Category Archives: Movies

Skiffy Flix: Red Planet Mars

Posted on Sunday 29 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Now we come to one of the strangest SF movies of the early 1950s, and ultimately the most risible. This is a 1952 movie about an American astronomer — played by Peter Graves, later of Mission: Impossible and Airplane fame … Continue reading →

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Movie relevance, conservative intuition, unbothered people, Paul and Heather

Posted on Friday 13 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How A House of Dynamite, not nominated for any Oscars, is more important and relevant than any of the pictures nominated, and a great movie; Trump needs to “feel it in my bones” to make a decision, which is precisely … Continue reading →

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Heated Rivalry, Autism, and Conceptual Breakthrough

Posted on Thursday 5 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve only alluded to this show before — note the photo at the top of my January 10th post — but perhaps I have some things to say about the TV series “Heated Rivalry.” On the occasion of this longish … Continue reading →

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Pulling Bolts Out of the Ferris Wheel

Posted on Monday 26 January 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Train Dreams Republicans on the need to carry guns; How the truth in Minneapolis is whatever Trump says it is; And how the administration altered images and made false posts; Heather Cox Richardson on KQED Forum this morning; Brief items … Continue reading →

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Academic Freedom, Good Citizens, and Moving Forward

Posted on Tuesday 6 May 2025 by Mark R. Kelly

Alan Lightman on academic freedom; Alan Lightman and Martin Rees on how scientists can be good citizens; Rewatching Conclave, and recalling two key quotes, about certainty, and moving forward. – – – The very idea of academic freedom, of freedom … Continue reading →

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Skiffy Flix: The Day the Earth Stood Still

Posted on Wednesday 9 October 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Of all the 1950s science fiction films, this one is arguably the most profound, the least typical, and the most liberal. It involves an alien arriving on Earth, but he is not hostile, despite the knee-jerk fears of the military … Continue reading →

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Skiffy Flix: When Worlds Collide

Posted on Wednesday 2 October 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Next of up my intermittent revisiting of 1950s science fiction movies is this one, one of the more popular and well-regarded of its era. It was produced by George Pal, who also did Destination Moon the previous year, and his … Continue reading →

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Killers and EvoPsych

Posted on Saturday 20 January 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Quick post. We spent all afternoon watching Killers of the Flower Moon — a very good film, worth the 3 1/2 hours — so I only have a moment to post something before dinner. \ Washington Post, Joel Achenbach, 20 … Continue reading →

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Watching Movies in Theaters; UBI; Reality; Why Everyone Thinks They’re Losing; and Epistemology

Posted on Thursday 4 January 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Items today: How watching movies in certain theaters (AMC) is a bloated experience; Why UBI studies are not making traction into political policy; A New Yorker graphic essay about how reality might exist only because we’re observing it; E.J. Dionne … Continue reading →

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Correction to Earlier Oscar Post

Posted on Friday 24 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

It turns out that a tune I liked, which I described as having “a relentless three note descending theme, underlying colorful violin lines,” in one of the Oscar nominated films, Triangle of Sadness, that I discussed in my post of … Continue reading →

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