Pop Culture
MOVIE REVIEW: THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Peter Jackson’s second helping — The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug — written and directed by Peter Jackson with flavoring from J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic novel is more confident than the first helping of An Unexpected Journey. It is the #1 movie of the opening weekend, scoring 74%…
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Concert review of the “History of the Eagles” tour at the Denver Pepsi Center.
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MOVIE REVIEW: STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS [No plot spoilers] I’ll start with the bottom line: I loved it. If possible it’s better, if not as inventive as the previous movie in the reboot released in May 2009 and reviewed by me here. I’d call it the most enjoyable movie so far this year, though I may be biased…
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MOVIE REVIEW: THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY Even if I had been told The Hobbit was the worst movie ever made, I still would have gone to see it. It wasn’t. But even after seeing it twice my feelings remain mixed. In talking to friends who have been to it, reactions to the movie seem…
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MOVIE REVIEW: LES MISERABLES Go see this movie. If you’ve never seen the stage play, this is the way to catch a faithful version of it in your local cinema. If you’ve already seen the stage play, then you already know. It was more than I expected, and I had high expectations. This is…
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HISTORY OF THE END OF THE WORLD We’ve heard lots of talk and seen lots of stories about how today will be the end of the world. As popularized in the John Cusack movie 2012, the story goes that on December 21, 2012 — 12/21/12 in the US or 21/12/12 for those in other parts…
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HISTORY OF CHARLES DICKENS Today marks the 200th birthdate of Charles Dickens, considered by many the greatest English writer since Shakespeare — at least he was during his lifetime in the Victorian age. He enjoyed the distinction of fame and a measure of financial success during his lifetime, starting in his 20s. Many of his…
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MOVIE REVIEW: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2 [No spoilers] This weekend’s debut beat all previous records of a 3-day opening with $168.6M, surpassing even that of my previously reviewed Batman: Dark Knight. Even the midnight showing Friday morning picked up almost $44M. The Harry Potter books are quite popular and I’ve read…
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HISTORY OF SOCIAL MEDIA There is so much in the news on Social Media — there is even a movie about The Social Network that got Golden Globe and Academy award nominations — that it seems useful to share an “infographic” from the OnlineSchools on the history of social media as it progressed from email…
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MOVIE REVIEW: THE KING’S SPEECH A thing of grace and triumph. Here is a movie that’s already getting lots of Oscar buzz, and you know why? It deserves it. This is the best movie I’ve seen this year, or in a couple of years. It is not only deeply moving, but also beautiful to behold.…
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CONCERT REVIEW: JAMES TAYLOR AND CAROLE KING TROUBADOUR REUNION IN DENVER Peanut Butter and Chocolate… Two great tastes in music came together for the Troubadour Reunion tour, celebrating the 40th anniversary of their first time performing together at The Troubadour Club in Los Angeles originally in 1970. The reunion concert was held at the Troubadour…
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MOVIE REVIEW: AVATAR I’ve seen some interviews with movie producers recently, mostly Pixar, saying that all the key producers are moving to 3D. I’ve taken these words with a pillar of salt, as just new ways to capture the eyeballs of price-sensitive consumers who are nervous about spending $10 a head to attend the cinema,…
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