We’re the Millers
An often funny but ultimately depressing take on where and how American family values, if any, still exist
Blue Jasmine
Don’t go to this movie if you are expecting a barrel— or even a small pitcher — of laughs.
The Act of Killing
People who kill people sometimes come to feel sorry for those they killed. Who knew?
Criminal Elements
The science of "Breaking Bad" as a Promethean assault on realities that lie beyond scientific inquiry — From The New Atlantis of Winter/Spring, 2013
Reminders of America’s Decline
Glimpses of our country as it once was, marked by a certain hopefulness — From The American Spectator of July-August, 2013
Bases Loaded
The smooth moves, and rough edges, of baseball’s infancy. From The Weekly Standard of July 29, 2013
Train, The (1964)
[See discussion under “My Diary” for July 3, 2013]
Entry from July 25, 2013
This summer I presented on behalf of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and the Hudson Institute in Washington a series of six films on the general theme of Why We Fight: War Movies and War, Then and Now. The films were shown at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. The series concluded on Wednesday,…
The Way, Way Back
An often funny but ultimately pretty trivial movie about the pain of adolescents with absent fathers
The Bling Ring
What looks like an attempt at satire has lost, or never found, that edge of hatred that good satire needs
Hurt Locker, The (2008)
[See discussion under “My Diary” for July 25, 2013]
Entry from July 17, 2013
This summer I am presenting on behalf of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and the Hudson Institute in Washington a series of six films on the general theme of Why We Fight: War Movies and War, Then and Now. The films are being shown at the Hudson Institute, 1015 15th Street N.W., Suite 600,…