Category Archives: Movies

Oscars 2023, 2

Posted on Tuesday 14 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

My takes on the films released in 2022 that we saw, including 8 of the 10 Best Picture Oscar nominees.

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Oscars 2023, 1

Posted on Monday 13 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Lots of items in the news media today about the Oscars, of course. Here’s a typical article about them, followed by some of my reactions, to the awards, and (tomorrow) to some of the individual films. Salon, Melanie McFarland, 13 … Continue reading →

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Religious Presumptions, Divine Plans, Hollywood’s Worst

Posted on Saturday 11 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Catching up on links not yet used from the past week or so. Jerry Coyne responds to Timothy Keller’s presumptions about the metaphysical truth of Christianity and the need for a revived Church; The obvious evidence for lack of a … Continue reading →

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Mysteries, Stories, and Science

Posted on Monday 26 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

I like mysteries, once in a while, but I don’t trust them. They are too often contrived, “too clever by half” as the saying goes. Their narratives double back and re-interpret, like lawyers who revisit a set of testimony and … Continue reading →

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Assorted Links from Recent Weeks

Posted on Friday 23 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

About George Santos’s fictional resume, Tucker Carlson’s year of being wrong, Avatar 2’s “ecological Indian” cliche, the hypocrisy of right-wing “free thinkers,” Thomas Frank on the lack of imagination of Democrats, DeSantis and vaccines, book banning, and two religious graphics.

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Denying the Denialists? and Bros

Posted on Thursday 20 October 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Just time for one Reading today, then some comments about seeing a movie in a movie theater for the first time in nearly 3 years.

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Today’s Headlines, 8 Sept 2022

Posted on Thursday 8 September 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Queen and empire; Religious employers against health care; Republicans making fun of sick people; Lebanon as America’s future under Trumpers; MAGA invokes 1st century BC; Another lame right-wing movie; Why American lives are getting shorter; The indefensible claims of “2,000 … Continue reading →

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Greatest Fictional Deaths

Posted on Friday 22 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Slate posted this long list and several sidebar articles/interviews on Wednesday. (I’m guessing they compiled it a while back and waited for a relatively slow news day to post it.) Slate, Dan Kois, 20 July 2022: The 50 Greatest Fictional … Continue reading →

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Fiddler on the Roof

Posted on Thursday 7 July 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

Over the past couple evenings we’ve watched the movie version of a musical I had never seen before, in any form: Fiddler on the Roof. I was aware it was a big-hit musical, back in the 1960s or ’70s, in … Continue reading →

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LQCs: Foley Unreality and Fist Fights

Posted on Wednesday 29 June 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

The New Yorker, Anna Wiener, 27 Jun 2022: The Weird, Analog Delights of Foley Sound Effects Subtitled: “E.T. was jello in a T-shirt. The Mummy was scratchy potpourri. For Foley artists, deception is an essential part of the enterprise.”

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