Here’s an interesting interview with the film editor of Tomorrow Never Dies, including discussion of David Arnold and his score: The Brosnan films really haven’t held up, I’m afraid.

Many thanks to Cine Circle films for including our Sky Fighter short film in a new sci-fi anthology called Final Orbit. Their first teaser trailer: More info here. Happy to get more exposure!

I love the original RoboCop—an all-time classic. All the sequels and remakes pale in comparison—because Robo’s storytelling arc is so complete in the original. I’ve long though of Paul Verhoeven as a director with a unique sensibility, but this video essay helped me appreciate what a good technical director he is as well: It’s all in the blocking and the moving masters. And today everything is just shot as coverage by multiple cameras. And get off my lawn!

I saw the Star City season finale, but I was traveling right afterwards, so I forgot to write about it. I loved it! What a great show. Way better than I hoped! Apple has not yet renewed the show and I hope this is not another Counterpart—another chilly/smart show that at least got two seasons. (I was obsessed with Counterpart.) You can read a good interview with the Star City creators at Variety.

Mighty Orbots blew my 10-year-old mind when it aired Saturday mornings in the fall of 1984. Visually, at least—the writing was so juvenile, I remember one reviewer said it was only fit for “ormons.” But those dazzling, swirling images (24-frame Japanese animation), and the futuristic designs—and the cool title song and jazzy background music—what a presentation! The show only lasted a season, which was typical for anything space-oriented back in the day so I didn’t pay it muc

Many thanks to Yow TV who have carried our Sky Fighter short film and did a social media push over the weekend. They are a free on-demand streaming service. I am getting over the surprise of having our anamorphic 16:9 short reformatted for vertical phone screens!

Check out this two-hour interview with our friend John Ottman, going behind the scenes of so many important projects: Enjoy!

Have a good one, folks!

I watched the third season premiere of The House of the Dragon, or at least the first half of it...it was getting late... Boy is this a lot to keep track of!

There’s a lengthy and very engaging interview with John Ottman on YouTube courtesy Half a Picture: Good stories!

I am really enjoying Sugar on AppleTV—I am catching up with the first season as it starts its second. The big twist was spoiled for me but it hasn’t detracted from the enjoyment, and might have even helped because I wasn’t thrown for a loop. (I will not say what it is.) Great cast, great L.A. locations, and a great protagonist played by Colin Farrell. Good taste in music too, both the score and needle drops. I am eager to keep watching.

Tuesday the 23rd was the 50th anniversary of the U.S. theatrical release of Logan’s Run. I will always have a fondness for this movie, as uneven as it is. And what a score!

It’s 2026. Sort of crazy to think about. Let’s put it this way: Raiders of the Lost Ark is set in 1936, was released in 1981 = 45 years. Today, Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 45-year-old movie. Wild. My generation, the Gen Xers, have gone through the entire life cycle of our favorite movies, shows, toys dominating the culture. First it was the stuff we loved as kids. We made it unexpected popular via nostalgia in our twenties. Then it became big business in our thirties and for

Years ago I went to see Tron: Legacy with a friend (who shall remain nameless) who walked about after around eight minutes. I gamely stuck it out. I asked later, “Why’d you go?” The movie was lame, but it didn’t seem walk-out-level awful to me. He said that it was as if the logo played for the theater speaker system (which it did)—and then the entire movie happened inside the logo. And yeah, that is what these movies are like. Nothing is real. There’s no gravity, no weight, n

I have created a new blog/community/portal called PROTOCALIA, which is a word I invented to encompass a certain kind of elevated genre storytelling—concerned with the systems created by human beings, and the pressures they put on the individual. It’s simultaneously the thing I want to do most—build an audience to make the kinds of films and TV shows I love—but also the thing I find most daunting, because of the heavy lift involved...and the fact I’m starting from scratch. But

I almost skipped Star City, but I checked it out and I am glad I did, it’s terrific! This look at the franchise’s alt-history space race from the Soviet Union’s point of view is a cracking good Cold War thriller. I never had any particular interest in what went on behind the Iron Curtain, but I always liked Gorky Park—and Chernobyl was mesmerizing. Like Chernobyl, there seems to be a lot of attention to the drab, brown details of Soviet life, and the terror, absurdity and lon

As a born-and-bred New Englander of course I despise all of the New York teams. But I admit I was happy for the Knicks breaking their championship drought. It certainly seemed like a team of destiny. The Red Sox are so lame this year, it’s mystified. They have so many good players but are so dull to watch. And the World Cup is here, which I’ve always enjoyed. I was amused to see that FIFA won’t promote any companies without a direct bribe, so all of the American football stad

I had such a great time at Disclosure Day. Spielberg’s still got it! No spoilers here, so this will have to be brief. What a gift to have a new John Williams score! Screenwriters should study this for one of the all-time great “in medias res” openings. There is a massive amount of exposition built into an opening chase. The degree of difficulty with this is almost off the charts. Spielberg is the GOAT, what can we say? Just for the moving masters alone. Wow. Can’t say much mo

Thanks to everybody who bought from the new FSMCDs.com sale yesterday. We are shipping the new orders asap! Here is a spreadsheet of the current inventory. I am so excited to see Disclosure Day tomorrow for many reasons—but here’s one you might not have thought of. As far as I am aware, this film is set in the present day (or very near future). Since Jurassic Park and its sequel, Spielberg has directed 19 films. Know how many have been set in contemporary reality? Just three:

I saw Backrooms and thought it was cool. For all the talk of Backrooms and Obsession being game changers, as far as the young, YouTube-era filmmakers, I think it comes down to people wanting to see a new movie that’s different and has a cool, easy-to-understand concept. Word gets out that it’s good, and it takes off. I remember when the found footage craze happened, and it was similar: dirt cheap horror movies becoming massive phenomenons. But it was not sustainable indefinit