Worth Watching

Enter the Dragon (

Enter the Dragon (1973) Directed by Michael Clouse Starring Bruce Lee, John Saxon, and Jim Kelly I watched Enter the Dragon last night. And as it opened, I realized that I’d never seen it before. It is such a…

The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (

The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1965) Directed by Martin Ritt Starring Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, and Oskar Werner More often than not, movies made from books make lots of changes. Characters are…

Iris (2001): A Portrait Of Love And Loss

Iris (2001) Directed by Richard Eyre from a screenplay he co-wrote with Charles Wood Starring Judi Dench, Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent, and Hugh Bonneville Based on John Bailey’s 1999 memoir, Elegy for Iris…

The Queen’s Gambit and Searching for Bobby Fischer

The Queen’s Gambit is a 7-part Netflix series about a young girl (Beth Harmon) that becomes a chess prodigy, a grandmaster, and eventually a world champion, beating the invincible Russian master. Led by a…

How Green Was My Valley (1941)

How Green Was My Valley (1941) Directed by John Ford Starring Walter Pidgeon and Maureen O’Hara If you are in the mood for something nostalgically uplifting, I’d recommend How Green Was My Valley. I saw it…

Blow-Up

Blow-Up (1966) Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni Starring David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, and Jane Birkin From Roger Ebert: “A hypnotic conjuring act, in which a character is awakened briefly…

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

The Maltese Falcon (1941) Directed by John Huston Starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, and Peter Lorre Produced 12 years after the book, The Maltese Falcon, directed by the great John Huston and starring the…

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Directed by John Hughes Starring Steve Martin and John Candy From Tubi: “John Hughes’ mismatched-pair, road-trip comedy with Steve Martin and John Candy is full of broad humor, but all of it is pitched just…

The Real Story Behind The First Thanksgiving

There are several such videos available, but I think this one presents the most believable story. I thought I knew the story of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. The First Thanksgiving, 1621, by Jean…

Fargo

Written and directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Starring William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Harve Presnell, and Frances McDormand On an impulse last week, I watched Fargo again – the 1996 movie, not the TV…

Just Mercy

Netflix and Amazon Prime The books and movies I like best are those that change me – those that are able to change the way I think or feel about an issue or motivate me to take action on an issue I had cared…

My Favorite Doctor on COVID

I read a dozen regular services on COVID-19. Half are data services and some are commentary. Of all that latter group, this is the one I like the best. I think you’ll like him too! PS: Notice that he says that…

Night Crawler

I came across this on Netflix, surfing for something grim, stark, and disturbing. After watching it for a few minutes, I realized that I’d seen it before. But I kept watching, partly because my memory is…

My Octopus Teacher Offers Unexpected Wonder

“My Octopus Teacher” on Netflix If you are looking for something to divert you from the ugliness of US politics and inspire you to… well, not hang yourself, this little documentary is worth watching. Directed…

Trump's Surprising Appeal To Hispanic Voters

Two recent podcasts – the FiveThirtyEight politics podcast and “The Argument,” from Times Opinion – delve into Trump’s relative strength among Hispanic voters.

Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado

(a Netflix documentary) I watched the trailer because I found the image of Walter Mercado so intriguing, and then I decided to watch the film. It was pure pleasure. Walter Mercado was a Puerto Rican actor…

Modern Times

First, a confession. I am nearing 70 and, until now, I’ve never watched Modern Times. I’ve seen one or two of Charlie Chaplin’s less-celebrated movies and bits and pieces of a dozen others, but not Modern…

Space Force” on Netflix

A comedy series based on President Trump’s plan to create a new branch of the military? Maybe worth a few sketches on SNL… but a full-length comedy series? It sounded like a bad idea. Now I’m laughing out loud…

The Last Dance

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have watched this, but K recommended it so I gave it a look. I was drawn into it immediately. It was dramatic. And compelling. Bingeable, though I resisted. I’m talking about The Last…

Hans Rosling's Mesmerizing Data Visualization TED Talk

“The Best Stats You’ve Ever Seen” – Unless you are brain-dead, you will enjoy this TED Talk by Hans Rosling. LINK

If We Lose John Locke, We Lose America

John Locke has been a writer on my must-read list since I became interested in history (for the first time) just 20 years ago. This video made me push him up to the top of the list. LINK

Stanford Mathematician Explains COVID-19 Growth Curves

If you are really into the math behind the COVID-19 models, you’ll love this guy (Stanford University’s Michael Levitt). I can’t get enough of him and yet I understand very little of what he’s saying. I ran…

Word of the Day: Covid

“COVID-19 Never Grows Exponentially” – a video from Stanford University’s Michael Levitt on "fitting data,” an advanced strategy for machine learning and AI that demonstrates that COVID-19 did not ever grow…

How Morals Influence If You’re Liberal or Conservative

More Than Money: The Good Life Parable

In this short film about a well-known fable, a fisherman teaches a young businessman about life after the young man uses his MBA knowledge to explain how the fisherman could be more successful. A good…

Reagan's Masterful Speech On American Freedom

“Freedom Isn’t Free” – a powerful speech by President Ronald Reagan. I don’t know enough about Reagan’s career to have a strong opinion about it, but I can think of only two other presidents in my lifetime…

The history of our world in 18 minutes

– an interesting TED Talk by David Christian. To watch it, click here.

