Yours portly has finally had some time to watch some movies again, and it really went from famine to feast. I’ve watched several solid flicks lately, including this week’s selection, the French-Canadian psychological thriller Red Rooms (2023).
Tag: analysis
SubscribeStar Saturday: Tariffs Work
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Amid a flurry of big news this week—which seems to be the norm now that Trump is back in office—one of the major stories was the president of Colombia backing down once Trump slapped some tariffs on his country for refusing to accept deportation flights from the United States. That the Colombian government didn’t even want their own people back tells you everything you need to know about the quality of these immigrants.
But I digress. Trump is wielding tariffs like a serious foreign policy weapon, which works exceptionally well when you’re the most powerful and productive economy on the Earth. Yes, the United States has struggled economically in recent years, but we’re still on top. Tariffs will only help with that goal, by bringing back manufacturing; ending America’s reliance on the financialization of everything as the driver of our economic growth; and forcing recalcitrant nations to play ball.
It is remarkable that we are returning, after the long fever trade of unbridled free trade—even at our own expense—to the age of William McKinley, a president that is often forgotten, but who has enjoyed renewed cache in recent years. President Trump explicitly mentioned McKinley in his Inaugural Address, and the former president’s legacy is experiencing a renaissance of sorts.
Today (Saturday, 1 February 2025), Canada, Mexico, and China will face new tariffs on their goods. Each of these nations have exploited America’s good will by flooding our nation with illegal fentanyl and immigrants. It is about dang time.
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Lazy Sunday CCXCVI: Golden Age
America’s golden age has begun, and it’s already off to an amazing start: deportations, sanity on gender, firings—even snow in South Carolina! It’s an exciting, dynamic time to be alive.
- “SubscribeStar Saturday: A New Hope is Dawning” (SubscribeStar) – a piece in which I made a somewhat—but only somewhat!—contrived comparison between Trump’s hero’s journey and that of Luke Skywalker. It’s not as cringe as it sounds.
- “Daybreak in America: Trump’s Inauguration, MLK Day, and a New Hope” – some reflections and unlikely comparisons between Trump and MLK, this post also includes the full text of “A New Hope is Dawning.” I think it might be one of the best posts I’ve ever written.
- “River of Tear” – my slightly—but only slightly!—mean-spirited gloating about deporting overweight immigrants.
Happy Sunday!
—TPP
Other Lazy Sunday Installments:
- Lazy Sunday – APR Pieces
- Lazy Sunday II – Lincoln Posts
- Lazy Sunday III – Historical Moments
- Lazy Sunday IV – Christianity
- Lazy Sunday V – Progressivism, Part I
- Lazy Sunday VI – Progressivism, Part II
- Lazy Sunday VII – Deep State
- Lazy Sunday VIII – Conservatism
- Lazy Sunday IX – Economics, Part I
- Lazy Sunday X – Economics, Part II
- Lazy Sunday XI – Walls
- Lazy Sunday XII – Space
- Lazy Sunday XIII – Immigration
- Lazy Sunday XIV – Gay Stuff
- Lazy Sunday XV – Work
- Lazy Sunday XVI – #MAGAWeek2018
- Lazy Sunday XVII – #MAGAWeek2019
- Lazy Sunday XVIII – SubscribeStar Posts
- Lazy Sunday XIX – Music
- Lazy Sunday XX – The Laziest Sunday
- Lazy Sunday XXI – Travel
- Lazy Sunday XXII – Reading
- Lazy Sunday XXIII – Richard Weaver
- Lazy Sunday XXIV – Education
