The check for all three is in the blackmail

  Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) After seven months with no arrests for the violent rape and murder of her daughter, Angela, Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) rents three billboards chastising the police for their lack of progress. This sets off a firestorm of controversy in her small town where people revere the local sheriff… Continue reading The check for all three is in the blackmail

Little Donnie Trump turned two: A look back at 1948

In 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated; The Kinsey Report was released; Sri Lanka and Israel became independent nations; NASCAR was founded; The US Supreme Court ruled religious instruction in public schools was unconstitutional; ABC began broadcasting; William Shockley filed a patent for the first transistor; Alger Hiss was accused of being a Communist spy; Harry… Continue reading Little Donnie Trump turned two: A look back at 1948

When American turned 203: A look back at 1979

In 1979: The Dukes of Hazzard debuted on CBS and ESPN launched; Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi fled Iran; Michigan State defeated Indiana State in the NCAA Championship game; The nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island suffered a meltdown; Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Micronesia and Kiribati became independent nations; McDonald’s introduced… Continue reading When American turned 203: A look back at 1979

When America was a young 200: A look back at 1976

In 1976, The Philadelphia Flyers played a hockey game against the Red Army team of the Soviet Union; Apple Computer Company was formed; The Seychelles were granted independence from the United Kingdom; The United States celebrated its bicentennial; The Summer Olympics took place in Montreal; The “Son of Sam” terrorized New York City; Frank Sinatra brought Dean Martin onstage at… Continue reading When America was a young 200: A look back at 1976

The thirteenth year of the reign of the second Queen Elizabeth: A look back at 1965

In 1965: Lyndon Johnson unveiled the Great Society; The United States passed the Voting Rights Act; Russian cosmonaut Alexey Leonov became the first person to walk in space; The Astrodome opened; Bob Dylan went electric;  The Watts riots take place in Los Angeles; The Beatles performed at Shea Stadium; After fifty five years, Casey Stengel retired as… Continue reading The thirteenth year of the reign of the second Queen Elizabeth: A look back at 1965

Everything that follows is older than Tom Holland: A look back at 1995

In 1995: O.J. Simpson was acquitted for the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman; Mississippi ratified the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution; Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols bombed bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City; The first DVD was made available; eBay went online; Calvin and Hobbes ended its ten-year run in… Continue reading Everything that follows is older than Tom Holland: A look back at 1995

Ranking Stanley Kubrick

    13) Killer’s Kiss (1955) One night, unlucky boxer Davey hears screams coming from the home of his attractive neighbor Gloria. Having long admired her from a distance, Davey convinces Gloria to run away from her abusive gangster boss, Vincent, but their escape is complicated when mobsters kill Davey’s manager and blame him for the crime.… Continue reading Ranking Stanley Kubrick

Best of the 1930s

    The Blood of a Poet (1930) The first part of Jean Cocteau’s Orphic trilogy is a surrealist fever dream. An artist paints a mouth which starts talking, then transfers to his hand, then to a nearby statue. This statue convinces the artist to pass through a mirror to a bizarre world inhabited by opium smokers… Continue reading Best of the 1930s

Best of the 1990s

  Dreams (1990) Nearing the end of his life, legendary director Akira Kurosawa reflects on his childhood and finds inspiration for several beautiful vignettes. After a child stumbles upon a fox wedding during a sunshower, his furious mother demands he apologize. Their surviving commander orders the ghosts of Japanese soldiers returning from the second World War… Continue reading Best of the 1990s

Best of the 1950s

  Sunset Boulevard (1950) Faded silent screen star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) steadfastly believes she will regain her former glory and hires writer Joe Gillis (William Holden) to help with her planned comeback, but as the project drags on their relationship becomes dangerously complicated. William Holden brings a weary everyman quality to Joe Gillis while Gloria… Continue reading Best of the 1950s