Watched and Read - September 6, 2026

 Here's what I watched, read and listened to last week...

 

 

MOVIES

China Girl (1987), directed by Abel Ferrara, reimagines the gangster film through the story of Romeo and Juliet. There’s a gang war between the Italian and Chinese gangs. Tony is from Little Italy and Tye is from Chinatown, and they fall in love. You can probably guess what’s going to happen, but I very much enjoyed the film.

The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026), directed by Jon Favreau. I watched the movie with low expectations but wound up really enjoying it. The film had some great surprises, especially in the last half. I also liked that they brought in some characters from The Clone Wars and Rebels. I heard some critics saying that the film is more like television than cinema. I would say it is an intimate and quieter film than the epics we typically associate with the Star Wars universe.

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DOCUMENTARIES

Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing, a new documentary streaming on Netflix, is a startling and shocking documentary about the corporate brass putting money over the safety of people. This was a frightening one to watch.

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TV

I finished the fourth season of The Wonder Years. There were a lot of great episodes, especially the ones involving Kevin and Winnie. But I also enjoyed many of the episodic ones, such as “The Cost of Living,” “Who’s Aunt Rose?,” and “Separate Rooms.”

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BOOKS

The Children by Melissa Albert. I read almost 300 pages and wasn’t sure what to make of this novel. Stephen King’s quote mentioned that the prose reminded him of Ray Bradbury, which I definitely agree with. But I didn’t find the characters to be likable. However, when I read the last 100 pages, most of my thoughts on the novel changed. I read that this was Albert’s first adult novel. I’d be curious to read her next book.

Now and Forever by Ray Bradbury is a book of two novellas, “Somewhere a Band Is Playing” and “Leviathan ’99.” The first is about reporter who arrives in a mysterious town to learn that the residents never die. The second is Bradbury’s take on Melville’s Moby Dick as a space expedition. Both embody many of Bradbury’s themes. “Somewhere a Band Is Playing” has a nostalgic vibe, one that reminded me of Dandelion Wine. “Leviathan ’99” has a Martian Chronicles feel, especially the part where the crew comes across a moon with an abandoned civilization. I also loved the scene where they make contact with the famous broadcast voices of the past. The story reminded me of Star Trek, given that the crew’s mission is to explore and report their findings.

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PODCASTS

The Kingcast is a podcast I have been listening to since it debuted in 2020. They have had many great guests on talking about Stephen King’s books, including King himself. But the episode they recently did with Sam Weller, who wrote Ray Bradbury’s biography, was one of their best. If you love Bradbury and King, you should definitely check it out.

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YOUTUBE

If you like or even love Pearl Jam, I highly recommend Rick Beato’s interview with Mike McCready and Jeff Ament. Beato asks great questions about their songs and their techniques. I also learned some new history about the band, especially about its formation. It is definitely worth the watch.

 

Watched and Read - August 30, 2026

 Here's what I watched and read last week...

 

 

MOVIES

Pather Panchali (1955), directed by Satyajit Ray, is one of the great films in world cinema. Ray was inspired by Bicycle Thieves, a quintessential film of Italian neorealism. Pather Panchali’s on-location shooting, non-professional actors, and depiction of poverty are all characteristic of neorealism. My favorite scene is when Apu sees a train for the first time - what a wonderful and poetic moment. Great film.

Rififi (1955), directed by Jules Dassin, is a classic French noir film. The heist sequence is one of the best I have ever seen. It is definitely up there with Michael Mann’s Heat and Thief.

The Life of Chuck (2024), directed by Mike Flanagan, is a very good adaptation of King’s story. Mark Hamill gives a great performance as Chuck’s grandfather, especially in the scene where he discusses the importance of math.

9 to 5 (1980), directed by Colin Higgins, is a movie I watched all the time on cable in the early 1980s when I was young. We watched it this weekend in honor of Dolly Parton’s passing. The film’s humor still holds up.

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TV

Spoiler alert! I loved the first season of Mr. In Between. The last two episodes were funny and suspenseful. I enjoyed the unpredictability of Ray’s character. My allegiance toward him would sometimes shift, such as when he figures out that Nick is working undercover for the police. I found myself rooting for Nick to live. But most of the time, I am rooting for Ray not to get caught or killed. This is why suspense does not primarily operate on morality. I am looking forward to checking out the next two seasons.

