Category: Movies
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Movie Watcher Memories: ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ at 40
On May 21, 1980, Twentieth Century Fox released director Irvin Kershner’s Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, the eagerly anticipated follow-up to writer-director George Lucas’ Star Wars, which was retroactively retitled as Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope for its Summer 1981 re-release. Like Star Wars, it opened mid-week close to Memorial…
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Book Review: ‘William Shakespeare’s The Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh’
Two trilogies are now behind us, dear reader….Thank you for sharing this journey with me, and may the Force be with you onward, into episodes 7, 8, and 9. – Ian Doescher, in his Afterword to William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of the Sith’s Revenge: Star Wars Part the Third Roll swiftly as thou canst, good…
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Movie Watcher Memories, or: Mom Nixes Shark Pic
I was 12-and-one-quarter years old when Steven Spielberg’s Jaws made its theatrical debut on June 20, 1975 and lived with my widowed mother, Beatriz Diaz-Granados, in a house in the unincorporated community of Westchester in suburban Miami-Dade County. At the time, it was just us two living at the house on Southwest 102nd Ave; my…
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Movie Review: ‘Eye of the Needle’
Eye of the Needle (1981) Directed by: Richard Marquand Written by: Stanley Mann, based on the novel by Ken Follett Starring: Donald Sutherland, Kate Nelligan, Christopher Cazenove, Philip Martin Brown, Rupert Frazer, Barbara Ewing, Faith Brook, Ian Bannen On July 24, 1981, MGM-United Artists released Eye of the Needle, a suspense/romantic thriller set in Great…
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Bits and Pieces of My Mind, or Random Thoughts
Well, it’s Thursday, May 7, 2020, the 75th anniversary of Germany’s signing of the unconditional surrender documents at Allied headquarters in Reims, France, which ended the European phase of World War II. Actually, the May 7 signing at Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters was the first surrender ceremony; Soviet dictator Josef Stalin protested that the…
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Book Review: ‘William Shakespeare’s The Phantom of Menace: Star Wars Part the First’
Prologue. Outer space. Enter CHORUS. CHORUS Alack! What dreadful turmoil hath beset The strong Republic and its bonds of peace. O’er distant trade routes all do sigh and fret As fears of grim taxation do increase. The greedy, vile Trade Federation hath Created a blockade none may pass through. With deadly battleships they block the…
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Music Album Review: ‘John Denver: Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits’
John Denver: Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits is a two-CD compilation of the best songs written or performed by the late singer/songwriter/activist John Denver (1943-1997). Produced by Rob Santos and put together by Gary Pacheco for BMG Heritage and Denver’s original label RCA, this 24-track collection was dropped on October 4, 2004 – the 35th anniversary…
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Blu-ray Box Set Review: ‘Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga’ (UK Import)
From a young Anakin Skywalker’s descent into the dark side to the rise of the Resistance and their struggle to restore peace in the galaxy, the story that electrified a generation comes to a striking conclusion. The saga will end. The story lives forever. – Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga publicity insert. On Monday, April 20, Buena…
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Odds & Ends: My ‘Star Wars’ Blu-ray collection has a new addition
My Star Wars Blu-ray collection just got a little larger yesterday. Yesterday afternoon, FedEx dropped off the latest addition to my already-substantial treasure trove of Star Wars Blu-rays: the 18-disc 1080p Blu-ray-only edition of Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Like the larger Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) and Lucasfilm Ltd. Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga,…
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Book Review: ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ Adaptation (Marvel Comics)
On June 18, 2019, Marvel Comics published the trade paperback edition of Solo; A Star Wars Story, which collected issues 1-7 of writer Robbie Thompson and artist Will Sliney’s adaptation of director Ron Howard’s 2018 film about the early adventures of Han Solo, Chewbacca the Wookiee, and their first caper as smugglers in the early…
A Certain Point of View, Too 