Young Doctor Explains COVID-19 Deaths With Charm

I was fascinated by this video explanation about how COVID-19 patients die. Most of what this young doctor explains are facts that you already know, although you might miss some of it because his explanation…

Take ‘the Other’ to Lunch

There’s an angry divisive tension in the air that threatens to make modern politics impossible. In this TED Talk, Elizabeth Lesser shares a simple way to begin a real dialogue – by going to lunch with someone…

COVID-19 Compared to 6 Other Diseases

The only thing I’ve found that adds anything helpful to the conversation about COVID-19 immunity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylot5uGyyLA

Rockwell's Legendary Unscripted Transmission Training Video

Rockwell International decided to get into the heavy-duty automatic transmission business and they wanted an introductory video. What they saw, initially, was this rehearsal for camera, lighting, and stage…

A Surgeon Explains COVID-19's Deadly Mechanism

“How COVID-19 Kills – I’m a Surgeon – and Why We Can’t Save You”

Online Business Profits During The Pandemic Crisis

From Rich Schefren: “Online Business Profits Are Up During the Pandemic. Are Yours?” Here From Simon Sinek:“5 Minutes on Why COVID-19 Is an Opportunity” Here From McKinsey.com: “Coronavirus’ business impact…

Nassim Taleb Corrects The Black Swan Misconception

I referred to the coronavirus as a “black swan” event in my March 25 essay. In this video, Nassim Taleb, who invented the term, corrects me. Check it out here.

Dr. David Price Explains What Face Masks Actually Do

You’ve heard that regular face masks can’t screen the virus. And it’s true. The virus is too small. But you should wear one because, at the very least, they keep you from touching your face. In this video, Dr…

An eventful week at the Masaya Volcano

Nicaragua’s Masaya volcano – which we often fly over on our way from Managua to Rancho Santana – was recently featured as part of Good Morning America’s Extraordinary Earth series. You can watch the GMA…

Coronavirus Explained: How It Shut Down the World

In this video, Patrick Bet-David talks about the coronavirus, how it spreads, the most deadly epidemics in history, and how viruses affect the stock markets around the world. (The guy is mesmerizing!) [LINK…

All Is True” on Amazon Prime

An intriguingly imagined look at the final days of Shakespeare, directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also plays Shakespeare. With Judi Dench as his wife and Ian McKellen, who is superb as the Earl of Southampton…

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans” (1927)

I first watched this movie, quite by accident, perhaps 15 years ago. It was about two in the morning when I started, and I couldn’t stop watching it. It is a very old black & white film, and is experimental in…

Who’s That Knocking at My Door?

Who’s That Knocking at My Door? (1967) On Friday, I talked about Martin Scorsese’s brilliant “debut” film (in 1973), Mean Streets. It was actually his second movie. The story is that his first one – Who’s That…

Mean Streets

I saw this movie when it came out, and again just recently, I was surprised to discover how little I remembered of it. Overall, it is a cruder production than I remembered. It feels like – and maybe it was – a…

Dead to Me” (Netflix)

This is a series that I would not have tried, but did on the basis of M and M’s recommendation. It’s the story of two women (played by Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini) who come together in grief and…

Deadwood

You either loved the series or you didn’t care for it at all. I loved it. I loved the story and the cinematography and the characters and the language. I was a sucker for the psuedo-Shakespearean English that…

The Island Murder

The Island Murder (Netflix/American Experience) In 1931, Honolulu’s tropical tranquility is shattered when a young Navy wife makes an allegation of rape against five islanders. This sets in motion a series of…

Kon-Tiki

I’d give Kon-Tiki a B for cinematic values and a B+ for historical interest. Seeing the movie made me want to read the book again and try to find the documentary made about the expedition that won the Academy…

Slaughterhouse Five

This month, Bob S challenged us with 2 books and a movie. The books were Slaughterhouse Five and Cat’s Cradle(both by Kurt Vonnegut). The movie was Slaughterhouse Five. I watched the movie last night. It is…

Eric Edmeades on “How to Become a Master in the Art of Public Speaking

A very good speech on public speaking that’s about much more than public speaking.

Tony Robbins on Why We Do What We Do

People that haven’t experienced Tony Robbins – who have heard or read about him but never actually listened to him for any length of time – have the wrong view of him. They see him as a motivational speaker…

Flight of the Conchords” (Netflix)

On Wednesday, I posted my mini-review of the HBO docudrama series “Chernobyl.” After watching an hour of the deeply distressing first episode, I needed a half-hour of fun – and I got it with an old episode of…

HBO's Chernobyl Docudrama Examines Nuclear Disaster Legacy

”Chernobyl” (HBO NOW) I’d read good things about this – a docudrama series about the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident – and it didn’t disappoint. The first episode was riveting. It will make you…