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BOOKS and STORIES

Spoiler alert! Black House is a great follow-up to The Talisman. As mentioned in my last post, the story starts off slow and then gradually moves faster. There are some very cool connections to the Dark Tower series. It was only a few years later that King released the last three books in the series. I loved the book’s prose, especially the scene where the Fisherman attacks Henry in his home. Henry is blind, which made it even more devastating to read. Lastly, some of the kills were very graphic, especially Henry’s and Charles’s deaths. Great read.

“There Will Come a Soft Rain” by Ray Bradbury is a post-apocalyptic story about a house equipped with automatic systems that does routines such as cooking and cleaning. Bradbury paints a dystopian picture of the aftermath of nuclear war. The story is positioned at the end of The Martian Chronicles. Having read all the stories that take place on Mars, it is the post-apocalyptic Earth that is strange and foreign.

“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” by Richard Matheson. I have seen the Twilight Zone episode many times, but I have never read the story. Matheson’s prose never lets up, creating a classic tale of suspense and terror.

Spoiler Alert! “The Life of Chuck” by Stephen King, is one of the novellas in the collection of stories in If It Bleeds. King tells a three-chapters story, starting from the end and moving to the beginning. It is not made explicitly clear, but the apocalyptic ending is everything from inside Chuck’s head as he is dying. I very much enjoyed the story’s exploration of life, memory, and death.

 

Watched and Read - July 19, 2026

 

Here’s what I watched and read last week…

I am now adding a spoiler alert.

 

 

MOVIES

Niagara (1953), directed by Henry Hathaway. I have been watching Criterion’s “Murderous Melodramas” this month. The Technicolor cinematography of Niagara Falls is beautiful, with some great performances from Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, and Jean Peters. Similar to my review of Leave Her to Heaven, Niagara’s dark themes of deception and murder clash with the film’s luscious colors.

Bigger Than Life (1956), directed by Nicholas Ray. Another excellent noir melodrama that is streaming on Criterion. One of the first things I teach in my television course is to challenge the perception of the 1950s, and the idea of life for many Americans was not The Donna Reed Show. Bigger Than Life underscores this notion. I was shocked by the topics it takes up, such as underpaying teachers and drug addiction—all shot in CinemaScope and Technicolor!

Married to the Mob (1988), directed by Jonathan Demme, is a fun screwball comedy with a good cast. But Mercedes Ruehl steals the show. I can see why she was later cast in The Fisher King, the film for which she won the Academy Award. Even though I enjoyed Michelle Pfeiffer playing a Long Island wife of a mobster, her New York accent sounded forced - a pet peeve of mine.

‘Round Midnight (1986), directed by Bertrand Tavernier. I knew nothing about this film but was interested in seeing it because of Dexter Gordon. I bought the Criterion Blu-ray during the 50-percent off sale. I hardly ever purchase a movie that I do not know anything about. I’m so glad I did! This is an amazing film with a great soundtrack by Herbie Hancock, who won the Academy Award. Gordon is also very good and funny. This is a must-see for jazz lovers.

Hud (1963), directed by Martin Ritt, is an amazing film and a must-see if you are interested in studying movies, particularly cinematography. James Wong Howe’s black-and-white photography beautifully captures the open landscape in wide shots and deep focus. I particularly love the opening scene in which Lonnie traverses the empty town. The wind blowing is haunting and ghostly, especially if we consider how the tragic death of Hud’s brother lingers over the film. My favorite scene is when Homer and Lonnie go to the movies and then out to eat. You get a sense of how much Lonnie loves his grandfather. But it also reveals his loneliness and how he is stuck between Homer, a principled man, and the thrill-seeker Hud, who lacks a moral compass. 

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TV

I am re-watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I started with the second season and am up to episode seven. The introduction of Spike and Drusilla is a classic episode. But it is the Halloween episode where the series starts to find its voice. I think it is the first time we start to learn about Rupert Giles’s past, when he was known as “Ripper.”

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BOOKS

Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern. (Spoiler alert). I am currently finishing my book on Alfred Hitchcock and horror, and wanted to read La Bern’s novel for research purposes. Anthony Shaffer did a great job of adapting the novel, which would become Frenzy. The movie is much better than the novel. For example, they shortened the unnecessary long trial of Richard Blamey (Blaney in the film). They added a funny subplot involving the Chief Inspector’s wife, who is a terrible cook. And the ending of the movie is much more suspenseful than the novel’s, where Blaney is finally proven innocent.

