Frodo's wrenching cry of "No" at the Bridge of Khazad-dûm opens up a montage I put together of similar cries in movies. Until almost the end, the video features persons who are powerless, except to say No. Near the end I've included a few ironic No's, however, from persons who merely think they are out … Continue reading When All You Have Is Your No
For all that has been said about Milton creating a relatively sympathetic Satan in "Paradise Lost," there is no question that Satan becomes less sympathetic as the poem progresses. In short, we have less sympathy for him as we get to know him. His lies become more transparent, for one thing. And he does his … Continue reading Adam and Eve’s undiscovered country
My kids have not grown up on "Star Trek", and until recently they knew nothing about it beyond Spock's ears, a captain named Kirk, and maybe a ship named Enterprise. For our regular movie night I recently picked "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." I didn't tell the kids what I was going to … Continue reading Star Trek II: The Wrath of the Well-Read Villain
During my convalescence this past winter I watched a lot of movies. I've gotten busy making YouTube playlists of my favorite music and movies. I started one playlist privately just to collect some of my favorite concluding scenes from movies, and I threw in a few scenes from old movies that marked the Intermission break. … Continue reading Favorite movie endings
"The Fellowship of the Ring" came out in theaters twenty years ago, almost to the day. Below is an essay that I wrote in the days after I saw it -- an essay that, besides being a bit of a time portal, covers a ton of subjects about books, movies, history, religion, dead white males, … Continue reading The Fellowship of the Ring
December 16, 2001* Last night I finished David Ferry’s rendition of Gilgamesh; I read it out loud. It has reminded me of my favorite moment ever in “Star Trek”: the Epic of Gilgamesh as told by Patrick Stewart in “Darmok,” an episode during the fifth season of “The Next Generation” TV series. Captain Jean-Luc Picard … Continue reading Twin Towers at Uruk
