Category: media
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$480 Phone Call
I’ve been catching drips and drabs of a National Geographic Drama/Documentary (dromedary?) about the first Internet wave called “Valley of the Boom”. I very clearly remember losing my WWW virginity. It was early summer of 1994 and I was living in Tokyo. I had been “online” since 1984 in high school through Compuserve (where my […]
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Blasts of Entertainment Genius
Every now and then there are singular great moments of television. Some are dramatic and exactly where you expect to find them (Hill Street Blues, West Wing, NYPD Blue, The Newsroom. Family Ties [At this Moment]), some are comedic and seem to be a little more fleeting (Uncle Arthur/Darrin – Bewitched, The Rock singing “Shake […]
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Vroom
I just sat at my desk for 24 hours watching a mixed set of race cars tearing it up. I was only loosely familiar with Le Mans — I knew phrases like “24 hour race” and “streets of France” — but not much more. My interest was piqued, my schedule was pretty open, so about […]
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Newsroom is my new Shawshank
For a long time, if I were to catch even 20 seconds of The Shawshank Redemption I knew I was sitting down for the distance. Now it’s The Newsroom. I love me some Sorkin and this is a lovely tilt on the “we can do better” magic of The West Wing. Beyond the crazy great […]
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Wow, that’s a pretty good job…
Dr. Tewell at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian was charismatic and demanding. He didn’t suffer the Sunday-only Presbyterian who ignored their duties of officium et pecuniae (service and donation), and so FAPC had a very active volunteer team. It wasn’t unusual for Dr. T to finish service with “we’re not leaving here until I have two more […]
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we are Star Fleet
Star Trek over Star Wars. There, I said it. The nerd debate is unresolvable. It’s science fiction versus science fantasy, it’s space wagon train versus space opera. They are both magnificent, but I want to live in the universe of Star Trek. I cast a disapproving eye on any dude of my generation that I […]
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Movie: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
The short: Frances McDormand has you rooting for an incredibly unsympathetic character and a character evolution you might predict as unbelievable gets pulled off. Watching this is time well spent. There was a time in the ’90s when I would easily see 80+ movies a year. Now my number is smaller and is dominated by […]
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If you want to lose a fight…
TV and movies are full of great lines, but many of the best are placed as either openers (“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.”) or to punctuate a defining character moment (“So I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse”) or to signal rising tension (“We’re going to […]
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Thank you, Daniel
I watched “Phantom Thread”, Daniel-Day Lewis’ final outing with somewhat low overall expectations. DDL is a master of his craft and I thought I would be watching it in much the way I might watch a first clarinet in a symphony I don’t particularly care for — I would be mesmerized by the artistry on […]
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Magnificent but Standard
The Post. The bar is so high for Streep and Hanks that their incredible acting feels commonplace, but compelling It lacked the drama of Watergate because it unfolded over such a short window Another reminder of the importance of an independent press and I pledge to increase my tolerance of self-righteous, condescending journalists by 10% […]