- Lazy Sunday XXV – Techno-Weirdos
- Lazy Sunday XXVI – Small Town Living
- Lazy Sunday XXVII – Bric-a-Brac
- Lazy Sunday XXVIII – World History
- Lazy Sunday XXIX – The New Criterion
- Lazy Sunday XXX – Trump, Part I
- Lazy Sunday XXXI – Trump, Part II
- Lazy Sunday XXXII – Festivals
- Lazy Sunday XXXIII – Virtue Signalling
- Lazy Sunday XXXIV – The Desperate Search for Meaning Series
- Lazy Sunday XXXV – Corporate Grind
- Lazy Sunday XXXVI – Best of the Reblogs, Part I
- Lazy Sunday XXXVII – Best of the Reblogs, Part II
- Lazy Sunday XXXVIII – Best of the Reblogs, Part III
- Lazy Sunday XXXIX – A Very Dokken Christmas Series
- Lazy Sunday XL – Christmas Carols
- Lazy Sunday XLI – Food
- Lazy Sunday XLII – 2019’s Top Five Posts
- Lazy Sunday XLIII – Music, Part II: More Music
- Lazy Sunday XLIV – SubscribeStar Saturday Posts, Part II: The Search for More Money
- Lazy Sunday XLV – Techno-Weirdos II
- Lazy Sunday XLVI – Man Time
- Lazy Sunday XLVII – Winning
- Lazy Sunday XLVIII – Culture
- Lazy Sunday XLIX – Family
- Lazy Sunday L – The Best of Lazy Sunday
- Lazy Sunday LI – Just for Fun
- Lazy Sunday LII – Democratic Candidates, Part I
- Lazy Sunday LIII – Democratic Candidates, Part II
- Lazy Sunday LIV – Coronavirus
- Lazy Sunday LV – Animals
- Lazy Sunday LVI – Movies
- Lazy Sunday LVII – Christianity, Part II
- Lazy Sunday LVIII – Spring Break Short Story Recommendations Recap
- Lazy Sunday LIX – The God Pill Series
- Lazy Sunday LX – Music, Part II: Gigging
- Lazy Sunday LXI – The Tuck
- Lazy Sunday LXII – The South
- Lazy Sunday LXIII – Holidays
- Lazy Sunday LXIV – Grab Bag
- Lazy Sunday LXV – Rioting
- Lazy Sunday LXVI – Video Games
- Lazy Sunday LXVII – Phone it in Fridays, Part I
- Lazy Sunday LXVIII – Phone it in Fridays, Part II
- Lazy Sunday LXIX – Phone it in Fridays, Part III
- Lazy Sunday LXX – Phone it in Friday, Part IV
- Lazy Sunday LXXI – Road Trips
- Lazy Sunday LXXII – Forgotten Posts, Volume I
- Lazy Sunday LXXIII – Forgotten Posts, Volume II
- Lazy Sunday LXXIV – Forgotten Posts, Volume III
- Lazy Sunday LXXV – Forgotten Posts, Volume IV
- Lazy Sunday LXXVI – Forgotten Posts, Volume V
- Lazy Sunday LXXVII – Rural America
- Lazy Sunday LXXVIII – Space, Part II
- Lazy Sunday LXXXIX – SCOTUS
- Lazy Sunday LXXX – Big Ideas
- Lazy Sunday LXXXI – Education, Part II
- Lazy Sunday LXXXII – Universal Studios
- Lazy Sunday LXXXIII – The Mountains
- Lazy Sunday LXXXIV – Halloween Hijinks
- Lazy Sunday LXXXV – Elections
- Lazy Sunday LXXXVI – Questions, Part I
- Lazy Sunday LXXXVII – Questions, Part II
- Lazy Sunday LXXXVIII – Questions, Part III
- Lazy Sunday LXXXIX – 100 Week Review
- Lazy Sunday XC – Questions, Part IV
- Lazy Sunday XCI – Questions, Part V
- Lazy Sunday XCII – Christmas
- Lazy Sunday XCIII – 2020’s Top Five Posts
- Lazy Sunday XCIV – My Favorite Things
- Lazy Sunday XCV – The Best of Lazy Sunday
- Lazy Sunday XCVI – More Movies: Movie Reviews, Part I
- Lazy Sunday XCVII – More Movies II: Movie Reviews, Part II
- Lazy Sunday XCVIII – More Movies III: Movie Reviews, Part III
- Lazy Sunday XCIX – Romantic Music
- Lazy Sunday C – Valentine’s Day
- Lazy Sunday CI – Obituaries, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CII – Obituaries, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CIII – Begging
- Lazy Sunday CIV – Time
- Lazy Sunday CV – Grab Bag II
- Lazy Sunday CVI – Adventures
- Lazy Sunday CVII – Easter
- Lazy Sunday CVIII – Spring Break Short Story Recommendations 2021 Recap
- Lazy Sunday CIX – Pillow Talk
- Lazy Sunday CX – Inspector Gerard Reviews