 

Watched and Read - June 28, 2026

 Here's what I watched and read this past week...

 

MOVIES

Toy Story 5 (2026), directed by Andrew Stanton, is a very good film that focuses on technology and children. The animation is great, with some nice moments that explore the themes of connection, friendship, play, and imagination. We did not see the 3D version. But you can tell there were some shots made specifically for 3D. Toy Story 5 is not as great as the first three movies, but it is definitely worth watching.

Pavements (2024), directed by Alex Ross Perry. I am not really a fan of Pavement’s music, but I thought it would be interesting to learn about their history, particularly how they became a big indie band in the 1990s. The documentary seems to oppose this approach. I felt it was very indie rock snobbish. These were the people I avoided in the 1990s.

Talk Radio (1988), directed by Oliver Stone. This film is often overlooked in Stone’s body of work. But it may be one of his best, especially given the rise of social media. I wrote about the film in my book Cinema of Confinement, discussing how Stone creates a space of paranoia within the confined setting of the radio station. Tension lies between Barry and his listeners. Who are his fans? Who are the threat? My book is available through open access and can be downloaded if you want to check out the chapter.

Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983), directed by Jack Clayton, is a good atmospheric horror film based on Ray Bradbury’s great novel. I was skeptical about watching it because I love the book so much. Johnathan Pryce and Jason Robards give great performances. It is a quick watch and is available for streaming on Disney.

The Sheep Detectives (2026), directed by Kyle Balda, is a very good whodunit movie with some very nice moments. I loved Nicholas Braun (aka Cousin Greg from Succession) as Denbrook’s only police officer. The CGI sheep worked, but I would rather see real animals. However, given the complexity of the plot, it makes sense that they took the CGI route. Nevertheless, the film gave me some Babe vibes. I highly recommend it.

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TV

The new Lord of the Flies is a pretty good series on Netflix. Although, I personally prefer the black and white version from 1963. I thought that some of the episodes could have been shorter. There were also many unnecessary close-up shots of characters looking directly at the camera. I am unsure what that was all about. It is hard not to think of the great TV series, Lost, which I am guessing drew some inspiration from Golding’s novel.

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BOOKS

Ghost Town by Tom Perrotta is a good and very engaging coming-of-age book, involving Jimmy, a thirteen-year-old growing up in an Italian American community in New Jersey in the early 1970s. Perrotta strongly captures the time period with some very interesting characters. The story reminded me of the collection of short stories he wrote in Bad Haircut: Stories from the Seventies.

Bradbury Speaks is a great collection of essays written by Ray Bradbury. I enjoyed reading all of them, especially the ones on Los Angeles and Paris. Other standouts were, “How Something Wicked Came,” “Mars: Too Soon From The Cave, Too Far From the Stars,” “Mouser,” “Lord Russell and The Pipsqueak, and “Any Friend of Trains is a Friend of Mine.”

 

 

Watched and Read - June 7, 2026

 

Here’s what I watched and read last week…

 

 

MOVIES

The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936), directed by Jean Renoir. This week I started watching the Criterion Channel’s curation of French poetic realism. I had a seen a few films from this period, but I was curious to learn more about this movement. The Crime of Monsieur Lange is an entertaining film about a small publishing company run by Paul Batala, a shady man. I enjoyed the cast of characters. The set design is cramped and confined, which I am learning is a stylistic trait of poetic realism.

The Lower Depths (1936), directed by Jean Renoir. This is another film from Criterion’s poetic realism collection. A good drama with a great performance by Jean Gabin who plays Pepel. I particularly enjoyed the scene when Pepel becomes friends with the Baron after trying to rob him.

A Wedding (1978), directed by Robert Altman. I‘ve always wanted to see this one. What a cast of characters! Almost fifty! Carol Burnett is amazing. She should have been nominated for an Academy Award. A Wedding is not as great as Nashville or McCabe & Mrs. Miller, but this is a solid and funny film. Altman’s career in the 1970s is amazing. A Wedding is available to stream on Criterion. Don’t miss this one.

