Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
The next Star Wars movie is months away, but its second “teaser trailer”, out since mid-April, has already got fans excited. Those of you not very familiar with Star Wars may at least recall how the overwhelming popularity of the “original trilogy” — Episodes IV through VI, which came out in 1977–83 — contrasted with general disappointment at the “prequels” … >>
“You two are going to be in a room alone with Kim [Jong-un], and the CIA would love it if you could take him out.” “Hm?” “Take him out.” “For coffee? Dinner? For kimchi?” “No, uh, take him out.” “You want us to kill the leader of North Korea?” “Yes.” In a nutshell, this dialogue with a CIA agent (played … >>
The popular culture of today’s youth has focused on witches, wizards, hobbits and comic-book superheroes long enough. It’s time for science to reclaim its role as a source of inspiration. There are signs that this is starting to happen: not just the popularity of the film Gravity, but the explosion in recent years of TV documentaries about science, and space … >>
Have you noticed? Nearly all of the big movies coming out of Hollywood seem to be sequels based on cartoon characters, animated figures, toys, video games or superheroes. This summer has seen Iron Man 3, Despicable Me 2, Star Trek: Into Darkness, and Fast & Furious 6. A new Superman movie is out, and it’s never long between Batman films. … >>
This column was meant for September, but as fate would have it, a few other things got in the way — the presidential election, various school shootings, the demise of Twinkies — that deserved some commentary. However, the start of a new year is just as good a time to talk about this subject: the future. What was special about … >>
There have been three generations of Batman on the screen. There was the comedic Batman of 1966–68 (one of the first TV series in color); the movie Batman of 1989–97 (which suffered from a lot of bad acting); and the dark Batman of 2005–12 (which explores the origins of the title character). Inspiration came from the original Batman comic from … >>
We all knew this day would come. Last Friday, the Münchener Filmpassage shut its doors. This wasn’t just any video-rental place. It had the largest selection of English-language films anywhere in Germany, including numerous titles released directly to video that no one would have known about otherwise. I’d go in looking for one film and come out with four or … >>
Back when I was a newsreader for my college radio station, I was shown one of the thickest books I’d ever seen: a binder containing, I guess, about 500 pages. Those were all the rules an American radio station had to follow, as laid down by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). While I found the book daunting, my contemporaries found … >>
The cold, wet weather that lasted into the early part of August didn’t provide much of an incentive to go outdoors. Fortunately, however, this year has offered some very interesting reality TV. In January and February I found myself watching what I call the Egypt show, a touching soap opera that was on every night. That series ended with a … >>
These are crazy times. On one TV channel, mobs are destroying cities in England. On another channel, mobs are destroying San Francisco. The first is presented as news, and I’m supposed to be shocked by it. The second is presented as entertainment, and I’m supposed to enjoy it. Is this sick or what? Obviously the makers of Rise of the … >>