I’m old enough to remember when they started the National Film Registry and it’s always nice to see which 25 films are added each year. It’s always a combination of films crossing genres, decades, and current awareness. Some films you know well, some you think “about time,” and some –let’s be honest, fellow cinemaniacs– we don’t know… which means we have new films to check out! Anyway, here’s where you can learn about this year’s…
The Golden Globes have come and gone, and the Oscar nominations have been announced (as well as the Actor née SAG Awards). If you suddenly feel the urge to catch up on what are deemed the “best films” from 2025, you’re not alone. I am here to help that endeavor. Now, if you’re the type of person who’s all about group consensus, you might want to go no further than Metacritic’s round-up of the top…
I’m guessing I’m not the only one who has various goals related to writing for the new year, so this article by author Elizabeth McCracken, an article recommended in turn by Mary Doria Russell, author of one of my all-time favorite books, as the one she would write were she not so firmly in retirement. I’ve read and heard enough writing advice to appreciate when they (a) have cogent reasons for their system or approach…
Some days, you discover something and must share it with the world. You know that piece of rousing music you probably most associate with the circus? It often heralds the entrance of the clowns. I’ll let Marty the Zebra refresh your memory: Well, as it turns out, this particular piece of music was not written for the big top, but it was written with another circus in mind, a circus that takes it to the…
After all the viewing guides to date, we finally arrive at Deep Space Nine (DS9). While I love several other Star Trek series a whole lot (as you probably picked up on), this one remains my favorite for a multitude of reasons, not just for the root beer. No, this spinoff with no Enterprise –and not even set on a starship– is where the producers kept pushing the envelope for how much serialization they could…
Okay. Perhaps you read the viewing guides for TOS yesterday. Maybe you’ve been watching Lower Decks, which references the O.G. animated series enough that you feel like you need to see this oft forgotten Trek series for yourself. But do you need to see every episode? No. I mean, you could. Budget a relaxed day and you can watch the whole series that same day. It’s only 22 half-hour episodes that, since they were made…
My post ranking every episode of the original Star Trek series remains one of the most popular on the site which means we’re well overdue to have a viewing guide. This year will mark the 60th anniversary of adventures of the starship Enterprise first appearing on television sets. There’s aspects of the show, like any show, that are of its time, but it also sets the tone echoed by future Trek series where the exploration…
Reviewing works about motivation and fulfillment around the new year and it was easy to come across videos featuring Robert Waldinger, the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has been going on for 87 years now. As you might imagine, just like with studies that aren’t conducted over multiple generations, this study does have some insights to share. You may recall some of them yourself if you saw his TED Talk from…
It’s the new year and if you haven’t already locked in your resolutions and resolution-related plans, have I got a post for you: a 26-minute breakdown of 20 tactics to make for a better 2026 from Daniel Pink. I first read Pink’s work with Free Agent Nation and then later Drive, which sent me down the scientifically-structured rabbit hole of “flow” back in the day. So when the almighty YouTube algorithm served up Pink’s videos…
Since the return of thousands of works entering the public domain again in 2019, I’ve been posting about it — and given site traffic and feedback, y’all want me to, so here goes this year’s edition (previous entries should all be tagged). Note that I’m specifically talking about the United States, where, as of today, creative works published in 1930 and sound recordings from 1925 are free to use without licenses or fees. If you’re…