Power Ballad (2026), director by John Carney. Another great one by Carney. I’ve loved all of his film, with Sing Street being one of my favorites. Great performances by Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas. Fun film with a good soundtrack.

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TV

Welcome to Wrexham. This is turning out to be a really good season. I look forward to each week’s episodes. Go Wrexham!

I watched the third episode of The Boroughs and am still enjoying it. There was a great twist at the end of this one.

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BOOKS

I finished Jacques Lacan’s first seminar. I’ve read a lot of Lacan and do have some familiarity with his concepts. It goes without saying that Lacan is very difficult to read. In Seminar I, he takes up the topics of ego psychology, speech, transference and resistance. This is also the seminar where he discusses the inverted bouquet scenario. I plan to read Seminar II which is a continuation of these topics.

 

Watched and Read - April 26, 2026

Here's what I watched and read...

 

 

MOVIES

Black River (1957), directed by Masaki Kobayashi, is a dark and gritty Japanese noir film. I had a hard time connecting with this one.

I Am Waiting (1957), directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara, is a good film, with some cool cinematography.

Tron: Ares (2025), directed by Joachim Rønning, has amazing visuals and a great soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. But the film’s story is not very good. The performances are not good either. A big disappointment.

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TV

I enjoyed the new PBS Nova episode, Artemis II: Return to the Moon. It is amazing how much work goes into rocket launches and all the precautions taken, especially the crew’s reentry to Earth. I wish they showed more pictures of the Moon and Earth from Artemis. Overall, it’s a very enjoyable episode.

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BOOKS

I finished The Chrysalids by John Wyndham last week. An excellent and powerful book by one of the great sci-fi writers of great writers of the twentieth century. See my post on Chocky.

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. This is a disturbing story I am teaching for horror studies. If you have not read it, I will not go into detail. What I will say is that the story invites conversation. My take is that the horror of the story is in the re-reading of it. The horror is assigned to the everyday and the procedures associated with conducting the lottery. It is a great example of ideology, evident in the exchange between Mr. Adams and Old Man Warner. We learn that another village is thinking of giving up the lottery, which upsets Old Man Warner. Ideology operates by not calling attention to itself as ideology, and I think that’s one of the things that makes “The Lottery” so disturbing. They have a choice not to do this. Great read by another great writer of the twentieth century.

 

 

Watched and Read - April 19, 2026

 Here's what I watched and read last week...

 

 

MOVIES

Sentimental Value, (2025), directed by Joachim Trier, is a very good movie with excellent performances from Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning. I particularly enjoyed the film’s melodramatic mood.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018), directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman, is one of my favorite animated films. It’s a great story about about finding yourself - for both young and old. Anyone can wear the mask.

The International (2009), directed by Tom Tykwer, is a good movie, with some good action, particularly the Guggenheim Museum sequence. But there are some questionable moments, such as Louis (Clive Owen) walking through traffic with a gun. The cars drive by him as if this were an everyday occurrence.

High and Low (1963), directed by Akira Kurosawa, is an excellent film by one of cinema’s greatest directors. Kurosawa did not direct many contemporary Japanese films, which makes this one fascinating, especially given that it is adapted from a Ed McBain novel. A must-see if you are exploring international cinema.

Take Aim at the Police Van (1960), directed by Seijun Suzuki, is a good Japanese film noir. The style is fast-paced and gritty. Criterion has curated a number of these films, which I plan to watch. Suzuki is known as one of the central figures of the Japanese New Wave.

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TV

Pistols (2022), directed by Danny Boyle. I’ve watched two episodes so far. What a great miniseries on the Sex Pistols. Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography is amazing. Pistols reminds me a lot of 24 Hour Party People (2002). A great miniseries so far.

I am also catching up on the new season of Bob’s Burgers. I loved the 300th anniversary episode where they tell the story of how Linda and Bob started the restaurant.

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BOOKS

I read a very good chapter on Hitchcock’s Frenzy by Luke Robinson. The chapter is from One Shot Hitchcock, where each writer analyzes one shot from one of Hitchcock’s films. Robinson focused on a shot of Barbara (Brenda Blaney) before she is murdered by Rusk (Barry Foster). Robinson provides some very interesting observations, particularly Hitchcock’s use of silence and its connection to death.

 

Watched and Read - April 12, 2026

Here's what I watched and read last week....

