Media Matters

      Each year there are lots of traditional TV programs that give credence to American culture. Some are entertaining and exciting, remaining in our memory. But there are some which are pretty boring.  Last week, however, President's Biden's "State of the Union" and the "96 th  Academy Awards" did not put the average viewer asleep like examples from the past.      There were many reasons why, such explanations being somewhat similar. Because TV is a visual medium, the images we saw in the two productions were unusually arresting this year. This is not  suggesting that President Biden's speech resembled a Broadway play, for instance, even though the female Congressional members wearing white clothing did garner attention and convey a theme like a Broadway show.       Simply stated, the images at the Oscars were the best in years. The reason was rather obvious, communicating the adage, "Less is more."  The set was uncomplicated and did not atte

       This past summer's lineup of movies presented an interesting challenge, especially for two of them. Thus, amid the myriad of fantasy, adventure and horror offerings ( like  " Indiana Jones: The Dial of Destiny," "Spider - Man: Across the Spider-Verse," and "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning" ), the two most popular films essentially defied such classifications: BARBIE AND OPPENHEIMER. ( However, we can't deny that, obviously, "Barbie " could still be described stylistically as a fantasy ). Despite stylistic matters, this critic also wondered how these movies' distributors had the guts to even think about releasing both of them at the same time.     Yet various considerations aside, there remains the fact that "Barbie" is very different from any of writer Baumbach's other works.   And therein lies an important conclusion: we discover that Baumbach is an innovative, imaginative and inspiring filmmaker.      At leas