- Lazy Sunday CXI – Bric-a-Brac II
- Lazy Sunday CXII – Responsibility
- Lazy Sunday CXIII – Short Stories
- Lazy Sunday CXIV – More Movies IV: Movie Reviews, Part IV
- Lazy Sunday CXV – Memorable Mondays
- Lazy Sunday CXVI – Delays
- Lazy Sunday CXVII – More Movies V – Movie Reviews, Part V
- Lazy Sunday CXVIII – More Movies VI – Movie Reviews, Part VI
- Lazy Sunday CXIX – Summer Camps
- Lazy Sunday CXX – Animals, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CXXI – MAGAWeek2021 Posts
- Lazy Sunday CXXII – MAGAWeek2020 Posts
- Lazy Sunday CXXIII – Murphy
- Lazy Sunday CXXIV – Bible Posts
- Lazy Sunday CXXV – More Movies VII – Movie Reviews, Part VII
- Lazy Sunday CXXVI – Joy, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CXXVII – Joy, Part II – Music
- Lazy Sunday CXXVIII – Civilization
- Lazy Sunday CXXIX – Friends, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CXXX – Friends, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CXXXI – Friends, Part III
- Lazy Sunday CXXXII – Milestones
- Lazy Sunday CXXXIII – Inspector Gerard
- Lazy Sunday CXXXIV – Friends, Part IV
- Lazy Sunday CXXXV – More Movies VIII – Movie Reviews, Part VIII
- Lazy Sunday CXXXVI – More Movies IX – Movie Reviews, Part IX
- Lazy Sunday CXXXVII – More Halloween Hijinks
- Lazy Sunday CXXXVIII – Friends, Part V
- Lazy Sunday CXXXIX – More Movies, Part X – Movie Reviews, Part X
- Lazy Sunday CXL – More Movies, Part XI – Movie Reviews, Part XI
- Lazy Sunday CXLI – Thanksgiving Stuff(ing)
- Lazy Sunday CXLII – More Movies, Part XII – Movie Reviews, Part XII
- Lazy Sunday CXLIII – More Movies, Part XIII – Movie Reviews, Part XIII
- Lazy Sunday CXLIV – More Christmas Carols
- Lazy Sunday CXLV – Christmas Cheer
- Lazy Sunday CXLVI – 2021’s Top Five Posts
- Lazy Sunday CXLVII – More Movies, Part XIV – Movie Reviews, Part XIV
- Lazy Sunday CXLVIII – The Gemini Sonnets #1 and #2
- Lazy Sunday CXLIX – The Gemini Sonnets #3 and #4
- Lazy Sunday CL – The Gemini Sonnets #5 and #6
- Lazy Sunday CLI – More Movies, Part XV – Movies Reviews, Part XV
- Lazy Sunday CLII – Romance
- Lazy Sunday CLIII – Behind the Songs, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLIV – Behind the Songs, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLV – Péchés d’âge moyen Posts
- Lazy Sunday CLVI – More Son of Sonnet
- Lazy Sunday CLVII – Ponty’s Posts, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLVIII – Ponty’s Posts, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLIX – Scrambie Eggs
- Lazy Sunday CLX: Fine Arts Festival
- Lazy Sunday CLXI: Easter II
- Lazy Sunday CLXII: Spring Break Short Story Recommendations Recap 2022
- Lazy Sunday CLXIII: Friends, Part VI
- Lazy Sunday CLXIV: Friends, Part VII
- Lazy Sunday CLXV: Friends, Part VIII
- Lazy Sunday CLXVI: Friends, Part IX
- Lazy Sunday CLXVII: Friends, Part X
- Lazy Sunday CLXVIII: More Movies, Part XVI: Movie Reviews, Part XVI
- Lazy Sunday CLXIX: More Movies, Part XVII: Movie Reviews, Part XVII
- Lazy Sunday CLXX: More Movies, Part XVIII: Movie Reviews, Part XVIII
- Lazy Sunday CLXXI: Frederick Ingram, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLXXII: Frederick Ingram, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLXXIII: MAGAWeek2022
- Lazy Sunday CLXXIV: More Movies, Part XIX: Movie Reviews, Part XIX
- Lazy Sunday CLXXV: More Movies, Part XX: Movie Reviews, Part XX
- Lazy Sunday CLXXVI: More Movies, Part XXI: Movie Reviews, Part XXI
