2020-10-24 06:27
My wife and I just saw Borat 2 aka Borat Subsequent Moviefilm on Amazon Prime Video. As with the first Borat movie in 2006, it was at turns and sometimes all together (and altoget… Read More
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Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress Blog
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reviewing 12 Monkeys, American Crime, Billions, Black Sails, Bloodline, Bones, Bosch, Colony, Deutschland 83, Fargo, Fear TWD, Game of Thrones, Hell on Wheels, Homeland, House of Cards, Humans, Marseille, Masters of Sex, Mr. Robot, Peaky Blinders, Outlander, Ray Donovan, Rectify, The: Affair, Americans, Girlfriend Experience, Man in the High Castle, Walking Dead; Tyrant, Vikings +movies, music, politicsGeorge Santayana had irrational faith in reason - I have irrational faith in TV.
2020-10-24 02:55
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 151, in which I argue that the U. S. government pursuing anti-trust action against Google is not a good idea. My reasons range from med… Read More
2020-10-20 01:02
My wife and I saw The Trial of the Chicago Seven on Netflix on Saturday. Having lived through the real trial of the Chicago Seven (originally Eight) in 1969-1970, there was a little too much… Read More
2020-10-12 21:33
The wife and I quickly binged the first two seasons of Keeping Faith, billed on Acorn by way of Amazon Prime Video as a Welsh thriller but just as much a powerfully effective family drama. W… Read More
2020-10-12 18:05
This is the cover of Cheng Gong's book, just published in China, (English translation): "Media Competition for Human Selection, Survival of the Fittest: Paul Levinson's Media Evolutionary Th… Read More
2020-10-08 21:28
I was not in the slightest surprised to just hear this news: “I’m not going to do a virtual debate,” Trump told Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo... “I&r&hell…Read More
2020-10-08 21:27
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 150, in which I discuss Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2nd 2020 Presidential debate because it was virtual (online not in person) which allo… Read More
2020-10-08 02:55
I didn't keep a strict count, but I'd say VP Pence avoided answering more than half the questions put to him by Susan Page in the just concluded VP 2020 debate. The most egregious… Read More
2020-10-04 22:03
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 149, in which I review Utopia,now streaming on Amazon Prime. Further reading (blog post): Utopia: More Fun the Real World Check out this episode!… Read More
2020-10-04 20:56
Just what we needed, right? A series about a virus that's spreading quickly from city to city -- and killing children no less? And the plot hinges on a hyped vaccine that may not… Read More
2020-10-02 22:43
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 148, in which I review episodes six to ten of Raised by Wolves. Further listening: podcast review of Raised by Wolves 1-3 podcast revi… Read More
2020-10-02 20:12
A powerful, even stunning, season one finale for Raised by Wolves on HBO Max last night.[spoilers follow]The big reveal is that Mother and I and everyone was wrong about how her baby came to… Read More
2020-09-30 02:54
Donald Trump, who has destroyed or impaired so much of what we cherish and deem important in America, took his pickaxe to the First 2020 Presidential debate tonight, interrupting Joe Biden a… Read More
2020-09-29 03:33
The second and concluding part of The Comey Rule, just concluded on Showtime, was every bit as powerful as the first. By which I mean to say, brilliantly acted and staged.As to the fac… Read More
2020-09-28 06:54
I had planned on waiting until I saw all of The Comey Rule on Showtime -- the two parts -- before I reviewed it. But there are too many things I want to say about first part, on earlie… Read More
2020-09-25 22:02
The story brought vividly home in Raised by Wolves 1.8 and 1.9, that androids can bear biological children, a hybrid of some sort of android and human, lifts this series into territory not e… Read More
2020-09-24 20:43
Before Twice Upon A Rhyme and Welcome Up: Songs of Space and Time, there were Spun Dreams: studio and home demos, most from mid to late 60s, sunshine pop with a bit of an edge and a psy… Read More
2020-09-21 23:02
Parables come in all kinds of platforms. The Platform, a Spanish film with English subtitles now on Netflix, is a story about the essence of humanity tested to its very limits. That&rsquo……Read More
2020-09-21 06:00
Just saw Anthony Marinelli's virtual production of Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit. A scorchingly brilliant two hours.First, seeing this play on a screen was in many ways better than i… Read More
2020-09-19 17:59
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music Read More
2020-09-19 04:21
Lots of important, even game-changing events in episodes 1.6-7 of Raised by Wolves, up on HBO Max yesterday:Campion and Paul are becoming rivals, even though it looks as if they'll still ult… Read More
2020-09-18 21:42
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 147, in which I offer a lecture I gave just last night -- the night before Trump's ban on TikTok was announced -- about why that ban violates the F… Read More
2020-09-15 21:46
When they came up with the name Nordic Noir -- whoever that they was -- they surely had something like Wisting in mind. Not only does it take place in Norway and feature a season… Read More
2020-09-14 16:47