 

MOVIES

Nuremberg (2025), directed by James Vanderbilt, is a good movie with great performances by Michael Shannon and John Slattery. But Russell Crowe’s performance as Hermann Göring is the highlight of the movie, and it’s frightening! I think Rami Malek was miscast as Douglas Kelley.

Out of the Past (1947), directed by Jacques Tourneur, is a classic noir. I love the cinematography and the labyrinthine plot. Great performances by Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. A must-see classical Hollywood film.

Yeast (2008), directed by Mary Bronstein. I caught this on the Criterion Channel. Yeast is considered a mumblecore movie. Criterion, however, does not list it as mumblecore in the description. Are they embarrassed by the term? Anyway! Mumblecore got attached to a bunch of indie filmmakers at the turn of the millennium. The Duplass brothers, Joe Swanberg, Andrew Bujalski, and Greta Gerwig all came out of this cool, little film movement. Yeast’s minimalist plot, emphasis on character, and realism definitely give the film a mumblecore vibe. Although, at times, the film feels amateur, I strangely enjoyed watching it.

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TV

Sebastian Maniscalco’s comedy special, It Ain’t Right, is really funny, especially his bits on Amazon deliveries and turning 50. It is streaming on Hulu.

Billy Idol Should Be Dead (2025). I was a little mixed on this documentary. I was hoping they would have gone more into the music and his band members rather than Idol’s drug issues. But then I should have known by the title of the documentary.

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BOOKS

I finished reading The Last Kings of Hollywood by Paul Fischer and thought it was an excellent read. I’ve read a lot of books and articles about New Hollywood cinema, and this was definitely one of the best. I think Fischer’s book and Peter Biskind’s, From Easy Rider to Raging Bull, are great companion pieces on that era in cinema.

I read Ray Bradbury’s short story, “The Lost City on Mars.” It is definitely one of the top stories in the collection, I Sing the Body Electric!, which I am almost done reading.

I also finished Dean Koontz’s, The Friend of the Family. It’s an excellent read and beautifully written. The story has a little bit of a Charles Dickens vibe. I highly recommend it.

 

 

Watched and Read - April 5, 2026

 Here's what I watched and read last week...

 

MOVIES

Project Hail Mary (2026), directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, is definitely one of the best films I’ve seen this year so far. I love the novel, and I thought they did a great job adapting it for the screen. Ryan Gosling is amazing. Definitely check out the film on the big screen - the special effects are excellent.

The Fantastic Four: Four Steps (2025), directed by Matt Shakman, is a very entertaining film from Marvel's Cinematic Universe. I have not seen all of the MCU films since the third phase, but I really enjoyed Fantastic Four. I particularly like the film’s 1960s look and style. The film even piqued my interest in the next Avenger films.

American Graffiti (1973), directed by George Lucas, is one of my all time favorite movies. The story takes place over one night and is confined mostly to the cars cruising the strip. The film does not follow a traditional narrative structure. Rather than focusing on one main character, the film crosscuts between four characters, Curt, Steve, John, and Kerry. If there is any star of the film it is the music. As much as I love Star Wars, I wish Lucas made more of these types of films.

Michael Clayton (2007), directed by Tony Gilroy, is an excellent thriller about a fixer, played by George Clooney, who works for a big law firm in New York City. The performances from Clooney, Tilda Swinton, and Tom Wilkinson are outstanding. Some of the movie was filmed where I grew up in the Hudson Valley. One of my favorite scenes takes place at the Moodna Viaduct. I highly recommend it.

Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), directed by Hayao Miyazaki, is a great one from the legendary Japanese animator. I teach this for my film course and always enjoy watching it. I particularly love the film’s European architecture.

Is This Thing On? (2025). I was mixed on Bradley Cooper’s new movie. The story was a little too jumpy for me. And some of the dramatic moments were not believable. But I did like the way they shot the movie. 

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TV

I Am Chris Farley (2015) is a very good documentary that chronicles Farely’s beginning as a comedian at Second City to SNL and his final years in Hollywood. Farley was an amazing talent. I can watch his SNL skits over and over.

I am catching up on the new seasons of Family Guy and Futurama. Both are starting out very good. I even went back to American Dad!, which is on Fox again. The first episode of the new season is fun. I got burned out on American Dad! when I watched it on TBS. But I really enjoyed what I watched from the new season.

