there. I intended to make it 
a place I’d chatter about books, but now I’m out of the book industry and my page is dormant. It’s billed as a “MySpace for adults,” but I don’t like the community atmosphere there very well--people are too sensitive.
There’s not much to see here; this is just where I’ve posted my profile at Yahoo.com.
