Astute Observations, Books, Diary

When Novels Mattered

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Important article by David Brooks in NY Times. He writes: I’m old enough to remember when novelists were big-time. When I was in college in the 1980s, new novels from Philip Roth, Toni Morrison, Saul Bellow, John Updike, Alice Walker and others were cultural events. There were reviews and counter-reviews and arguments about the reviews. It’s [Read More]
Movies, Phantasy

Companion

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In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been reading more and more alarmed voices calling for a moratorium on the development of advanced AI models. Even researchers who were previously enthusiastic about the positive potential of AI are growing concerned that we may be stumbling into building systems that could turn against humanity—like in one [Read More]
Drama, Movies

Anora

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Early on in watching Anora, I had the idea that this was a remake of Pretty Woman with a lot more skin than my grandmother would’ve appreciated. But the film then moved far away from a romantic comedy when the friends of the Russian billionaire’s son, Ivan, who plays the Richard Gere character in [Read More]
Books, Fiction

Inkheart

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I was researching how many copies of the Swiss children’s book Heidi have been sold worldwide, as I once heard it was the most popular German-language book ever. During this process, I came across Cornelia Funke, who is listed as a bestselling children’s book author from Germany. I had never heard of her, and my [Read More]
Diary, Politics

The Trump Show Continues

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As a dramaturgist, Trump is in a class of his own. I am trying not to pay attention everyday what he is doing to keep my mental health, but this morning I read the story in the NYT about this first cabinet meeting, and the role is handed to Elon Musk. Hats off. This is U.S. President Trump hosts his first cabinet meeting [Read More]
Documentary, Movies

Love has Won

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I recently came across the documentary Love Has Won, which tells the story of a young American woman who formed a cult around herself, convincing her followers that she was “Mother God.” The rise of smartphone technology after 2008, with the introduction of the iPhone and Android devices, has made documentary filmmaking significantly more accessible. [Read More]