Give Frank Fritz his own show!

There was a time when American Pickers was my favorite TV show (of the ones currently broadcasting). Even amid allegations that the show is staged (what reality series isn't?), it was always a treat to see what the presenters, Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, would find on their next middle-of-nowhere road trip. When the series … Continue reading Give Frank Fritz his own show! →

Will Netflix survive 2022?

Lots of negative publicity lately for Netflix. Just two weeks ago, I praised Netflix and called it the "#1 streamer ... [at] the top of the ... heap". (That was only two weeks ago.) The competition--HBO Max, Paramount Plus, and others--are stealing Netflix's programming thunder (they're now streaming the catalog titles Netflix used to offer) … Continue reading Will Netflix survive 2022? →

Whither the Oscars?

I'm kind of a movie geek. To get at the heart of how irrelevant the Oscars have become, and again to stress that I'm in the core demo of people who would normally follow such things: The last Oscars Best Picture-winning movie I actually watched was... 2011's The Artist (award handed out in 2012). Yep. … Continue reading Whither the Oscars? →

Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition – Remastered (2022) 4K UHD review

Here's a question: why are there matte lines in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (ST:TMP) - The Director's Edition - Remastered? Yeah, those odd-looking outlines on the Klingon ships in the opening battle scene, for example. Why are those there? This movie has been re-assembled from the original camera negative (rescanned) with re-composited analog (1970s-era) … Continue reading Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition – Remastered (2022) 4K UHD review →

Best song of the ’80s?

Someone asked me today what I'd pick as the best song of the '80s. Without thinking, I said "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys. It's not that it's a great song (it is). It reminds me of a particular place and time, when everything was right with the world (at least my world) and life was … Continue reading Best song of the ’80s? →