Movies
Movie Review: Jesus Revolution Growing up in California during the ’60s and ’70s allowed me to be both an observer of and a participant in the Jesus Revolution. Historical Synopsis: The Jesus Revolution — alternately known as the Jesus Movement, Jesus People, or the somewhat pejorative Jesus Freaks — was a spiritual awakening with…
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HISTORY OF PETER PAN All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again. So begins my favorite Walt Disney animated movie, Peter Pan, which debuted 70 years ago today on February 5, 1953. The original movie poster said: “It will live in your heart forever!” …and indeed, it has. Why was…
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IS DIE HARD REALLY A CHRISTMAS MOVIE? Scholars and historians have debated for centuries the question: “Is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?” Or at least during the last three decades since the movie was released. So readers have turned to me, your friendly neighborhood historian, to wrestle with this age-old question and help them resolve…
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HISTORY OF JAMES BOND: DR. NO – 60 YEARS AGO You’ve no doubt heard that it’s the 60th anniversary of James Bond. It was featured at this year’s Academy Award. But the actual 60th anniversary of the films is today: October 5, 1962, was the premiere of the first James Bond film, Dr. No. For…
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HISTORY OF STAR TREK Star Trek premiered on NBC TV on September 8, 1966… 56 years ago. It is my favorite show; I was glued to the TV for the first episode and every one after that. It significantly influenced my life and my choice of a career in technology.
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HISTORY OF FIELD OF DREAMS: A Father’s Day Treat One of my all-time favorite movies is not an action movie, a science fiction movie, a comic book blockbuster, or a fantasy film. It’s a baseball movie. Or is it? Is it a movie about Berkeley, Iowa, Fenway Park, or America? It’s all of them, and…
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HISTORY OF STAR WARS The original Star Wars movie premiered on May 25, 1977. Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away… in Berkeley, in November 1976, I picked up a new science fiction novel called “Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker” by George Lucas. I did not know at the time that…
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HISTORY OF THE GODFATHER: 50 YEARS AGO In March of 1972, fifty years ago, the Francis Ford Coppola film, The Godfather premiered. Based on a screenplay by Coppola and the author of the original novel, Mario Puzo (who together won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay), it had been optioned by Paramount executive Peter Bart when…
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MOVIE REVIEW: DUNE Spice! I met Frank Herbert, author of Dune, over 40 years ago at “Comics and Comix” a premier comic and book store in Berkeley that was a favorite haunt of mine at the time. Of course, I got him to sign my paperback, but he was interested in talking…
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MOVIE REVIEW: NO TIME TO DIE This James Bond film is the 25th in the Eon Productions canon and the last for the actor Daniel Craig. But this is not the end of the almost 60-year film franchise. It is an above-average James Bond flick and an immensely satisfying conclusion to Daniel Craig’s tenure as…
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MOVIE REVIEW: STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER [No Plot Spoilers] When George Lukas originally discussed Star Wars, he intended it to be a series of three trilogies. He started with the middle trilogy, beginning with Star Wars (my history on it here,) later called Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. He followed that…
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MOVIE REVIEW: STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI For over 40 years, Lucasfilm has brought us popcorn movies extraordinaire. The Last Jedi is no exception. I realize many readers will not read this review until they’ve seen the movie, even with the promise of no plot spoilers. Let me just say this: “Yule love it!” The…
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