I am interested in technological progress (not just fun with machine learning bumbling into the creative sphere). And it’s usually about progress and how we might want to examine our societal decisions about how fast we’re going. So imagine my surprise when I read this article in Wired by Charles Platt about how analog computing is making a comeback. Oh, this is giving me story ideas…
Finding time to read, or catch up with films, seems all the more difficult these days, so I pored over this list from various critics at The Guardian, who apparently are annoyed at the increasing length of films and heft of novels and have a slew of suggestions of how to get all the artsy goodness you want in a smaller package. I haven’t seen all the films nor read all the novels listed. In…
I was all ready with another post for today when this popped into my inbox yesterday afternoon: You can learn more about the decision in these articles in The Hollywood Reporter, Gizmodo, and Reuters among others. Even though this decision makes perfect sense –I guess there have to be less than 2 million of us red envelope cinemaniacs left– it’s quite the bummer. For almost all of those 25 years, I have been the recipient…
So, I’m clearly not in tune with all fandom news because then I would have realized that the trailer I shared for the latest volume of Star Wars: Visions on Wednesday was but one output of a massive Star Wars marketing shindig last week (aka Star Wars Celebration 2023). There’s numerous articles about the various announcements made at the event, but I found myself interested in one 19-minute interview with showrunners Dave Filoni and John…
I know. For a blog that has quite a lot of posts about Star Trek, what am I doing talking about magical space wizards? Because magical space wizards are fun. As with plenty of other Gen Xers, Star Wars was a big part of my childhood. I also grew up with a lot of samurai films and anime (something else shared by plenty of Gen Xers I’ve met.). So when Disney announced they were releasing…
Based on several standing meeting cancellations and trip pics on social media, I have deduced that Spring Break is in the air for many people. And Spring Break often means travel. And travel often means reading material. And such reading material is often… pulpy. So thanks to Open Culture, I now know that the Internet Archive has thousands of issues of the pulp magazines available for your reading pleasure. And now so do you. Use…
A few years ago, writer, media consultant, and avid Stoic, Ryan Holiday, decided to open a bookstore with his wife. What with being a writer who is very into philosophy and how one lives one’s life (seriously check out some of his books), he decided to share some thoughts about what he learned from running the bookstore. The 23 lessons are on the shorter side, but are thought-provoking and often link to longer pieces that…
As some readers know, despite focusing more on audio fiction these days, I still am keenly interested in how films are put together, especially when it comes to speculative fiction stories… as they almost always employ some tricks to show the fantastical with as much thrift as craft. Last year, I learned more about how the latest version of Dune departed from traditional blue and green screens. I’ve heard a lot about the “virtual sets”…
I may have overlooked it, but I don’t think I’ve previously done a blog post about a little known holiday today. Sure, you knew it was William Shatner’s birthday today. Sure, you knew that, at age 92, he’s still making movies and even being blasted into space. But you might not know that today is International Talk Like William Shatner Day, a minor holiday started over 10 years ago, but really deserves to be a…
Thinking of my biennial “Favorite Films” post this past December, it’s clear from last night’s Oscars, I’m not the only one who was bowled over by the bagel that is Everything Everywhere All at Once. It’s definitely due a rewatch… but actually, I’m here to point out a recent article by Gabriella Paiella for GQ about how my top pick, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, was made and is now an…