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BOOKS

I read a very good article on teen and youth films by Timothy Shary. Shary provides a great overview of the history of young people in cinema. He offers different sub-genre of teen movies that begin with what he terms “The Multiplex Generation,” which is really about Generation X and older Millennials. The article ends in the early 2000s. But his book, Teen Movies: A Century of American Youth, explores more recent Generation Z movies.

 

 

Watched and Read - March 29, 2026

 

Here’s what I watched and read…

MOVIES

The Long Walk (2025), directed by Francis Lawrence, is not a bad adaptation of Stephen King’s novel. I enjoyed the performances by Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson. The novel, however, is more impactful than the film, but it is still worth checking out.

Let’s Get Lost (1988), directed by Bruce Weber, is an excellent and engaging documentary about jazz singer and trumpeter Chet Baker. The footage cuts back and forth between the past and present. The documentary includes interviews with Baker’s family and features great performances by Baker himself.

Remote Control (1988), directed by Jeff Liebermanl. I caught this one on the Criterion Channel. Kind of campy. Might be intentionally bad, but it has an interesting premise as an homage to 1950s sci-fi cinema.

Blackberry (2023), directed by Matt Johnson, is a very engaging movie. At times, the “nerdom” was a little bit over the top. But overall I really enjoyed learning about the rise and fall of the BlackBerry phone. Worth checking out.

Alan Pakula: Going for Truth (2019), directed by Matthew Miele, is a good documentary on Pakula’s film career. The documentary devotes a good portion to Pakula’s paranoia trilogy of the 1970s: Klute, The Parallax View, and All The President’s Men. The documentary made me want to revisit some of his films.

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TV

Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride (2026). This is a funny and very heartfelt one-man-show about Jeff Ross’s life. It was recently on Broadway and is now available on Netflix. I was very moved by his story, and I highly recommend it.

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BOOKS

I am currently reading Dean Koontz’s new book, The Friend of the Family and am very much enjoying it. I am also reading The Last Kings of Hollywood by Paul Fischer, which I am also enjoying.

 

Watched and Read - March 22, 2026

 Here, what I watched and read last week....

 

 

MOVIES

Rebecca (1940), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is one of the first Female Gothic films. It is also Hitchcock’s first film after moving to America. The Gothic atmosphere is spectacular, especially in the sequence where the second Mrs. de Winter explores the west wing of Manderley. It is well known that Hitchcock disavowed the picture because Selznick interfered with it, but it’s definitely worth checking out regardless.

Notorious (1946), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is one of his top films of the 1940s. I read that the Hollywood Production Code—the group that policed film content at the time—would not allow prolonged, lustful kissing between Devlin and Alicia, so Hitchcock had to film around that. The Code even raised an eyebrow at Alicia’s heavy drinking!

Double Indemnity (1944), directed by Billy Wilder, is the quintessential noir film. It has all the classic themes: an unstable world, deception, sexuality, entrapment, and moral ambiguity. Phyllis is one of the best femme fatales, and it’s no surprise she is ranked #8 on AFI’s list of greatest villains. It’s one of Wilder’s finest films.

The Hobby: Tales from the Tabletop (2025), directed by Simon Ennis, is a fascinating documentary about players, collectors, and designers of board games. I knew nothing about this subculture and found it very interesting, especially the section on game designers.

On the Waterfront (1954), directed by Elia Kazan, is one of my all-time favorite films. It is a gritty, realist crime drama. The performances are outstanding, especially those by Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint. The score by Leonard Bernstein is also very memorable. It’s an important film that demonstrates how one person’s courage can make a difference for many.

Sinatra in Palm Springs (2018) is an enjoyable documentary that chronicles Frank Sinatra building his home in Palm Springs. You really get a sense of how much he loved living in the desert—his love of food and drink, and his time spent with friends. What surprised me most was the amount of charitable work he did.

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TV

DTF: St Louis. I was mixed on the first episode. But watching the second episode confirmed that this series is not for me. And the product placement is really bad.

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BOOKS

The Amplified Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana by Michael Azerrad nicely updates his original book from 1993. I very much enjoyed reading Azerrad’s notes alongside the original text. Having lived through Nirvana’s popularity during the 1990s, it’s hard not to think about what direction that the band would have gone in after In Utero. Would Dave Grohl have stayed in the band? Overall, it’s a great read.

