Category: Movies
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Book Review: ‘Close-up on Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream’
Close-up on Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream By: Sam Staggs Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin Publication Year: 2003 Genre(s): Film history, Making of Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood history, Classic cinema 🎬 Book Review: Close-Up on Sunset Boulevard by Sam StaggsEven if you’ve never seen the film, the drama behind it is…
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Music Album Review: ‘Billy Joel – 52nd Street’
52nd Street Revisited: Billy Joel and the Art of Returning There’s something hauntingly familiar about the first album that makes you feel seen. For me, it was 52nd Street—acquired through teenage negotiation, a bulky eight-track cassette wrested from my sister when she moved out. At the time, “My Life” felt like rebellion’s anthem, its defiance…
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Reflections on Revisiting My Writing
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in Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Books, Comings and Goings (Short Story), Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Juan Carlos Hernandez, Kindle, Kindle Create (Publishing App), Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Life in New Hampshire (December 2023 – October 2024), Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle: Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger, Thomas WikmanWhy I Write and Revisit My Work “I write for the same reason I breathe — because if I didn’t, I would die.” – Isaac Asimov As the four-month anniversary of the publication of Reunion: Coda approaches, I find myself reading it again—this time not only for professional reasons, like fixing issues or being self-critical, but…
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Music Album Review: ‘Superman: The Movie – Original Sound Track (1987 CD Edition)
💫 Superman: The Movie (1987 CD Soundtrack Review & Reflection) Before Rhino Records unveiled its deluxe 2-CD edition 25 years ago, the 1987 Warner Bros. release was the lone CD version of John Williams’ score for Superman: The Movie. Conducted by Williams and performed by the mighty London Symphony Orchestra, this abridged album still captures…
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Music Album Review: ‘Billy Joel Greatest Hits, Volume III’ (1997)
Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits, Volume III: A Late Discovery Worth the Wait I’ll admit it — I nearly passed this one by. When Greatest Hits: Volume III dropped in 1997, I hesitated. Joel’s post-An Innocent Man output hadn’t exactly lit up my radar, and with my classical collection growing, I wasn’t keen on spending limited…
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Movie Review: ‘Summer of ’42’ (1971)
Summer of ’42 (1971) Directed by: Robert Mulligan Written by: Herman Raucher Starring: Gary Grimes, Jerry Houser, Oliver Conant, Jennifer O’Neill, Christopher Norris, Lou Frizzell Music by: Michel Legrand Studio: Warner Bros. Summer of ’42: The Art of Being Seen Originally reviewed in 2003. This expanded reflection carries forward the emotional imprint of that first…
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Book Review: ‘Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – The Illustrated Screenplay’
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace – The Illustrated Screenplay By: George Lucas Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine Books Year of Publication: 1999 Genre: Film, Space Fantasy, Star Wars, Screenplay I first fell under the spell of screenplays in the spring of 1980 when I discovered Carol Titleman’s The Art of Star Wars—a treasure trove of…
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‘Clown 345’ Travels to Portugal: A Family Story with Circus Roots
Every clown has a first joke. Clown 345 is about one boy’s moment—the fragile, tender beat before laughter arrives. Co-written by Juan Carlos Hernandez and me, and starring Anthony James Hernandez as the Young Clown, this eight-minute short unfolds in a silent exchange of glances, jitters, and hope. Adria Kay Hernandez and Juan Carlos Hernandez…
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“This Night”: Music, Memory, and the Moments That Define Us
There’s something about music that stays long after the moment has passed. A lyric looping quietly in the back of your mind. A piano chord that stirs a memory you hadn’t meant to revisit. In Comings and Goings – The Art of Being Seen, one such song plays softly in the background—Billy Joel’s “This Night.”…
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Dear Reader, Let Me Tell You a Story…About Where ‘Comings and Goings’ Came From
Where Did You Get the Idea for Your Most Recent Book? It’s funny how inspiration works sometimes. With my novel Reunion: Coda—which I finished and published less than three months ago—the journey from spark to story was anything but fast. (Amazon pegs it at 529 pages, by the way.) The seed was planted back in…
A Certain Point of View, Too 