In 1973, Richard Nixon was sworn in for a second term as President of the United States; George Foreman defeated Joe Frazier to become world heavyweight champion; The Vietnam War ended; Major League Baseball debuted the designated hitter; The Sears Tower became the world’s tallest building; Skylab launched; The Bahamas, Guinea-Bissau, and Papua New-Guinea became… Continue reading Three years before America’s bicentennial: A look back at 1973
Tag: Musical films
The year the towers fell: A look back at 2001
In 2001, American Online and Time Warner merged; Wikipedia launched; George W. Bush became the 43rd President of the United States; Hijackers crashed America Airlines flight 11 and United Airlines flight 175 into the World Trade Center; Nintendo released the Gamecube; Apple introduced the iPod; Microsoft released the Xbox; Enron declared bankruptcy; Mister Roger’s Neighborhood aired… Continue reading The year the towers fell: A look back at 2001
Men are pigs: A look back at 2017
In 2017, Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States; The Nintendo Switch was released; Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, and Hurricane Maria struck the US; Stephen Paddock killed 58 people at a Las Vegas music festival; The Walt Disney Company announced plans to purchase 21st Century Fox; The exposure of Harvey Weinstein as… Continue reading Men are pigs: A look back at 2017
The thin man and OJ ate some grass
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945) When famed married detectives Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myrna Loy) visit his parents, they are unwillingly pulled into yet another caper in the fifth and penultimate film of the Thin Man series. Just like every other detective series from Agatha Christie to Scooby Doo, you know Nick… Continue reading The thin man and OJ ate some grass
“That’ll never happen”: A look back at 2016
In 2016: The United Kingdom voted in a nationwide referendum to leave the European Union; The Olympics were held in Rio de Janeiro; Donald Trump was elected President of the United States of America; Peyton Manning retired from professional football; The Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a three games to one deficit to defeat the Golden State Warriors… Continue reading “That’ll never happen”: A look back at 2016
Reflections on 3172, Year of Our Lady of Discord: A look back at 2006
In 2006, The Winter Olympics were held in Turin, Italy; Twitter launched; The Human Genome Project published the last chromosome sequence; Montenegro became an independent nation; Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet; The United States population passed 300 million people; No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock was sold for $140 million, becoming the most expensive painting at the time; Saddam… Continue reading Reflections on 3172, Year of Our Lady of Discord: A look back at 2006
The thirteenth year of the reign of the second Queen Elizabeth: A look back at 1965
In 1965: Lyndon Johnson unveiled the Great Society; The United States passed the Voting Rights Act; Russian cosmonaut Alexey Leonov became the first person to walk in space; The Astrodome opened; Bob Dylan went electric; The Watts riots take place in Los Angeles; The Beatles performed at Shea Stadium; After fifty five years, Casey Stengel retired as… Continue reading The thirteenth year of the reign of the second Queen Elizabeth: A look back at 1965
Best of the 1980s
The Shining (1980) Writer Jack Torrance takes a job as a winter caretaker at the Overlook Hotel which was built on a Native American burial ground. Haunted by the numerous evil spirits which populate the hotel, Jack slowly loses his mind and unsuccessfully attempts to kill his wife, Wendy and young son, Danny. Contrary to what… Continue reading Best of the 1980s
Porgy, Dillinger, and the unbearable Bess
The Unbearable Lightnesss of Being (1988) When waitress Tereza (Juliette Bincohe) moves in with her lover, brain surgeon Tomas (Daniel Day-Lewis), she’s confused by his Bohemian lifestyle. When Sabina, one of Tomas’s other lovers, gets Tereza a job as a photographer, she inadvertently photographs Soviet tanks invading Czechoslovakia, and, realizing their importance, smuggles them to… Continue reading Porgy, Dillinger, and the unbearable Bess
Hallelujah, I’m a grand, invisible immigrant
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) A girl goes to the grave of her favorite author and reads a chapter from his memoir. In this excerpt, the author (Tom Wilkinson) recounts a trip he took to the dilapidated Grand Budapest Hotel in 1968 where he (Jude Law) met the owner, Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham) who… Continue reading Hallelujah, I’m a grand, invisible immigrant