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5. Seinfeld (1989-1998)
by Jon Warner It’s hard to know where to start on an essay about Seinfeld. Doesn’t everyone already know everything there needs to be known on the show? Google greatest Seinfeld episodes and you’ll...
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4. I Love Lucy (1951-1957)
by Brian E. Wilson Here in Chicago a film critic named Mark Caro has been running an ongoing monthly film series called “Is It Still Funny?.” He screens a comedy movie from the past at the good ole...
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3. The Honeymooners (1955-6)
by John Greco My parents and I moved to Bensonhurst when I was three days shy of my eleventh birthday. Like the Kamden’s we were a blue collar family and lived in an old apartment house. However, it...
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ABBAS KIAROSTAMI’S SHIRIN “I’m surprised the entire world is not in love with...
© 2017 by James Clark Kiarostami’s film, Shirin (2008), is an endeavor that is formally simple and thematically complex. It could be called a speculative minefield. What could be easier than to...
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2. Twin Peaks (1990-91 & 2017)
by Joel Bocko This essay is spoiler-free until noted within the text itself. Readers unfamiliar with Twin Peaks are encouraged to continue up to that point, marked by “***”, to build interest. Fair...
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1. The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)
by Robert Hornak “I bow with great deference to the real masters… I can adapt science fiction I think quite adequately, but I can’t create it on an original level.” – interview with James Gunn, 1970...
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Top 80 Greatest Television Show Countdown, Caldecott Medal Contender Series,...
by Sam Juliano October already? Hard to believe, but here we are looking at Halloween decoration full front and getting some weather that seems to suggest summer has spent its oppressive resources....
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Caldecott Medal Contender: The Seashore Book
by Sam Juliano There’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s sent away. -Sarah Kay...
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Duane Porter says “Are We Never Going to Wake Up?”
Reports of the carnage in Las Vegas broke after I had already posted the Monday Morning Diary. The news was as horrific as it was unconscionable. Duane Porter tellingly frames this depravity with...
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Greatest Television Countdown Part 2 will be pushed back 5 weeks; Allan Fish...
Part 2 of our wildly popular Greatest Television Countdown, originally eyed for mid December will now be pushed back until late January. The reasons are two-fold: I have received a few e mails from...
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Something Wicked This Way Comes
By J.D. Lafrance The 1980s was a fertile period for fantasy films and Disney tried to capitalize on this in the early part of the decade with an adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s classic novel Something...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: Stay: A Girl, a Dog, a Bucket List
by Sam Juliano Side by side with your loved one/You’ll find enchanted here/The night will weave its magic spell/When the one you love is near. -“Bella Notte”, Lady and the Tramp The dictionary...
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Mother, Stronger and Battle of the Sexes on Monday Morning Diary (October 9)
by Sam Juliano Summer temperatures are back as we approach mid-October, but I can hardly attribute this to any kind of climate change, right? After all, our ever-insightful Chief Executive has told...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut
by Sam Juliano He’s so fine (Do-lang, do-lang, do-lang) Wish he were mine (Do-lang, do-lang, do-lang) That handsome boy over there (Do-lang, do-lang, do-lang) The one with the wavy hair (Do-lang,...
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George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead
By J.D. Lafrance I’ve seen George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978) enough times that when I watch it, I pay more attention to things that go on in the background or margins of scenes because I’ve...
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Blade Runner 2049
By J.D. Lafrance When Blade Runner was released in 1982, it was savaged by critics and failed to make back its budget. Over the years, however, its reputation grew, as did its influence. The look of...
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Caldecott Medal Contender: The Secret Project
by Sam Juliano Then it happened. A sudden, terrible light flashed all around. The light was bright orange – then white, like thousands of lightning bolts all striking at once. Violent shock waves...
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Professor Marston and the Wonder Women and Chappaqua Book Festival on Monday...
“Shout” (1978) by Sam Juliano Autumn weather is trying real hard to make its presence known but summer is driving a hard bargain in these parts. In any event mid October is usually a fun time of the...
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KELLY REICHARDT’S ‘CERTAIN WOMEN’“Dad, like I care?”
© 2017 by James Clark After enjoying a number of films loaded for bear, it’s a bit of a breath of fresh air to see to it that small game must not be forgotten. Whereas the likes of Kiarostami,...
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John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness
By J.D. Lafrance “The outside world doesn’t want to hear this kind of bullshit. Just keep it locked away. They’ve already managed it for 2000 years.” – Birack Prince of Darkness (1987) was made after...
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