I thought the finale to We Hunt Together's short six-episode first season, on Showtime last night, was just right: meaning, all four central characters ended up just where they best, o… Read More
2020-09-14 06:07
The news just broke that ByteDance just rejected Microsoft's offer to buy TikTok*.This is big news, with profound First Amendment implications. Trump has threatened to ban TikTok in th… Read More
2020-09-13 01:13
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 146, in which I review all five episodes of Amazing Stories (2020) now on Apple+ TV. Further reading: Amazing Stories (2020) 1.1: "The Cellar": T… Read More
2020-09-12 02:17
Well, Amazing Stories saved the best for last in its short five-episode season on Apple+ TV this past Spring, and it made a fine bookend with the first episode, because both were about time… Read More
2020-09-12 01:35
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 145, in which I review episodes four and five of Raised by Wolves. (Cameo by Tina) Further listening: podcast review of Raised by Wolve… Read More
2020-09-11 05:33
I thought the 4th and 5th episodes of Raised by Wolves were really good, especially the 5th, because it gave us a nice big origin story about Mother - how she was created, and endowed/progra… Read More
2020-09-10 04:25
I often say to my students, when we talk about which is the most powerful, predominating medium in our political world, that you shouldn't count older media out. Trump made Twitter his… Read More
2020-09-10 01:41
The fourth episode of the revived Amazing Stories (2020) on Apple+ TV was about a woman revived from a thought-to-be irreversible coma. So, just like Amazing Stories, she comes b… Read More
2020-09-09 00:22
Just watched Amazing Stories (2020) 1.3 on Apple TV+, and I realized something: there's a real sweetness running through at least the first episodes that I've seen, making this incarnation o… Read More
2020-09-08 22:15
Tobias Cabral picked a good time to send me his 2018 novel New Eyes for review. Mars is in the air. Actually, it's always been in the air, or at least, at the top of the ai… Read More
2020-09-08 02:50
Doing a narrative of a younger version of a famed older character is a tricky business. Without going into which ones worked and which ones did not, and why, let's just say that some o… Read More
2020-09-07 03:09
We learned two very important things about Freddy in We Hunt Together 1.5:1. Nothing the teacher did at that school turned her into a murderer when Freddy was still Lily. Instead… Read More
2020-09-06 07:13
My wife and I just finished binge-watching Away, a 10-episode series, on Netflix. I can't recall a better movie or television series about missions to Mars or early human settlements on Mars… Read More
2020-09-04 16:46
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 144, in which I review the first three episodes of a powerful new science fiction series, Raised by Wolves. Further reading (blog posts): Raised… Read More
2020-09-04 04:58
I just watched Raised by Wolves 1.2 and 1.3, on HBO Max. It's all that is available there now (along with the first episode that I saw and reviewed the other night), but the three are… Read More
2020-09-03 01:07
Life after death stories - the departed coming back to help, haunt, or otherwise interact with the living - are a dime a dozen. Amazing Stories' (2020) second episode, "The Heat," manages to… Read More
2020-09-02 02:24
I just saw Raised by Wolves 1.1, courtesy of HBO Max, where the series is set to debut this Thursday, September 3. In a sentence, it's a big concept, altogether excellent combination o… Read More
2020-09-01 22:49
I finally had a chance to take a bite out of Apple TV+'s reboot of Amazing Stories (it's so quiet when I write, you can sometimes hear a pun drop), and I thought I'd tell you what I th… Read More
2020-08-31 18:35
It should be apparent by now that Lovecraft Country is an anthology of separate stories set on a foundation of a continuing underlying story, rather than just a straightforward continuing st… Read More
2020-08-31 03:24
There was no murder in We Hunt Together 1.4. But the build-up to it made for an outstanding episode, since it unveiled and moved forward lots of crucial things.For instance, Jackson's… Read More
2020-08-28 02:59
I thought I'd tell you about The Petersens, a piece of sunshine in music, always welcome, but especially so in these deeply dangerous times.The Petersens are a family group, three sist… Read More
2020-08-26 19:28
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 143, in which I offer my assessment of the second night of the 2020 Republican National Convention: lies. Further reading (blog post): Report on D… Read More
2020-08-26 03:19
I didn't watch much of last night's First Night of the 2020 Republican National Convention. I made up for that by watching just about all of the Second Night of the convention, tonight… Read More
2020-08-25 23:10
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 142, in which the inimitable Captain Phil (on WUSB Radio) interviews me again, this time about the 2020 Democratic National Convention, conducted v… Read More
2020-08-25 03:02
I decided to watch Lovecraft Country 1.2 tonight - though it was on last night - instead of the first night of the Republican National Convention because, come on, you know which one was the… Read More
2020-08-24 22:13
We learned a lot about our major quarter of characters in We Hunt Together 1.3 on Showtime last night.Baba doesn't like to kill. In fact, he wants to recapture some of the small boy th… Read More
