Media Matters

      Instability runs rampant nowadays, showing itself in this summer's cinematic Block Busters. Movies like "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning," "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,"   and "Haunted Mansion" are adventure/fantasy films that basically entertain the audience, allowing them to forget both the forthcoming 2024  election and the ongoing mistreatment of minorities, immigrants, and women who need abortions.       Included in this group of movies is Christopher Nolan's "OPPENHEIMER," an odd man-out story which is a real-life chronicle of J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb. It also doesn't conform to the current motion pictures which are entertaining. Here's the point: "OPPENHEIMER" is ambiguous, contradictory, and emotionally distressing. Real life often is.      Here's a second, related point: director/producer Christopher Nolan took a big chance by making this film in the first place and...

      There are times when writing about the TV news media is rewarding: enjoyable, exciting, and valuable. Meaning informative, innovative, and important. Such programs don't occur that often; rather it's "Breaking News" stories which bombard the cable news airways: regularly repetitive, sometimes unreliable and often boring.                                      The last  two weeks were different, however, at least in this critic's view.  Coverage featured three diverse programs ( including one on Netflix ), that were indeed informative, innovative and important.  Yet, these examples were not only about social issues or psychological concerns or political problems. Rather, they confronted personal subjects that yours truly cared about which recalled the past.      The first coverage concerned the coverage of "The Tennessee Three" and specifically o...

       This past week, TV news bombarded the airways with iconic images commemorating the first anniversary of the Ukrainian-Russian War. A lot were expected, like flying Ukrainian flags and destroyed housing complexes.  But the two most memorable ones, in this critic's mind, were notable because they were unexpected: the week's first such image was on Monday, February 20, showing Presidents Biden and Zelenskyy walking side-by-sided along a wide, empty Kyiv street. It will remain a meaningful symbol of solidarity between the two leaders.        The second such salient image depicted three young resistant fighters in Kherson, standing in the middle of a barren street, staring straight ahead. It was the last image in the MSNBC documentary, " On Assignment With Richard Eagel: Ukraine's Secret Resistance," broadcast on Friday February 24. Here's why they will be distinctly remembered by yours truly.      Oddly enough, the two Presi...

     In case anyone thinks yours truly works for Netflix or ever did so, now is the time to set things straight. As a media critic, I have written lots about films playing on Netflix, notably documentaries. Two particular works are not only recent, but also worthy of attention. "Pamela Anderson" is one of these, and the New York Times' Style Section concurs  in its positive article.  While the movie has one primary goal, treating the actress's image as a largely substantive and serious subject, she is still exploited in the process. Thus, it appears that very little has really changed.       Conversely, " Sr.," the other current Netflix documentary, covers a myriad of themes, not just one. Although the film is a bio-pic featuring Robert Downey Jr.s'  father, initially most of the audience focuses primarily on the son, a popular, award - winning and previously dope-addicted actor.       But "Sr." reaches beyond our ex...

     These last two weeks were not good times to watch TV news. Violence - centered events captured the audience's focus and effort, seemingly twenty - four hours a day: the bizarre attack on Paul Pelosi; the mass shooting in a California Asian  community; the horrendous beating of Tyre Nichols. All of these examples used live video to amplify and verify the violence.      Cut to the current Oscar nominations, where other instances of assault were represented in two notable "Best Picture" selections: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT AND WOMEN TALKING. Of course, the savagery is different. The anti-war " All Quiet" is primarily physical violence seen through the lens of graphic depiction.  Conversely, "Women Talking" shows hardly any brutality, per se. Yet it many ways, it is just as harrowing, this time communicated through the female victims' speech.       The use of dialogue in director/ screenwriter Sarah Polley's movie is imp...

      Lots of new Netflix films ( and series ) have come out recently, but who had time to see them? So many provocative and pertinent news events on TV have occupied our time and attention instead: the mid-term elections; Zelenskyy's Congressional address; attack on Pelosi's husband;  January 6 revealing testimony; and House Speaker stalemate.      We needed to watch some fictional films for a change. No real-life stuff like on TV, no open-endings where conclusions are still evolving, no tragedies that we can't escape. Something a bit different,  no doubt. Enter three movies trending around the same time, chosen randomly by this critic and remarkably similar in their characteristics. While these three samples give viewers a break from TV news, they can also be described as odd, unexpected and disconcerting. Just like some TV coverage.       The most obvious similarity among the Netflix movies ( GLASS ONION, WHITE NOISE AND WED...

      The TV medium is forever showing its diversity and contradictions, no more so than President Zelenskyy's speech before the U.S. Congress this past Wednesday. While the President had previously delivered a somewhat similar discourse near the beginning of the Ukrainian- Russian War, it had been a virtual presentation and, therefore, lacked certain obvious advantages (including President Baden's remark to Zelenskyy at the press conference, "It's nice to see you."  ).    This time, the speech's emotional content was also palpable as were the symbolic visuals.  Consider, particularly, Zelenskyy's camouflage-like apparel and the use of the Ukrainian flag as he passed it to Speaker Pelosi and V.P. Harris who were standing on the dais. Even Zelenskyy's faltering English, while potentially an impediment to understanding, carried a potent message: better have authentic and strong resolve than perfect English. Let's face it:  the speech couldn't fai...