Tag: Movies
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How Pop Culture and Music Inform the Garratyverse
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in A Bridge Too Far (1977 film), Alex Diaz-Granados, All the Things You Are, All the Things You Are (Kern and Hammerstein), Amazon, Billy Joel, Classical music, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, John Williams (Composer), Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Ludwig van Beethoven, Melodies and Memories: Music, Songs, and Singers, Movies, Music, Music & Concert Specials, Pop Music, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Star Wars, Superman: The Movie, The Summer of Two Movies, West Side Story – Original Broadway Cast (1957)How Pop Culture and Music Inform the Garratyverse If you spend enough time inside the Garratyverse, you eventually notice something: Jim Garraty’s world doesn’t just contain pop culture and music—it breathes through them. Songs, films, TV shows, and the cultural noise of their eras aren’t background decoration. They’re emotional weather systems. They shape memory, mood,…
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Music Album Review: ‘West Side Story – Original Broadway Cast Recording’
West Side Story – Original Broadway Cast Recording (1957, 1990 CD Reissue) Label: Columbia – CK 32603 Format: CD, Album, Reissue Released: 1990 Genre: Classical, Stage & Screen Style: Soundtrack, Musical West Side Story has generated several indispensable recordings, but the 1957 original Broadway cast album remains the most historically revealing of them. Released shortly…
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In Case You Missed It: My First Produced Screenplay – ‘A Simple Ad’
Before I began working on my post-2018 “Garratyverse” stories—Reunion: Coda, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, and The Summer of Two Movies —I wrote or co-wrote several short films directed by my friend and fellow South Miami High alum, Juan Carlos Hernandez. One of these films, Clown 345, has even received awards of…
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From Memory to Flash Fiction
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in A Bridge Too Far (1977 film), Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Blogging, Creative Writing, Garratyverse, Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in South Florida, Movies, Personal Thoughts, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Star Wars, The Jim Garraty Chronicles, The Summer of Two MoviesHow a 4K Disc of A Bridge Too Far Sparked the Fourth Jim Garraty Story Yesterday, I wrote about finally ordering the 4K UHD release of A Bridge Too Far — a movie that has been part of my personal mythology since the summer of 1977. I thought the post would be nothing more than…
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The Summer of Two Movies: A Jim Garraty Story
Author’s Note: Introducing a Garraty Prequel Every so often, a childhood memory resurfaces with enough clarity that it feels less like recollection and more like a scene from a story you once lived. This one comes from the summer of 1977, when Jim Garraty was twelve years old, the Miami heat was relentless, and the…
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A Bridge, a Bomb, and a Birthday Treat
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in 4K UHD Blu-rays, A Bridge Too Far (1977 film), Amazon, Blu-ray & DVD Collection, Blu-ray Collection, Films by Stanley Kubrick, Florida Weather, Life in Central Florida, Life in Florida, Life in Miami (1972-2016), Life in South Florida, Movies, Movies & Television, Personal Thoughts, Spring in FloridaSunday, March 22, 2026, Orlando, Florida Hi there. It’s another warm early‑spring day here in my corner of Orange County. As I write this, it’s 80°F (26°C) under sunny skies. With a west wind at 5 mph (7 km/h) and humidity at 33%, it feels closer to 86°F (30°C). Today’s forecast calls for a high…
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On Writing and Storytelling: The Movies That Built Jim Garraty (and, Let’s Be Honest, Me Too)
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in A Bridge Too Far (1977 film), Alex Diaz-Granados, Amazon, Amazon Reviews, Amazon Spain (Amazon.es), Amazon UK, Casablanca (1942), Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 40th Anniversary Edition, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, Creative Writing, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Films by Steven Spielberg, Garratyverse, Indiana Jones Movies, Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures (2012 Blu-ray Set), Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Movies, Movies & Television, Reunion Duology, Reunion: A Story, Star Wars, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Summer of ’42 (1971), Superman: The Movie, The Longest Day (1962), West Side Story (1961 Film)🎬 The Movies That Built Jim Garraty (and, Let’s Be Honest, Me Too) Somewhere in the middle of revisiting old scenes from Reunion, I stumbled onto a realization that made me laugh out loud: Jim Garraty’s 1983 movie shelf is basically a psychological X‑ray of who he was at seventeen — and who I was,…
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Musings for the Shortest Day of the Year – 2025
Sunday, December 21, 2025, Orlando, Florida It’s a nice early winter day here in my home state of Florida. Although it’s the winter solstice – the shortest day of the year and traditionally the first day of winter – it’s not uncomfortably cold. The temperature outside is 76°F (25°C) under mostly sunny conditions – a…
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Three Masters, One Scene: Hasbro’s Jedi Council 1 Pack
Hasbro Star Wars Saga Scene Pack: Jedi Council 1 One of the most fascinating aspects of the Star Wars prequel trilogy is the glimpse it offers into the Jedi Order during the final years of the Old Republic. Audiences were introduced to the inner workings of the Jedi High Council, the Code that guided their…
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Movie Review: ‘The Fugitive’ (1993)
Revisiting The Fugitive (1993): A Chase Worth Remembering Andrew Davis’ The Fugitive remains one of the standout thrillers of the 1990s, a film that took the bones of Roy Huggins’ classic 1960s television series and reshaped them into a brisk, cinematic spectacle. Released in 1993, it quickly became a box office hit, propelled by the…
A Certain Point of View, Too 