Movies
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF MIDDLE EARTH: TOLKIEN’S SWISS INSPIRATION n the summer of 1911, J.R.R. Tolkien hiked the peaks and valleys of the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland when he was 19 years old. These Alps and their valleys had a profound impact on Tolkien’s imagination, as he wrote when he was 74 to his son Michael in…
Reading Time: 12 minutesHISTORY OF J.R.R. TOLKIEN: A CENTURY-LONG LOVE AFFAIR Podcast version January 3 is the birthday of J.R.R. Tolkien. He was born in 1892, the same year as my grandfather. f I were stranded on a desert island and could have only two works with me, it would be The Bible and Tolkien’s The Lord…
Reading Time: 4 minutesIS DIE HARD REALLY A CHRISTMAS MOVIE? cholars and historians have debated for centuries this question: “Is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?” Or at least they have during the last three and a half decades since the movie was released. This is why readers have turned to me, your friendly neighborhood historian, to…
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF THE NATURAL: A Father Returns With all the tributes to Robert Redford, here’s my review of The Natural, my favorite Redford film: A classic movie with a timeless topic comes to mind in celebration of Father’s Day. The 1984 film The Natural asks the question: Can you return? If the movie Field…
Reading Time: 5 minutesMovie Review: Fantastic Four: First Steps (no plot spoilers) I just watched Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps for the second time, and I enjoyed it even more than the first time I saw it in July. I caught more of the subtle jokes, appreciated the nuanced performances and production design, and marveled (pun intended) at…
Reading Time: 4 minutesMovie Review: Superman (no plot spoilers) One of this summer’s blockbuster hopefuls opens today – Superman. I started collecting Superman comic books in 1961, but had been reading the Superman comic book before then. He was my first favorite superhero. I collected thousands of comic books over 22 years during the Silver Age of comics…
Reading Time: 5 minutesMovie Review: Megalopolis (no plot spoilers) Over half a century ago, Francis Ford Coppola fictionally introduced us to the history of his grandparents’ world in Sicily in The Godfather (reviewed here) in 1972. Now, he takes us back 2,000 years and also into the near future with his Roman roots in Megalopolis, opening this weekend.
Reading Time: 4 minutesMOVIE REVIEW: DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE (no plot spoilers) The Marvel Studios summer film Deadpool and Wolverine opens today, starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. It is no surprise that this film has the requisite mindless, senseless, gratuitous violence and swearing you’ve come to expect. What is surprising is that you get it before the opening…
Reading Time: 5 minutesMovie Review: Dune, Part Two (no spoilers) Today, March 1, marks the opening of the long-awaited sequel to the film Dune, Part One. It is expected to be one of the largest debuts of 2024. (See my previous review article on the saga’s history, my chat with the author Frank Herbert 45 years ago, the…
Reading Time: 3 minutesMOVIE REVIEW: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE DEAD RECKONING PART ONE [No spoilers] The seventh movie in the Mission: Impossible franchise is non-stop action, where the plot does not get in the way of the daredevil stunts. And this is only the first installment of “Dead Reckoning Part One.” Will there be a sequel? It’s a sure thing.…
Reading Time: 5 minutesMovie 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…
Reading Time: 25 minutesHISTORY 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…