2020-08-24 04:54
thank you Jon Pruett and Ugly Things MagazineWelcome Up: Songs of Space and Time - digital, CD, vinyl Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music Read More
2020-08-23 02:04
A belated review of We Hunt Together 1.2, which really upped its game.First, the killing team of Freddy and Baba got another two murders under their belts - or, in at least one case, up hang… Read More
2020-08-22 04:47
Finally had a chance to watch the debut of Lovecraft Country on HBO. I was pulled away this past week by the Democratic National Convention, televised and virtual and truly inspi… Read More
2020-08-21 05:50
And the 2020 Democratic National Convention concluded tonight, very likely the most important political convention in our American history, because it nominated candidates for President and… Read More
2020-08-21 05:33
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 141, in which I offer my assessment of the fourth and final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Podcast take on 2020 Democratic Nati… Read More
2020-08-20 05:26
What a speech by Barack Obama on the third night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, the first virtual National Democratic or Republican Convention in history. I thought the sp… Read More
2020-08-20 05:04
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 140, in which I offer my assessment of the third night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Podcast take on 2020 Democratic National Conven… Read More
2020-08-19 05:14
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 139, in which I offer my assessment of the second night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Further reading (my blog): Report on the 2020… Read More
2020-08-19 05:13
I thought the second day of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, totally virtual, and just concluded on television, hit an emotional tone which was at once at deep as it gets, and hopefu… Read More
2020-08-18 06:00
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 137, in which I explain why I think we Americans must do everything in our power to defend the US Postal Service from the current, all-out Trumpian… Read More
2020-08-18 05:59
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 138, in which I offer my assessment of the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Further reading (my blog) Report on 2020 Democr… Read More
2020-08-18 05:59
I thought the first of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, the first virtual convention ever held, was truly effective. Not only because of what the well-known speakers said… Read More
2020-08-17 18:36
My wife and I binge-watched another two-season U.K. offering from Acorn TV: London Kills. It's been billed as akin to Criminal Minds and Castle, but, episode for episode (five per-seas… Read More
2020-08-16 21:52
My wife and I binged the two seasons of Striking Out, originally (in 2017-2018) on Irish TV, now on Acorn via Amazon Prime. The show only ran two seasons, and there's apparently no pro… Read More
2020-08-15 07:13
It seems strange to have to write in defense of the U. S. Postal Service, but it's a measure of the depravity of the man in the White House, and how far he's willing to go in his flailing at… Read More
2020-08-13 21:20
No, this is not a review of a new science movie I just caught on Netflix, though it could have been, a few years ago, before the explosion in video technology and savvy which has created on… Read More
2020-08-12 22:59
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 136, in which I explain why I think Joe Biden's selection of Kamala Harris as his running mate is America's first step back from the precipice. Fur… Read More
2020-08-12 18:30
I wrote a few days ago (and also posted a podcast) about why I strongly disagreed with Wade Davis's conclusion, in "The Unraveling of America" in Rolling Stone, that America was so far gone… Read More
2020-08-10 04:49
My wife and I just binged two seasons of Rebecka Martinsson on Acorn via Prime Video, and loved it. The narrative takes in the northern-most town of Sweden, Kiruna. Rebecka… Read More
2020-08-10 04:10
A different kind of detective show, just on Showtime: We Hunt Together.How is it different? British - well, there are lots of those. Somewhat unusual format: About equa… Read More
2020-08-10 03:13
In the old days, they used to have something called B-movies. They were intended to accompany the A-movie, the main attraction, in the double features that played in neighborhood movie hou… Read More
2020-08-09 23:20
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 135, in which I rebut Wade Davis's claim in a recent essay in Rolling Stone that America's decline is irreversible. Further reading Wade Davis's T… Read More
2020-08-09 04:15
Canadian anthropologist Wade Davis posted a savvy article in Rolling Stone, entitled The Unraveling of America. Its thesis that America's generally atrocious handling of the COVID-19 p… Read More
2020-08-06 23:49
The third season of Absentia was up on Amazon Prime Video last month. I liked it the best of the three seasons so far because, well, I like James Bond type stories more than a vanished… Read More
2020-08-06 23:22
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 134, in which I review the three seasons so far of Absentia. Read the reviews in this blog: Absentia 1: In Your Face and Worth Watching Absentia… Read More
2020-08-05 22:55
