Tuesday, January 17, 2006

The Last Word

If you've been wondering Where In The World Is Jonathan V. Last, I recommend you read the Philadelphia Inquirer once a week, where, in the Currents section, you will find his excellent columns (this first one is on the sham of "urban renewal" in Camden, his beloved birthplace). Editorial page editor Chris Satullo even gives him a warm welcome. Mr. Last remains the online editor of The Weekly Standard and so, thankfully--and invoking the spirit of Gene Shalit--we won't be seeing the Last of him.

6 comments:

susanna in KY said...

Congratulations to Jonathan - he's a good choice for them, and I applaud their decision to seek out a conservative voice with local ties. The editor's welcome column was excellent, and articulates exactly how I think about opinion pages - the best way to keep honest and hone your understanding is to explore honest, well-stated competing views [someone clue in the NY Times. Or the Lexington (KY) Herald Leader, my old town, for that matter].

As for Jonathan's first column, bravo. I believe in progress, but not at the cost of private property rights.

I hope this gig lasts a long time for him.

Anonymous said...

Outstanding column, Mr. Last. Congratulations on the column, which I will be sure to read each week. I hope you will still be posting to Galley Slaves despite how busy you must be; I always look forward to your witty comments. You are one of my favorite writers and I am glad there will be more to read.

-Jason T

Anonymous said...

Last hasn't been posting because Narnia is still beating Kong. In fact, Narnia is within striking distance of Harry Potter in domestic revenue (even though Potter was released about a month before). Go look at boxofficemojo.com.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't his original point that it wouldn't beat King Kong's opening weekend? I don't remember that it was total gross revenue. But I would doubt that Mr. Last wouldn't post because of that. Wait, are you Hugh Hewitt?

-TR

Anonymous said...

TR, I am just poking a stick at Last. It is kinda fun.

Actually, here was the Hewitt bet:

Hugh Hewitt is betting that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe will beat King Kong both in total box office and--amazingly--on the weekend when Kong opens. I'd take that bet.

I believe it wasn't easy money and they both win: Last won the Kong opening part and Hugh is winning the total part.

The reason I keep jabbing the stick is because Last said this:

It's now all but inconceivable that Narnia will be Kong next weekend and, if Kong is as good as the early reviews, then it's also difficult to believe that Narnia (which will be helped by being a children's film, but only has so-so word of mouth) will out-gross it in the long run.

And this "know how the industry works" comment:

But commenters who are insisting that Narnia is going to open huge simply because "everyone" will see it don't understand how the industry works.


So what if I am a shallow and voiceless guy?

N.B. I admit it is unfair to patch together comments but such is life.

Anonymous said...

Best regards from NY!
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