A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

What do I say to liberals to get them to understand we did not vote for Trump, we voted against Hillary and everything she represents? This, in my opinion, is perhaps one of the worst examples of political contortion and justification for a conscious choice that  you  and many like-minded people made in November 2016. Maybe you’re being disingenuous, to put it mildly. Or maybe this is what you tell yourself to assuage your own doubts about your choices, considering how poorly the man  you  helped elevate to the highest elected office in the United States is regarded by most people who are not: Republican* Conservatives Evangelical Christians Die-hard Trump supporters who hate Muslims, liberals, Barack Obama, Mexicans, LGBTQ, intellectuals (because they tend to lean toward the liberal side of the political spectrum), and anyone who doesn’t buy “their” President’s Make America Great Again snake oil The truth of the matter is, you can tell me all you wa...

For the first three decades of broadcast television in the United States, most movie buffs could only see movies from Hollywood’s Golden Age when they were shown on local independent stations. Cable TV and videotape devices existed as far back as the late 1940s and early ‘50s, but neither of these delivery systems were as available to the average consumer as they would be from the late 1970s to the present day.  Most of America’s TV markets have one or more “indies,” and the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area of my childhood was no exception.  Most of the local stations could be found on the UHF channels, but WCIX-TV (Channel Six) was on the “regular” VHF dial right next to the affiliates of the Big Three networks (ABC, CBS and NBC).  Along with the indies’ standard fare of children’s programming, reruns of syndicated dramas and sitcoms, and local newscasts, WCIX aired a plethora of older Hollywood films. With rare exceptions, in the early to mid-1970s these flicks were mostly f...

Inning 3: The Faith of Fifty Million People (1910-1920) Written by: Geoffrey C. Ward & Ken Burns Directed by: Ken Burns Before and after World War I, a steady stream of immigrants lands on the shores of America. They want instantly to become American. To pursue the American dream. To play the American game.  But even as thousands of Americans pick up a ball for the first time, even as the country endures a world war, baseball is trying to endure a decade that includes the meanest, vilest, angriest player ever to step onto a field and a scandal that almost destroys the game. - from the DVD episode guide blurb On September 20, 1994, the 300 or so member stations of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) premiered The Faith of Fifty Million People, the third "inning" of the nine-part series titled Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns.  Co-written by Burns and historian Geoffrey C. Ward, this documentary examines the history of the sport of baseball and its i...

Photo Credit: 2DayDelivery.com Pros:  Very nicely detailed, pose looks very dynamic. Cons:  Not recommended for very young children. Hasbro's third Star Wars 25th Anniversary Deluxe Boxed Set , Final Duel , captures a pivotal moment in the film A New Hope -- the turning point, perhaps, of the entire Star Wars saga: the legendary Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi facing off against his former Padawan apprentice and now Sith Lord, Darth Vader. His simple Jedi robes and blue lightsaber blade contrast starkly against the Death Star hangar interior and his former apprentice's menacing armored visage and red Sith saber blade. I have been collecting Star Wars figures almost since Kenner (now Hasbro) started selling them in the wake of the success of Star Wars (now known as Episode IV: A New Hope ). I own several variations of both Darth Vader and Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, including the original 1978 figures with telescoping lightsabers and plastic cloaks, but I was impress...

(C) 1983 National Public Radio and Lucasfilm Limited. Art by: Ralph McQuarrie Way of the Jedi Cast: Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) Artoo Detoo Yoda (John Lithgow) Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (Bernard Behrens) Darth Vader (Brock Peters) Captain Needa (Nicholas Kepros) Admiral Piett (David Rasche) Emperor Palpatine (Paul Hecht) Reviewer's Note: All quoted material is from the 1995 Del Rey book Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - The National Public Radio Dramatization. This edition contains Brian Daley's complete radio play, which differs slightly from the version of the Radio Drama which aired on National Public Radio in 1983 and the original 1990s HighBridge Audio cassette and compact disc editions. The version in Daley's script was recorded, but as with the original 1981 Star Wars Radio Drama, edits were made at the request of NPR due to the needs of the radio format. The longer version is available in HighBridge Audio's more expensive Limited Edition CD col...