Shows about lawyers defending clients wrongly accused of murder are a dime a dozen, on both sides of the Atlantic. So are espionage shows in the U. K., in which the Americans are the b… Read More
2020-08-04 20:56
The Nest concluded its 5-part mini-series Acorn run on Prime Video last night. Top-notch Scottish noir, if there is such a thing, and there should be.The story involves a wealthy co… Read More
2020-08-02 22:58
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 133, in which I give context to why the SpaceX splashdown today is such a momentous event in lifting our species off this planet. Further reading:… Read More
2020-08-02 07:03
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 132, in which I review two movies by The Safdie Brothers -- Good Time and Uncut Gems. Read these reviews: Good Time Uncut Gems Check out this epi… Read More
2020-08-01 05:48
So, there's a new app called Swell, which I was invited to join a few days ago, which I did. You can discuss any topic you like, via up to five-minute audio recordings. Tod… Read More
2020-07-28 20:48
now streaming free on Amazon Prime VideoFuturism [Ray Percival]Kristi Kritiques [Kristiana Maroudas]Re)Search My Trash [Mike Haberfelner]SFRevu [Steve Sawicki]Time Travel Nexus [Michael Main… Read More
2020-07-28 03:12
The wife and I just saw Motherless Brooklyn on HBO. It's billed as an Edward Norton movie - he also starred in it - based on the Jonathan Lethem novel. I didn't read the novel (I… Read More
2020-07-27 19:14
I said in my review last week of Into the Dark's current episode, "The Current Occupant," that I'd be going back and coming back to review all the earlier episodes, so here's my review of "T… Read More
2020-07-27 01:41
A belated but much appreciative review of Sanditon, folks - the Jane Austen unfinished novel, completed by Andrew Davies. Well, not completely appreciative, because I didn't find the narrati… Read More
2020-07-26 05:41
Just caught Code 8 on Netflix. It's at once a story of people with superpowers, robot cops, human cops, and criminals. The people with superpowers are feared by normal humans, wi… Read More
2020-07-25 19:02
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 131, in which I review Unsolved Mysteries, recently returned, on Netflix. Further reading: Unsolved Mysteries Is Back - With No Host? The New Uns… Read More
2020-07-24 18:13
Having complained about the lack of a host in the new Unsolved Mysteries now on Netflix, I figured the least I could is review the first six of ten (?) episodes now streaming. In a phr… Read More
2020-07-23 23:53
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 130, in which I talk about one of the bedrocks of my "anthropotropic" theory of media evolution -- why some media, such as sight-only silent movies… Read More
2020-07-22 23:51
My wife and I caught the first episode of the revived Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix. It was good enough, and we're going to watch the other episodes, but ... the show had no host!Now, I know… Read More
2020-07-19 18:05
I saw "The Current Occupant" late last night, the current 90-minute offering on Hulu's Into the Dark monthly anthology series. In a word: outstanding! A narrative that I'd say is… Read More
2020-07-19 03:00
My wife and I just finished binging Dirty John Season 2: Betty on the USA Network. It was a powerful season, brilliantly acted by Amanda Peet in the title role, but not as good as the… Read More
2020-07-17 19:00
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 129, in which I give you a little primer about "media determinism," the bedrock of just about all media studies. Further listening: Politics… Read More
2020-07-13 23:30
Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music Read More
2020-07-12 23:07
Hightown's season one wrapped up tonight (episode 1.8). A short but powerful season, all set to fire on all kind of cylinders in season two.[Spoilers follow]The gist of the plot is tha… Read More
2020-07-12 00:26
My wife and I just binged Reckoning, an outstanding psychological thriller about a serial killer and the detective bent on nabbing him that's been on Netflix since May. The ten e… Read More
2020-07-10 01:31
So my wife and I binged Harlan Coben's The Five the past few nights on Netflix. It's a 10-episode series by way of Sky One in the U.K. from 2016, and somehow we missed it. Better… Read More
2020-07-05 23:37
Hanna 2 starts a little slow, with a few too many episodes devoted to Hanna getting back to The Meadows and re-uniting with/saving Clara. But once it gets over that, this second season… Read More
2020-07-05 00:47
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 128, in which I tell you what happened more than seven years ago, when I served as foreperson on a jury in Westchester County, NY, where an African… Read More
2020-07-03 22:28
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 126, in which I share an online lecture I gave a few days ago about Politics and Media in History. I touch on such topics as literacy and dem… Read More
2020-07-02 02:01
My wife and I just finishing bingeing two seasons, sixteen episodes, of Balthazar, the French series on Prime Video Acorn, made in 2018 and 2019, streaming here since April. Despite it… Read More
2020-06-29 02:54
Well, there were more than two noteworthy things in tonight's next-to-last episode of the season - 1.7 - of Hightown.But the phrase was in the best line of the episode, which had lots of goo… Read More
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