Everything that follows is older than Carl Grimes: A look back at 1998

In 1998, The Drudge Report broke the story about Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky; The Unabomber pled guilty; The Winter Olympics took place in Nagano, Japan; Titanic became the first film to gross over a billion dollars; France won the World Cup; Google was founded; Iranian President Mohammad Khatami retracted the fatwa against Salman… Continue reading Everything that follows is older than Carl Grimes: A look back at 1998

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

It’s Logan!

  It (2017) I watched the 1990 miniseries as a preteen and read the massive novel shortly after. I have a fond attachment for the performances of Annette O’Toole, John Ritter, Harry Anderson, Richard Thomas, and especially  Tim Curry as Pennywise. But, sadly, I watched it again a few years back and it doesn’t hold up. It’s… Continue reading It’s Logan!

The fourteenth year of the reign of the second Queen Elizabeth: A look back at 1966

In 1966: Indira Gandhi was elected Prime Minister of India; John Lennon told a reporter for the London Evening Standard the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus;” The Cultural Revolution began in China; It’s a Small World opened in Disneyland; The US Supreme Court ruled suspects must be informed of their rights before they can be questioned; England won… Continue reading The fourteenth year of the reign of the second Queen Elizabeth: A look back at 1966

Before Elvis and his gyrating hips ruined everything: A look back at 1955

In 1955: Jim Henson built the first version of Kermit the Frog; The first US advisors arrived in South Vietnam; Winston Churchill resigned as Prime Minister of the UK; The Salk polio vaccine received FDA approval; Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald’s in Illinois; Disneyland opened to the public; Gunsmoke, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The… Continue reading Before Elvis and his gyrating hips ruined everything: A look back at 1955

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

The year after Big Brother started watching us all: A look back at 1985

In 1985: Ronald Reagan began his second term as US President; Mikhail Gorbachev assumed power in the Soviet Union; Hulk Hogan and Mr. T defeated Rowdy Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff in the inaugural Wrestlemania; Elmo first appeared on Sesame Street; New Coke debuted and, after a disastrous couple of months, was removed from US stores; David… Continue reading The year after Big Brother started watching us all: A look back at 1985

Best of the 1960s

  Testament of Orpheus (1960) In the final film installment of Jean Cocteau’s Orphic trilogy, he encounters characters from his previous films and appears before a tribunal to defend his life and art. Though not as well-known as later French filmmakers, Jean Luc Godard or Francois Truffaut, Cocteau’s films introduced avant-garde sensibilities and philosophical underpinnings into cinemas.… Continue reading Best of the 1960s

Heaven knows you’ve been unfaithful, Mr. X

  Malcolm X (1992) Minor criminal Malcolm Little (Denzel Washington) is arrested for robbing the home of a wealthy white couple and sentenced to eight to ten years in prison because of his association with white women.  In prison, he joins the Nation of Islam led by Elijah Muhammad and changes his name to Malcolm X. After he… Continue reading Heaven knows you’ve been unfaithful, Mr. X

The thief from karama lives in the castle in the sky

  Karama Has No Walls (2013) This film, chronicling the 2011 Yemeni Revolution, is an interesting, insider account of the uprising, but too short for viewers to invest in the story it tells.     Castle in the Sky (1986) Princess Sheeta is the surviving member of a royal line from an ancient civilization and unknowingly possesses the… Continue reading The thief from karama lives in the castle in the sky