Category Archives: Uncategorized
Our Puzzling Future
Have you pulled the blanket down from over your head? Yes, that presidential debate last night was real and wasn’t an SNL sketch…yet.
The always entertaining and insightful author and essayist Christopher Buckley’s rationale for relieving himself the responsibility of satirizing high-stakes political circumstances was, once again, effortlessly reaffirmed during yesterday’s presidential debate. His imaginatively shrewd writing that amusingly paints the politically powerful with shades of absurdity and twinkling nonsense now needs no outside author, as the starring characters from both sides have willingly taken on his role as penman and penwoman.
Mr. Buckley can’t believe he used to make this stuff up.
On a completely alternative, and therefore happy note, the only spectacle being promoted on television more than the presidential debate is the new Dan Brown book adapted for the silver screen. Skipping the slightly underwhelming 2009 “The Lost Symbol,” Mr. Brown’s 2013 thriller “Inferno” was chosen for grand cinematic treatment. Having read “Inferno,” the excited anticipation for the movie is warranted. Get ready for a fun, thought-provoking ride! Incredibly, from the little shown in the trailer, every one of the scenes look precisely as I pictured them with my imagination from just words on a page.
A testament to the brilliant vision of both Dan Brown and Ron Howard.
Favoring suspense over information, the engrossing plot and pulse-racing sequences won’t be disclosed. The spectacular reveals and intellectual twists-and-turns deserve genuine shock and awe, coupled with unnerving curiosity and reality.
And who better to preview and hype Robert Langdon’s adventures than, well, Robert Langdon himself.
October 28th cannot arrive soon enough. As surprising as this will read, readers and audiences will learn more and feel better equipped to confront the complexities of the world (past, present and future) from a Dan Brown novel and/or film than from a modern presidential debate.
And Dan Brown’s “Inferno” deals with hell…
RIP Arnold Palmer
Yesterday, golfing legend Arnold Palmer died.
At the towering age of 87, Arnold Palmer inspired countless people on the green as much as he did children in hospitals. To put it simply, Arnold Palmer was old school. He was old school in his modesty, his graciousness and his talent. This is a trying blog post to write because while yesterday’s news sparks sadness, it’s equally impossible not to crack the gentlest of grins in honor of a man who changed people’s lives far beyond the drama of the 18th hole.
Arnold Palmer not only conquered his sport, but he understood the true meaning and responsibility of doing so.
“The Arnold Palmer” is 2/3 iced tea and 1/3 lemonade, yet his legacy as a golfing icon and a quintessential gentleman, on-and-off the course, is absolute.
RIP Arnold Palmer.
Sci-Fi’s Newest Passengers
Is there space for another movie about…space?
Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence star in a new film Passengers that, as far as we know, tells the story of two people aboard a space ship/stunningly awesome city in the stars who wake up from their slumber 90 years early to chaos that builds and builds towards an explosive third act. At this point, the primary question surrounding this movie is whether it’s solely rooted in cutting-edge entertainment or if it combines special effects and a subtle, yet profound commentary about the current state of humanity? The best films incorporate both qualities with cleverly disguised dialogue and open-ended questions without giving clear, direct answers hidden throughout the film worthy of Houdini himself.
Let’s check out the Avalon together.
On December 21st of this year, we’ll discover if Passengers has what it takes to be in the driver’s seat of innovative science-fiction.
The One Where We Made 6 Friends
September 22, 1994: The world changed.
Friends, widely regarded as the (or one of the greatest TV shows) in history premiered on NBC exactly 22 years ago. Stop doing the math of where/how old you were on this day, I have and no good comes from it. The names Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe would redefine popular culture in a supremely special way. If you’re flipping through channels and a rerun of a Friends episode is on, odds are decent (as in a guarantee) that you’ll watch it…and then the episode that comes next.
Speaking of which, remember the first glimpse we all got of everyone’s favorite six friends?
Ladies and gentlemen, today’s blog post is one of the reasons why “Throwback Thursday” exists. And it’s been a little while since I’ve seen a rerun of the Friends pilot, which was a fantastic first chapter in the epic 10-season story of this epitome of what a sitcom should be.
I guess you could say the pilot and I had been on a break.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 