 

Watched and Read - March 8, 2026

 

Here’s what I watched and read…

 

MOVIES

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), directed by Jacques Demy, is a very good musical in which every line is sung. Since I don’t speak French, it was sometimes difficult to fully connect the music with the characters’ emotions while reading the subtitles. Still, I thought the final section, when Guy returns home, was outstanding.

Man on the Run (2025), directed by Morgan Neville, is an excellent documentary about Paul McCartney and the formation of Wings. I’ve always loved this period of McCartney’s career and the music he wrote during those years.

Sunset Boulevard (1950), directed by Billy Wilder, is one of Wilder’s best films. I teach it when discussing film stardom and film noir. This semester, I’m also using it to explore the themes of reality, dreams, and illusion.

A Perfect Murder (1998), directed by Andrew Davis, was my second viewing. The first time I saw it was when it was released in theaters, and it didn’t connect with me then. When I noticed the Criterion Channel was showing it, I decided to give it another try, especially since it’s based on Dial M for Murder. Because I’m currently finishing a book on Hitchcock, I was curious to see Davis’s interpretation of the material. My recommendation, however, is to skip A Perfect Murder and watch Dial M for Murder instead.

Videoheaven (2025), directed by Alex Ross Perry, left me feeling very mixed. It’s a very long documentary, and by the end I felt that all I learned was that many movies (a lot that look bad) contain scenes set in video stores. It didn’t evoke much nostalgia for the video-store era, and I was surprised that it didn’t explore the broader relationship between technology and culture. For example, there’s no discussion of changing family dynamics in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s, which was one of the factors that made the VCR appealing. A great book on this topic is Frederick Wasser’s Veni, Vidi, Video.

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TV

DTF: St. Louis. I watched the first episode and I’m not entirely sure about some of the story decisions yet. Still, I like the characters and plan to watch the next episode. It’s great to see Linda Cardellini in the series. Also, Steve Conrad wrote the excellent film Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, which starred Robert Duvall, Richard Harris, Shirley MacLaine, and Sandra Bullock.

The Mystery of Méliès (2021) is a great television documentary currently streaming on HBO. It works both as a biography of Georges Méliès and as an account of how many of his lost films were discovered and restored. Highly recommended.

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BOOKS

I finished Chocky by John Wyndham and think it ranks among his best books, along with The Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos. The novel centers on a boy named Matthew who may—or may not—be inhabited by an external entity, possibly an unknown life form. It’s a very engaging story that keeps you guessing from page to page. The ending is especially strong, and the book also includes a great introduction by Margaret Atwood. I highly recommend it.

 

Watched and Read - March 1, 2026

My 100th blog posting!

Here’s what I watched and read…

MOVIES

Rolling Thunder Review: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019) is an enjoyable documentary about Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder tour in the mid-1970s. I wish it did a better job of contextualizing the tour at the outset, but I really enjoyed the performances. I was also surprised to learn that the great guitarist Mick Ronson toured with Bob Dylan. I mostly associate him with David Bowie. Definitely worth checking out.

The End of the Affair (1999), directed by Neil Jordan, was a second viewing for me. The first time I saw it when it was released on video, and I didn’t care for it. I decided to give it another try because I like some of Jordan’s films, such as Mona Lisa and The Crying Game. I appreciated The End of the Affair more this time. There are strong performances, especially by Julianne Moore, but the film still didn’t fully connect with me.

Raging Bull (1980) is one of Martin Scorsese’s best films and certainly one of the best of the 1980s. It offers an intense portrait of boxer Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro) that is hard to look away from. One of the most powerful moments occurs when Jake tries to fix the television while questioning his younger brother Joey (Joe Pesci) about what happened at the club with his wife, Vickie (Cathy Moriarty). The scene erupts into one of the film’s most violent sequences, and the television remains unfixed—a striking parallel to Jake’s distorted inner reality. I still can’t believe Scorsese didn’t win the Oscar for Best Director.

Clerk. (2021), directed by Malcolm Ingram, is a very good documentary about indie filmmaker Kevin Smith. I was in film school when Clerks was released and remember classmates talking great things about it. The early ’90s were an exciting time for independent cinema, and I enjoyed learning more about Smith’s artistic journey. Some of his films haven’t connected with me, but I think the three Clerks films are excellent, and I’ve always loved Mallrats.

