I wish I understood Tenet . It hurts my head. This video tried to help: I’m still struggling. I do think it’s time to retire the “good guys have to help the bad guys achieve their goals in order to trick them into thinking they’ve succeeded so they really lose” plot. That last Mission: Impossible movie did it in.

I am showing the Star Wars films to one of my daughters (she asked). I don’t want to go blow by blow, but it’s an interesting experience. Especially given that she’s never seen them, it’s a chance to “view them with new eyes.” The first twenty minutes of The Empire Strikes Back reminded me of that halcyon period of Star Wars fandom. At the time, I hadn’t even seen Star Wars —I was three in 1977—but I knew the story from the Storybook, comic books, toys, “movie on record” a

Happy 95th birthday to the one and only William Shatner. Here’s a February 1969 TV interview that just surfaced where he talks about whether the show is about to be canceled (spoilers? haha). The man is a physical freak of nature!

In the early days of FSM, one of the first people who reached out about making a “soundtrack fan club” (or something like that) was Andy Dursin, who has been writing The Aisle Seat for several decades, and is now a lifelong friend. We were delighted to discover we were around the same age and lived not far from each other in Southern New England—so we’d hop the Schamonchi ferry (New Bedford–Vineyard Haven) for reciprocal visits. I loved my time at Andy’s house. His folks wer

I didn’t realize Dune 3 is coming out this year. The trailer: I’m excited to see this—and wondering how they adapt the story, as the Dune sequel novels are bonkers.

From time to time I get pitches from new streaming platforms asking to distributor my meager output as a filmmaker. I just got another one yesterday. They all have a lot of utopian pitch language about making a better system for audiences and filmmakers—but I’m afraid, until one really proves me wrong, I’m dubious about their prospects. It seems like we have enough platforms already, right?

Check out the latest episode of Dropping Names With Brent and Jonny , the new podcast by Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes, where they have Seth MacFarlane as a guest. Halfway through they discuss film composers: Seth’s lunch with John Williams, and Frakes and Rick Berman working with Jerry Goldsmith on First Contact : Fun stuff!

I saw an A.I. video on YouTube, that I’m not going to bother to link to, that was just plagiarism of Star Wars clips—instead of getting shot in Empire , Threepio pulls out a bat and beats up another robot. The technical quality is getting better exponentially, but it’s still a world of crap. It really makes me think if the problem isn’t the technology but the operators. How many people in the world can really make a great film? A few dozen? A hundred?

I have not seen The Bride! I didn’t even know there was such a movie. I loved Maggie Gyllenhaal’s first film, The Lost Daughter . I guess The Bride! doesn’t really work but people sure are laying into it. The vitriol for it seems just so—I guess ugly is the word.

My least favorite morning of the year: daylight savings time begins. I think it’s necessary to have daylight savings time, but I don’t like how they changed it some years ago to start several weeks earlier. (Keeping it an extra few weeks in October for kids trick or treating on Halloween makes sense.) I’ll be awake eventually.

I’ve written before about how I read comic books as a kid in the 1980s. I loved the Marvel X-books and still have nostalgic fondness for that era. I stopped briefly into a comic book earlier this week...and it’s always a strange experience. It feels so far removed from what I knew and loved. I asked the guy working there if any kids buy comics now. He seemed surprised by the question. I think he said something about parents occasionally bringing in their kids while they shop.

Check out this very comprehensive transcription—with annotations—on the seminal “Linus and Lucy” by Vince Guaraldi: Very informative!

Harrison Ingemarson made this piano reduction of John Williams’ theme for Amazing Stories : I remember watching this for the first time with the imaginative title sequence: What can you say about master composer like John Williams, who knows how to create an instantly memorable tune, perfectly arranged? It’s like a lost art now. Although the show had a lot of promise—a Twilight Zone -style anthology, made by top filmmakers (Spielberg!)—outside of a few episodes, it just wasn’

There’s a new Star Wars movie in less than three months. The trailer: It’s a little hard to tell what the actual story is going to be. I have enjoyed the show but when the hero doesn’t show his face and the sidekick doesn’t speak, it is rather limiting to the drama.

It’s not films or film music, but my friend Dan Madsen is selling his incredible collection of Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain materials . You’ll remember them, of course, from the episodes “The Savage Curtain” and “Time’s Arrow,” respectively.

I was very sorry to hear of the passing of Robert Carradine. He took his own life after years of battling bipolar disorder . My friend and I once saw him out at an L.A. restaurant. For whatever reason we introduced ourselves—we’re fans—and I remember him sweetly saying, “I’m Bobby” and shaking hands. He played the ultimate, iconic nerd in the Revenge of the Nerds films, but it was a total performance—I remember in person being struck at how cool and un-nerdy he seemed. The o

I was channel-surfing briefly yesterday and saw a few minutes of Superman: The Movie on pay cable. (Nowadays both the 2025 and 1978 films come up in the channel guide as simply “Superman” so it’s not always clear what you’re going to get.) This is one of my favorite movies and I just love it, always. I watched a few minutes of the initial Metropolis scenes. Donner and his team get everything so right. Even the little things, the character grace notes and humor—just so, so go

The Nacelle Company has released a new, three-hour interview with Marcia Lucas. I haven’t watched it all but she is very candid about not liking the prequels or sequels. Cool lady!

Check out this video of Vince Guaraldi (with bass and drums) playing “Linus and Lucy,” courtesy Lee Mendelson Film Productions: It’s billed as the earliest television recording, from 1964—but I actually don’t think I’ve ever seen a video of Vince playing. I have read that he had short fingers which led in part to his unique sound. It’s hard to describe, but his music just doesn’t sound the same played by anybody else.

YES!!! The weeks between the NFL playoffs and the start of baseball—or at least March Madness—are so boring. But Olympic curling is back! So sooooooothing....