Television
6.29.18 ‘Westworld,’ ‘Humans’ forget to ask the big question: What does a robot want?
(Warning: Somewhat spoilery.) What does a robot want? In this time of real-world troubles among flesh-and-blood humans, I suppose it’s easier to think about robot needs and wishes, of androids dreaming of electric sheep. To consider where Westworld thinks its going, and about the hole Humans appears to have fallen into. And so …. As…
Read More04.03.18 Farewell Steven Bochco, who knew TV audiences wanted to be ‘transported’
He was the man behind Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, L.A. Law and Cop Rock. OK, nobody’s perfect. But Steven Bochco, who died of a rare form of leukemia on April 1 at age 74, bridged classic old TV procedurals with a new, edgy way of storytelling that was also hugely commercial. As I grew…
Read MoreConfluence (Parsec) 2017
Friday, August 4 6 p.m. Superhero movies: Why hasn’t the bubble burst? Commonwealth East JL Gribble (moderator), Timothy Liebe, Randee Dawn, Dame Dahlia “Star Wars” initiated a series of Hollywood sf films, and “Halloween” started a craze for slasher films. But in the end, the bubble burst. We’re saturated with superhero movies, television series, and…
Read More01.11.17 Where to find me: Boston in January! (Aka: Arisia)
For those of you who are intentionally or not-so-intentionally heading up to Boston for the long MLK weekend, I would like to invite you to check out Arisia, the biggest science-fiction and fantasy convention in the Northeast, and visit me at one of five, count ’em five, panels! While the whole convention is terrific and…
Read More1.3.17 ‘I would like to be who my mom has been – not afraid to be a little weird’
I never did get to speak with the late Carrie Fisher or Debbie Reynolds (more’s the pity) but I hear they were cracking gals. The pair died within a day of one another last week, which sent a lot of us into a tailspin, once again shaking our fists at the craptacular way 2016 presented.…
Read More09.25.16 Why the fault’s not in ‘the media’ – it’s in ourselves
During the election cycle, the next time you want to throw shade on “the media,” remember that it didn’t have to end up this way. We had chances and choices. And now we have the media system we deserve.
Read More9.6.16 ‘Do there have to be zombies in it?’
Before the show was picked up by AMC for domestic and Fox for international, its creator Frank Darabont presented the first version of the script to NBC, with whom he had an overall deal. According to Hurd, their response was, “Do there have to be zombies [in it].” NBC then asked Darabont if the show…
Read More6.26.16 ‘It’s not like someone is on set and calling me “sugar tits”‘
These are the stories I want to tell and will push my view of women forward: Allow them to be crazy and shout to the world that we’re women but we’re also having these crazy existential crises you all are having now.
Read More6.13.16 ‘Til the world turns upside down’
Hamilton comes along at a surly time in American history. We are at a stage where we no longer trust our captains, where we believe everything below decks is made of barnacled, rotting wood. Where we have two people running for the highest office in the land – one Hamilton himself never achieved – one of whom will help steer the course for our country’s future as the world slowly turns upside down.
Read More4.08.16 20 Years in NYC, Pt. 5: ‘Keep your eyes on the spinning top’
What I think I’ve discovered in the last 20-odd years (some rather odd years, at that) is that planning is a good thing, but not the only thing. Sometimes you just have to get the top spinning — and watch where it goes all on its own.
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