Area 45

  People always ask me about Roswell and the aliens and UFOs, and it turns out the stuff going on that’s top secret isn’t nearly as exciting as you expect. ~President Barack Obama/November 17, 2015 Every president since Harry Truman has been asked about Roswell and the Nevada Air Force testing facility commonly known as … Read more

Adieu Good Men

  When new movie releases are dominated by re-makes or re-boots, it is a clear signal writers and producers are short on new material.  This year has been no exception. From Hugh Jackman as Dr. Doolittle to Colin Firth as Mary’s guardian Archibald Craven in The Secret Garden to Elizabeth Moss fighting off The Invisible Man, … Read more

Covert Capitalism

  A former Miami University colleague and lifelong mentor would always advise his students,  “If, at the end of a day, you cannot say, ‘I had fun or learned something today,’ it’s time to do something else.”  Five years and 580 posts later, I still have not hit that wall.  That said, there are still … Read more

Anatomy of a Lie

  In normal times, Donald Trump’s Thursday night interview with Dr. Marc Siegel on Fox News would have been on the front page of The Onion. It was a parody of George Carlin’s monologue “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television,” This satirical version will henceforth be known as “The Five Words You Have … Read more

Why Hamilton?

  There is one positive aspect about the founding of the United States which is beyond reproach.  Cinematic productions of award-winning Broadway musicals about the era are among the best transformations of content from stage to screen.  Such was the case with Peter Hunt’s 1972 production of 1776 and Disney’s presentation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton.  What … Read more