- Lazy Sunday CLXXVII: School, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLXXVIII: School, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLXXIX: More Movies, Part XXII: Ponty’s Worst Films, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLXXX: More Movies, Part XXIII: Portly’s Worst Films, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLXXXI: More Movies, Part XXIV: Ponty’s Worst Films, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLXXXII: More Movies, Part XXV: Portly’s Worst Films, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLXXXIII: More Movies, Part XXVII: Ponty’s Worst Films, Part III
- Lazy Sunday CLXXXIV: More Movies, Part XXVIII: Portly’s Worst Films, Part III
- Lazy Sunday CLXXXV: More Movies, Part XXIX: Ponty and Portly’s #1 Worst Films
- Lazy Sunday CLXXXVI: More Movies, Part XXX: Midweek Myers Movie Reviews, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CLXXXVII: More Movies, Part XXXI: Midweek Myers Movie Reviews, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLXXXVIII: Video Games II: Ponty’s Picks
- Lazy Sunday CLXXXIX: Even More Halloween Hijinks: The Musical
- Lazy Sunday CXC: Cozy Time
- Lazy Sunday CXCI: Veterans Day Posts
- Lazy Sunday CXCII: Myersvision, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CXCIII: Thanksgiving Week Posts
- Lazy Sunday CXCIV: Solo Cover EP, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CXCV: Solo Cover EP, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CLXXVI: 2022’s Top Three
- Lazy Sunday CXCVII: Review[s] of A Christmas Carol (1951)
- Lazy Sunday CXCVIII: The Worst of 2022
- Lazy Sunday CXCIX: More Movies XXXII: Portly’s Best Films, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CC: More Movies XXXIII: Ponty’s Best Films, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CCI: More Movies XXXIV: Portly’s Best Films, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CCII: More Movies XXXV: Ponty’s Best Films, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CCIII: Péchés d’âge moyen Picks
- Lazy Sunday CCIV: Arizonan Sojourn, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CCV: Portly’s Best Films, Part III
- Lazy Sunday CCVI: Ponty’s Best Films, Part III
- Lazy Sunday CCVII: The Beach
- Lazy Sunday CCVIII: Walks
- Lazy Sunday CCXIX: Paintings
- Lazy Sunday CCX: Arizonan Sojourn, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CCXI: Hono[u]rable Mentions
- Lazy Sunday CCXII: Easter III
- Lazy Sunday CCXIII: Spring Break Short Story Recommendations 2023
- Lazy Sunday CCXIV: Ponty and Portly’s #1 Picks
- Lazy Sunday CCXV: Myersvision, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CCXVI: Myersvision, Part III
- Lazy Sunday CCXVII: Myersvision, Part IV
- Lazy Sunday CCXVIII: Myersvision, Part V
- Lazy Sunday CCXIX: Myersvision, Part VI
- Lazy Sunday CCXX: Myersvision, Part VII
- Lazy Sunday CCXXI: Intergalactic Nonsense
- Lazy Sunday CCXXII: Stories
- Lazy Sunday CCXXIII: Original Music, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CCXXIV: Original Music, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CCXXV: MAGAWeek2023 Posts
- Lazy Sunday CCXXVI: Greatest Hits Recap
- Lazy Sunday CCXXVII: Ponty Week 2023
- Lazy Sunday CCXXVIII: D.C., Part I
- Lazy Sunday CCXXIX: D.C., Part II
- Lazy Sunday CCXXX: TJC Deep Cuts
- Lazy Sunday CCXXXI: Weird Piano Music
- Lazy Sunday CCXXXII: Cinema
- Lazy Sunday CCXXXIII: Monarchy
- Lazy Sunday CCXXXIV: Sandwiches
- Lazy Sunday CCXXXV: Skeletons
- Lazy Sunday CCXXXVI: Myersvision, Part VIII
- Lazy Sunday CCXXXVII: Myersvision, Part IX
- Lazy Sunday CCXXXVIII: Festivals II
- Lazy Sunday CCXXXIX: Two Cryptid Tunes
- Lazy Sunday CCXL: Ghostly Doings
- Lazy Sunday CCXLI: Veterans Day Posts II
