Attribution: DelmerViramontes, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has established that he and Phyllis will be dealing with all future severe winter weather issues from their control recliners and adds that the keeper is hard at work designing an “ejection-recliner” which uses sound activation to forcefully eject …
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Category:Television
Kickass and Willie’s Birthday
Attribution: Robbiework, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joined the keeper and Phyllis in watching the parade of old country music stars celebrate Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday on Sunday night TV, and proclaimed the time well spent considering the age group involved and alternative entertainment options. As a symbol of …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of Wes Anderson’s “Poison”
Attribution: Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash Silent and Deadly: Review of Wes Anderson’s Poison R. Soedirman, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter In the last feature of Wes Anderson’s film anthology of four Roald Dahl short stories produced for Netflix, he creates a tense and gripping suspense tale about a man trapped in his …
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Kickass Watches PBS
Attribution: NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joined the keeper and Phyllis in forsaking the MSNBC endless political haranguing for a series of PBS Wednesday night programs that were both reassuring and humbling: From unusual people enjoying nature to a portrait of the planet Earth in terms of …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”
Attribution: Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash Storytime with Wes Anderson: Review of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar By Geoff Carter It’s not very often that an established feature-length motion picture director will release a short feature. The New York Stories anthology film featured segments directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen, and Martin Scorsese. Quentin Tarantino directed …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Bingeworthy
Attribution: Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash Bingeworthy: The Ten Best Cable and Streaming TV Series By Geoff Carter Just this week, the one of the oldest and most distinguished movie theaters in my city closed. The Downer Theater, part of the Landmark theater chain that originally began as a showcase for independent and arthouse films, has …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: An Embarrassment of Riches
Attribution: Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash By Geoff Carter Since the SAG and screenwriters’ strikes, there has been a lot of anxiety and handwringing about the anticipated dearth of new movies and television series. Without writers or actors, there will be no new productions—no new installments from the Marvel or the D.C. Universe, no new Star …
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Kickass and TV Dominance
Attribution: Infopablo00, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is working with the keeper and Phyllis to determine the effects of their recent five-day runaway that included NO television watching. The question goes beyond simple survival in the absence of a huge blaring screen, and gets more specific, asking can …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Not Just Another Happy Ending
The Ted Lasso Finale: Not Just Another Happy Ending The Cast of Ted Lasso at the The White HouseThe White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons The Apple TV Series Ted Lasso has been something—like the team it chronicles—of an underdog story. At face value, the show seems predictable: a comedy combining elements of the fish-out-of-water, a …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Lucky Hank”
Photo by Oscar Nord on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/Sd87V72cJEU Stuck in The Middle: Review of AMC Streaming Series Lucky Hank By Geoff Carter Hank Devereaux, Jr., (Bob Odenkirk), the protagonist—he can hardly be said to be a hero, except perhaps in an accidental sense—is a man mired in the mixed blessings of the life of an academic. He is an …
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New Wave Cinema 2.0: The Films of David Lynch
Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter In The New Wave 2.0 series, The Pen in Hand Blog will be examining the work of today’s most provocative and influential filmmakers, artists whose singular visual styles and visionary senses have stretched the boundaries of cinema. Drawing upon Francois Truffaut’s definition of an auteur, …
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The Couch Potato’s Guide to Living the High Life
Greg Hume, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Review of The White Lotus on HBO In the Buddhist religion, a white lotus is a symbol of mental purity found in the state of bodhi, or awakening. It is also linked to a state of enlightenment and strength. In Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, the lotus-eaters were a society of …
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