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
Tag: Adaptations
Seven years before the first NBA game: A look back at 1939
In 1939, Lou Gehrig’s streak of 2130 consecutive games played ended; The University of Oregon won the first NCAA college basketball tournament; Francisco Franco came to power in Spain; Billie Holliday recorded “Strange Fruit;” Batman debuted in Detective Comics #27; Teddy Roosevelt’s head on Mount Rushmore was dedicated; Germany invaded Poland; President Franklin Roosevelt laid… Continue reading Seven years before the first NBA game: A look back at 1939
Reflections on 3174, Year of Our Lady of Discord: A look back at 2008
In 2008, Iran launched its first rocket into space; Kosovo declared independence from Serbia; The Summer Olympics took place in Beijing; A global financial crisis dominated headlines; Spotify launched; Satoshi Nakamoto published a paper announcing Bitcoin; Barack Obama was elected as the 45th President of the United States of America; The Marvel Cinematic Universe debuted… Continue reading Reflections on 3174, Year of Our Lady of Discord: A look back at 2008
When Elvis was king: A look back at 1956
In 1956: Elvis Presley made his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show; Pakistan became the first Islamic republic; The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed over five hundred for the first time; As the World Turns debuted on CBS; Rocky Marciano retired from boxing with a career record of forty-nine wins and zero losses; Dean Martin and Jerry… Continue reading When Elvis was king: A look back at 1956
“That’ll never happen”: A look back at 2016
In 2016: The United Kingdom voted in a nationwide referendum to leave the European Union; The Olympics were held in Rio de Janeiro; Donald Trump was elected President of the United States of America; Peyton Manning retired from professional football; The Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a three games to one deficit to defeat the Golden State Warriors… Continue reading “That’ll never happen”: A look back at 2016
Mr. Holland smoked some locusts in the park with Adaline; now he’s departed
Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995) Musician Glenn Holland (Richard Dreyfus) takes a temporary job as a music teacher, but, as his idol John Lennon once sang, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” After thirty years in this temporary job, Mr. Dreyfus is forced to retire. On his last day of school, a… Continue reading Mr. Holland smoked some locusts in the park with Adaline; now he’s departed
On the western front, the Cuban makes mistakes
I am Cuba (1964) Split into four separate stories joined only by a female narrator known as the “Voice of Cuba,” this film offers a dizzying portrait of Cuba during the Castro Revolution. In the first story, Maria works as a dancer in a Havana bar and lives an idyllic existence with her boyfriend, Rene,… Continue reading On the western front, the Cuban makes mistakes
Best of the 2010s
Incendies (2010) When Nawal Marwan dies, she leaves instructions for her twin children, Jeanne and Simon, to find their father and half-brother. Retracing their mother’s steps, they discover their elder half-brother was born out-of-wedlock to their Christian mother and a Muslim. To minimize the family’s shame, he was hidden in a local orphanage, but Nawal… Continue reading Best of the 2010s
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
While the twenties roared, the films were silent: A look back at 1925
In 1925: Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first female governor in the United States; The New Yorker was first published; Calvin Coolidge was inaugurated as US President; Tennessee passed the Butler Act, prohibiting the teaching of evolution in the state’s public schools; F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby; Adolf Hitler published volume one of Mein Kampf; Mount Rushmore was dedicated;… Continue reading While the twenties roared, the films were silent: A look back at 1925