- Lazy Sunday CCXLII: Indie Musician Rants
- Lazy Sunday CCXLIII: 2023 Releases
- Lazy Sunday CCXLIV: Civilization Series
- Lazy Sunday CCXLV: Chapel Lessons, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CCXLVI: Chapel Lessons, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CCXLVII: Christmas Concert Reviews
- Lazy Sunday CCXLVIII: The Best of 2023
- Lazy Sunday CCXLIX: Best Ponty Posts of 2023
- Lazy Sunday CCL: Best Myersvision Posts of 2023
- Lazy Sunday CCLI: YouTube Roundup Roundup I
- Lazy Sunday CCLII: YouTube Roundup Roundup II
- Lazy Sunday CCLIII: Firefly Dance Tracks, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CCLIV: Firefly Dance Tracks, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CCLV: Firefly Dance Tracks, Part III
- Lazy Sunday CCLVI: Days Off
- Lazy Sunday CCLVII: Murphy Vids, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CCLVIII: Food II
- Lazy Sunday CCLIX: Four Mages, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CCLX: Murphy Vids, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CCLXI: Ultra Laziness
- Lazy Sunday CCLXII: Mothers
- Lazy Sunday CCLXIII: Four Mages, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CCLXIV: End of School Events
- Lazy Sunday CCLXV: Disco Elysium Reviews
- Lazy Sunday CCLXVI: Political Stuff, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CCLXVII: Political Stuff, Part II
- Lazy Sunday CCLXVIII: Milestones II
- Lazy Sunday CCLXIX: Cryptid Epistemology Mini-Series
- Lazy Sunday CCLXX: TJC Deep Cuts II
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXI: Trump Stuff
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXII: Harris Stuff
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXIII: Heptadic Structure Tracks, Part I
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXIV: More Movies XXXVI: Movie Reviews, Part XXII: Reviews for Audre
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXV: Singing to Murphy
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXVI: Music Stuff
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXVII: Reviews of Video Games After Only Playing a Tiny Bit of Them
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXVIII: Composing Antiquity
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXIX: Ancient History
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXX: Mel Brooks Films
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXXI: Smooth Brass Tunes
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXXII: Spooky Season Prep
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXXIII: Spooky Season Prep II
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXXIV: Spooky Season Prep III
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXXV: Post-Spooky Season Blues
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXXVI: GEOTUS
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXXVII: Vague Updates
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXXVIII: Thanksgiving Follies
- Lazy Sunday CCLXXXIX: Christmas Cheer
- Lazy Sunday CCXC: Christmas Cheer II
- Lazy Sunday CCXCI: Christmas Cheer III
- Lazy Sunday CCXCII: The Best of 2024
- Lazy Sunday CCXCIII: Life Stuff
- Lazy Sunday CCXCIV: Stop Motion Animation
- Lazy Sunday CCXCV: The Bitter, Wretched Cold
SubscribeStar Saturday: Professional Useless People
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Americans are not accustomed to monarchy, nor should we be; we’re not a land built for hereditary rule the way Europe is. We might be the children of great monarchies, but we are republicans (with a lower-case “r”) at heart.
