A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Pros:  Good 720p video; great sound, has Anynet+ technology built in Cons:  Requires some assembly. Samsung LN32D450 32-Inch 720p 60Hz LCD HDTV A few weeks ago, I decided to replace my first Samsung LCD TV because it was having issues with its video playback.  The sound worked just fine, but apparently (see dtvengineer's comment to me in the Comments section) some of the components that control the backlight went bad and the picture took, well, like forever to show up on the 26-inch screen. At the time, I had no idea if this malfunction was repairable (as it turns out, it was), but because the service warranty had expired and I had no idea if I could afford to have the set fixed, I opted instead to buy a new TV set.   When I set out to purchase my replacement set at my usual online emporium - Amazon.com - I was  not  looking for a bigger set than my now-malfunctioning 26-inch TV.  Sure, larger sets have their virtues - easier to see, for one thing, and better

On Tuesday, April 17, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released Steven Spielberg's 2017 political/historical thriller The Post on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K UHD Blu-ray. Starring Academy Award-winning actors Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks as Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham and the newspaper's dogged editor Ben Bradlee, The Post dramatizes the duo's 1971 decision to publish "the Pentagon Papers" in defiance of the secretive - and vindictive - Nixon Administration. (C) 2018 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment OSCAR ® winners Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, and Tom Hanks team up for the first time in this thrilling film based on a true story. Determined to uphold the nation’s civil liberties, Katharine Graham (Streep), publisher of The Washington Post, and hard-nosed editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks) join forces to expose a decades-long cover-up. But the two must risk their careers –– and their freedom –– to bring truth to light in this powerful film wit

Cover art by Home Box Office, Inc. (C) 2010 NAL Caliber Books   Pros:  Interesting concept; vivid anecdotes; compelling characters Cons:  None After the phenomenal success of their HBO miniseries  Band of Brothers,  executive producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks turned to their friend Stephen E. Ambrose, author of the book they had just adapted for TV, and started thinking about future World War II projects they could collaborate on. The Second World War, after all, was a topic Ambrose knew backwards and forwards from his stint as President Dwight D. Eisenhower's official biographer and his subsequent career as a history professor. Ike had - before entering politics in 1952 - been one of America's top generals during the war, rising to the title of Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and five-star general before the end of hostilities in 1945, so it was not a stretch for Ambrose to pen several best-selling books about the U.S. Army - especiall

Cover art by John Van Fleet. (C) 2007 Del Rey/Lucas Books/Random House and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Pros:  Good writing, fine characterizations, and another masterful tale set in the Star Wars galaxy Cons:  None Although Hugo Award-winning author Timothy Zahn has written over 90 short stories, novellas, short story collections and novels since 1978, he is best known for reinvigorating the Star Wars literary universe with his best-selling Thrawn Trilogy ( Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command ). Set five years after the events depicted in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi , this three-book cycle’s mix of interstellar conflict, political intrigue and a plausible extrapolation of the characters and situations created by George Lucas in the Classic Trilogy reignited fan interest in the Star Wars saga. In addition, the popularity of Zahn’s novels helped pave the way for other authors to add their own tales set “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far a

Cover art by Drew Struzan. (C) 1998 Bantam Spectra and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Pros:  Timothy Zahn's usual  reader-friendly style. Good characterizations.  Cons:  Ending is okay but not impressive It is a time of peril for the New Republic. Although 19 years have passed since Luke Skywalker left Tatooine and destroyed the Empire's first Death Star at Yavin, and even though the Galactic Empire now holds only a handful of star systems, political infighting, interspecies squabbles and other problems beset the former Rebel Alliance which has ostensibly defeated it. Nevertheless, the Imperial Supreme Commander, Admiral Gilead Pellaeon has convinced Imperial Remnant's Council of Moffs that if the vestiges of the once mighty Empire want to survive intact, it is time to negotiate an end to the war with the New Republic. Reluctantly, the Moffs agree and give Pellaeon the authority to send a peace feeler to Corellian Senator Garm Bel Iblis to see under what conditions

Cover art by Drew Struzan. (C) 1997 Bantam Spectra and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Pros:  Timothy Zahn's writing. Characterization. Detailing. Cons:  May be too political for casual Star Wars readers. Ends on a cliffhanger One of the hardest things to accomplish in pop literature is continiuing a popular movie or television series' storyline and striking a balance between staying true to the sensibilities of the on-screen source and telling original stories that don't seem like tired retreads. If you are a regular reader of Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or any of the Young Indiana Jones books by Rob McGregor or others, you know what I'm talking about.  You often end up reading a veritable mix of superb novels amidst a hodge-podge of books which range from fantastic reads to tomes you wish you hadn't bought at all. Star Wars fans aren't immune from this particular dilemma; even as Lucasfilm licenses a select group of writers to continue telling a

"The walls are moving!" Photo Credit: www.toyark.com  (C) 2002 Hasbro Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Luke, Han, and Chewie infiltrate the Death Star to free Princess Leia. While making their escape, they dive down a garbage chute and become trapped in a trash compactor with a hungry dianoga. Then the walls begin to close in on them, and our heroes are caught in a tight squeeze! - Manufacturer's blurb, Death Star Trash Compactor 1 & 2 In December of 2002, Hasbro Inc. released Death Star Trash Compactor 1 & 2, two separate multi-figure sets that, when put together, form a single diorama that recreates the iconic sequence in Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope that pits Han Solo, Chewbacca the Wookiee, Luke Skywalker, and the recently rescued Princess Leia Organa against the double threat of a hungry dianoga and the converging walls of the Death Star's trash compactor.  Originally introduced as a Walmart exclusive in Hasbro's December 200