EPIC: Elvis Presley in Concert (2025), directed by Baz Luhrmann, is a terrific concert film capturing Presley when he returned to live performance after focusing on film acting. It’s the kind of experience that demands the big screen to fully appreciate what a dynamic performer and musician Elvis was. Highly recommended.

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TV

Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Redemption,” Parts I and II, is a great conclusion to a narrative that began in the third-season episode “Sins of the Father,” when Worf accepts discommendation for his father’s alleged involvement in the Khitomer massacre. “Redemption” brings that storyline to a satisfying close. Really strong writing throughout.

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BOOKS

I’m currently reading Chocky by John Wyndham, and so far it’s very good. I’m also reading The Amplified Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana by Michael Azerrad, which I’m really enjoying as well. It’s such a great deep dive into the band’s history and creative process.

 

Watched and Read - Februrary 22, 2026

 

Here’s what I watched and read last week…

 

 

MOVIES

The Aviator (2004), directed by Martin Scorsese, is an excellent film about filmmaker and aviator Howard Hughes. Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance powerfully captures Hughes’s obsessive-compulsive disorder. The scene in which Hughes locks himself in the projection room is probably the most unsettling moment in the film. Cate Blanchett’s portrayal of Katharine Hepburn steals the show. This film, along with Gangs of New York, marks Scorsese’s turn toward epic filmmaking.

The Color of Money (1986), directed by Martin Scorsese, is a follow-up to The Hustler. The performances are outstanding, especially Paul Newman, who finally won an Oscar for his role. Only Scorsese could create such energetic and cinematic pool scenes. The score by Robbie Robertson is very good, and of course there’s the song “It’s in the Way That You Use It,” performed by Eric Clapton, which I remember MTV playing constantly in 1986. Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel were hard on the film, and I don’t think their analysis was entirely fair. I think it’s definitely worth checking out.

Nirvana: Up Close and Personal (2007), directed by Bob Carruthers, is an okay documentary about Nirvana. Most of the film focuses on Kurt Cobain, featuring interviews with people who knew him in Aberdeen, Washington, including his grandfather and former guitar teacher. Much of the information about the band and Cobain was already familiar to me, but it was still interesting to hear from those who knew him before he became a rock star.

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TV

American Prince: JFK Jr. (2025) is a three-part series created by CNN. It offers a largely surface-level account of JFK Jr.’s life in the 1990s, focusing on the launch of his magazine, George, and his marriage to Carolyn Bessette. It’s not a bad documentary, but I wish it had explored his life in greater depth.

Ray Bradbury: The Illustrated Man is a 1980 documentary produced by the BBC. It’s an excellent film that explores Bradbury’s thoughts on writing, technology, and the importance of reading. I especially enjoyed the segments in which excerpts from his short stories are read aloud and acted. It’s available on YouTube and well worth checking out.

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BOOKS

Martin Scorsese: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work by Ian Nathan is one of the best books of his that I’ve read. He gives particular attention to films such as Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, though the book provides strong coverage of Scorsese’s career overall. It’s an excellent read and made me want to revisit several of his films.

Widow’s Peak: The Complete Haunting, written by Richard Chizmar and Billy Chizmar, picks up where the 2025 novella leaves off. I very much enjoyed the book. The story has more room to breathe than the novella, though you do have to pay close attention to the slug lines to keep track of where you are. The novel definitely has a Blair Witch vibe. Most of the characters are unlikable (except for the professor) but that makes sense, given what typically happens to the main characters in found-footage horror. I would definitely recommend it.

“I Sing the Body Electric!” by Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite short stories, and I’m excited to teach it in my writing class this semester. I’m pairing it with discussions of utopian and dystopian depictions of technology and science in speculative fiction. This story leans more toward the hopeful, particularly in the way the electric grandmother is embraced by the two boys and their father.

However, the emotional center of the story is Agatha, who is initially skeptical of the electric grandmother but eventually comes around after the grandmother saves her from a car. Cars are often depicted negatively in Bradbury’s work, and it’s no surprise that he himself did not drive.

Reading the story closely, it feels especially relevant today, prompting us to reflect on artificial intelligence and the question of human intimacy.