That said, it’s been extremely gratifying to see a Republican (with a capital “R”) flinging pens and issuing executive decrees with bold resoluteness. Donald Trump has accomplished more of the conservative agenda in a workweek than the vast conservative apparatus has achieved in fifty years.
Granted, executive orders are fragile, as they should be. They’re only as endurable for as long as the issuing president and/or his like-minded successors can maintain them, or get a recalcitrant Congress to pass an actual law (fat chance).
There are also limits to what they can do. Executive orders are not royal decrees—as much I’d like for them to be while my guy is in office—but they do have the force of law. Essentially, executive orders are instructions to the federal bureaucracy on how it is to enforce the laws Congress has passed.
The problem is that as Congress has delegated more authority to the executive branch’s bureaucracy, the more power those executive orders contain. Most presidents have largely left their bureaucracies to run themselves, in part because those bureaucracies are so elaborate, no single man can understand—or control—them. That lack of control became scarily apparent during the Obama years, and continued to hound President Trump during his first time.
President Obama wielded executive orders like a tyrant, due in part to his famously poor relationship with Congress—even when Democrats controlled it! Joe Biden—or, more likely, Joe Biden’s many handlers and puppeteers—used executive orders to weaponize the federal bureaucracy, entrenching all manner of Leftist pipe dreams into the functioning of the government and the execution of its laws.
President Trump has undone most of Biden’s legacy with the stroke of a pen. Even realizing that the real challenges of passing substantive legislation through Congress rests on the horizon, it is incredibly exciting and energizing to see President Trump fulfill one promise after the next, including enacting policies that are guaranteed to scare off huge chunks of the bloated, entitled, infantilized federal workforce, what I call the “professional useless people.”
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Make Greenland American
We’re just five days away from President/President-Elect Trump’s inauguration, and I’m as giddy as a schoolboy at the candy shop. There is much to be excited about in a second Trump administration, but lately I’ve been whooping like a silver-backed gorilla (at the candy shop, presumably) over the prospect of purchasing Greenland from Denmark—and taking back the Panama Canal.
The coverage of President-Elect Trump’s desire to take Greenland features a mix of bemusement and alarm, which is pretty on-brand for Trump’s pronouncements. There is a lot of chest-thumping from the European Union and the Danes, who both vow that the United States will never have Greenland. President Trump, for his part, seems to be having fun trolling the stuffed shirts in Europe and the hostile American press, especially with his talk of annexing Canada (which is trolling; I think Trump is just having fun at Justin Trudeau’s expense).
What I like about all this annexation talk is that it hearkens back to the presidency of James K. Polk. It was under Polk that the United States expanded to (mostly) its present borders, at least in the contiguous, lower forty-eight States. Polk similarly struck an aggressively expansionist tone, proclaiming “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight” in reference to the upper border of the Oregon Territory.
Monday Morning Movie Review: Nosferatu (2024)
My older brother and I saw Nosferatu (2024) a couple of days after its release, which was on Christmas Day 2024. We attended a 12:30 PM EST showing on Friday, 27 December 2024, and even that early matinee had a very good crowd.
