178 Articles tagged with: Movies And TV

• Wishing for a "Self Made" Haircut

  A Netflix show based on the life of Madam C. J. Walker is much better than most of our hairstyles right now.

  It’s day who actually knows of coronavirus quarantine, and my housemates and I are making our plans for once this is all over.Read Article

• Wonder Woman: Post-Feminist Heroine?

  The Amazons, the ancients tell us, were a violent bunch. “The Scythians call (them) Oiorpata, or as it may be interpreted, men-slayers (for Oeor signifies a man, and pata to kill),” says Herodotus. Hippocrates claimed that they cut off their r… Read Article

• Films that Make Us Feel Alive

  In The Romantic Manifesto: A Philosophy of Literature, published in 1971, Ayn Rand articulated a simple framework for classifying art.

  Using literature as the primary exposition tool, Rand constructed a dichotomy which addresses the making… Read Article

• On Viewing Forbidden Planet on Its 60th Anniversary

  Science fiction reflects our hopes and fears for the future and, at its best, it offers an elixir of inspiration. On viewing the 1956 film Forbidden Planet on its 60th anniversary, you can see in its intelligent story, special effects, design, sou… Read Article

• Marguerite - movie review

  Sometimes you might tell a little white lie because you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings. But the lies often end in tragedy. 

  … Read Article

• Disney’s Zootopia Teaches Kids about Inept Government


  The popular Disney kid-flick Zootopia does something unusual for Hollywood: it takes a swipe at government.  

  The cartoon film is set in a city where all animals, the minority predators and the majority herbivores, seemingly live in peace… Read Article

• Star Wars: The Force Awakens - review

  If you liked the original Star Wars trilogy, as I did, grab your popcorn! You’ll no doubt enjoy the sequel, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But be prepared to discover political confusion in the Star Wars universe. (No spoilers ahead.)

  Star W… Read Article

• "My All American" (movie review)

  Sports is an arena in which individuals can excel in physical prowess and skill as well as in moral character. Both are on inspirational display in a new film, My All American, based on the true story of University of Texas Longhorns football Coac… Read Article

• On Viewing 2001: The First Transhumanist Film

  I recently saw 2001: A Space Odyssey again on the big screen. That’s the best way to see this visually stunning cinematic poem, like I saw it during its premiere run in 1968. The film’s star, Keir Dullea, attended that recent screening and aft… Read Article

• Are we in a golden age of television?

  The best writing talent in Hollywood is now working for television. In a move that was unthinkable in the 20th century, Oscar-winning film actors are also going across to the small screen—the depth of story facilitates the depth of character. We… Read Article

• Steve Jobs (movie review
)

  If you’re a fan of Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder and digital age revolutionary, you might find Steve Jobs the movie a bit hard to take. It shows the worst of the man.

  If you’re a fan of Aaron Sorkin, who wrote the screenplay portray… Read Article

• The Martian (movie review)

  The Martian, from director Ridley Scott, is an exciting film about an astronaut stranded on the Red Planet. It celebrates the heroism that comes from human reason. And it points to what it will take for humans in coming decades to make Mars a new … Read Article

• Ex Machina movie review

  How will we know if an artificial intelligence actually attains a human level of consciousness? 

  As work in robotics and merging man and machine accelerates, we can expect more movies on this theme. Some, like Transcendence, will be dysto… Read Article

• Review of Interstellar

  Interstellar shouts to the world that Americans should be achievers, but then it steals from them the ability to succeed.

  … Read Article

• Ayn Rand, the Movies, and the Idea of America

  The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) has recently released a little-known monograph by Ayn Rand called "Textbook of Americanism." … Read Article

• Using Storytelling to Advance Liberty

  Atlas Summit 2014 -- When Ayn Rand decided to write the definitive statement on her philosophy, she could have used fact-based non-fiction; instead she embraced storytelling.

  … Read Article

• The Search for Romanticism in Hollywood

  ATLAS SUMMIT 2014 -- Ayn Rand wrote the obituary of literary romanticism in 1965. Nevertheless, romanticism has survived on screen, for Hollywood’s paradox is that romanticist plots perform better at the box-office. Screenwriting teachers and… Read Article

• The Moral and Cultural Significance of "Genie, you're free"

  “Genie, you’re free.” In Disney’s Aladdin, those are the words in which the Genie learns that after thousands of years of being forced to grant the wishes of whoever rubbed his lamp, he will finally get the one thing he’s always wished… Read Article

• The Sanction of the Victim

  Atlas Summit 2014 -- The central plot device in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is the strike of the producers led by John Galt. And the essential purpose of the strike is to withdraw the sanction of the victim. What exactly does that sanction inv… Read Article

• Climate Kerfuffle on Cosmos

  I’m a big fan of the Cosmos reboot series, just as I was of the Carl Sagan original. But the host Neil deGrasse Tyson recently stumbled very unscientifically when discussing climate change. 

  … Read Article