My brother and I had been anticipating the release of this film with an eagerness we rarely experience for movies anymore. I love movies, but there aren’t many films that get me excited to go see them.
Nosferatu promised “a symphony of horror,” according to its tagline (and the subtitle of the 1924 original), and it delivered—in spades.
TBT^4: The Joy of Romantic Music II: Bedřich Smetana’s “The Moldau”
It’s been several years now since I last taught the fun but short-lived Pre-AP Music Appreciation course that spawned some of these pieces highlighting classical and Romantic musical works, but I still love the musical selections dearly. Bedřich Smetana’s The Moldau still captures my imagination, and I still have not composed anything that comes remotely close to its beauty and genius.
Nevertheless, I routinely cite Smetana as an influence, especially when uploading my pieces to CD Baby for digital distribution. He almost always gets a mention in the “artists like” categories I fill out for each release. Hopefully he’s not spinning in his grave at the thought of that.
With that, here is 11 January 2024’s “TBT^2: The Joy of Romantic Music II: Bedřich Smetana’s ‘The Moldau'”:
Monday Morning Movie Review: The Primevals (2024)
Last year I wrote about the Puppet Master series, the brainchild of indie filmmaker Charles Band. Band’s Full Moon Entertainment for years produced schlocky, low-budget, but entertaining films that heavily featured miniatures and stop-motion animation. Like many small filmmakers, Band’s company kept budgets low by reusing models and footage in different films, often creating scripts (a la Roger Corman) to fit the props and sets already on-hand.
The guys over at RedLetterMedia did two long episodes on the Puppet Master franchise, and got into some of the details of Band’s approach to filmmaking in those videos:
They did a third video that continued to look at Band’s use of stop-motion techniques and puppetry:
If you’re not enticed at the thought of watching three lengthy videos to understand Band’s films, no worries; suffice it to say that Band was never one to let good (or bad) footage go to waste.
So come—at last!—to today’s film, the first review of 2025: The Primevals (2024).
TBT^2: Napoleonic Christmas
Way back in 2019 I wrote a post entitled “Napoleonic Christmas“; it took off thanks to being featured on a conservative news aggregator that, at the time, was presenting itself as an alternative to The Drudge Report, which inexplicably but notably turned hard to the Left after the 2016 election, in which it played an important role in getting GEOTUS Donaldus Magnus elected.
Napoleon has always fascinated me. Indeed, I wrote an entire tone poem about the enigmatic figure:
I don’t think Napoleon was a good guy, but he was great, in the sense that he was—much like Trump—sui generis, a man unto himself, and a man for the historical moment in which he found himself.
At Christmas, however, the Greatest Man Is a little Baby in a manger. The Son of God Humbled Himself to become like us. No Napoleon or Trump (the latter of which I like very much, and who I believe has God’s Hand of Protection over him) could ever do that—or would.
With that, here is 28 December 2023’s “TBT: Napoleonic Christmas“:
Memorable Monday Morning Movie Review: A Very Portly Christmas: A Christmas Carol (1951)
Yours portly has had another busy weekend, one full of Christmas cheer. It was very nice to spend time with family and Dr. Girlfriend. Naturally, the blog and the Advent Calendar have fallen by the wayside a bit, but I’ll be getting caught up with both. It’s Exam Week this week, so I have the most free time I’ve had since summer break, so my hope is to work ahead on the blog enough that I don’t need to touch it much until 2025.
Last night Dr. Girlfriend I started watching the 1984 film adaptation of A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge. We didn’t get to finish, but it’s remarkable to me how well done this version is. It brought to mind the 1951 version, which is an exquisite adaptation in its own right; indeed, it might be the definitive version.
So it is that I thought I’d cast a glance back to my own review of that version from 19 December 2022.
With that, here is “Monday Morning Movie Review: A Very Portly Christmas: A Christmas Carol (1951)“:
The Portly Politico 