Part Two – Shooting and F**king are the Same Thing
Dreams of revolution. But the ghosts of old power were still in the dreamer’s heads. … Continue readingPart Two – Shooting and F**king are the Same Thing
To Arms (1914)
The First World War shaped the twentieth century. It sparked the Russian Revolution, and it launched America as a world power. The fault-line from its failed peace settlement led to a second terrible world war barely twenty years later. … Continue readingTo Arms (1914)
Part One – Bloodshed on Wolf Mountain
Love, power, money, ghosts of empire, conspiracies, artificial intelligence – and You. … Continue readingPart One – Bloodshed on Wolf Mountain
Handicap Parking
What's not to like about the Americans with Disabilities Act? After all, it is supposed to improve life for the handicapped. Penn and Teller interview businessmen and women, along with some handicap advocates, who say that the act is a huge asset to greedy lawyers who file frivolous lawsuits against whole towns, claiming that the businesses are infringing the rights of the handicapped. The end result is that fewer handicapped people end up getting hired, and hence the ADA defeats its own purpose.
Penn and Teller claim the act is far too broad, and individual businesses, not the government, should be able to dictate who they will cater to. … Continue readingHandicap Parking
Sentimental Journeys
What do these have in common – Freud, lifestyle crisis, electric shock therapy, hypnotherapy, magnetism, phrenology, penology, physiology, synthetic dyes, the Bunsen burner, absorption, Fraunhofer lines, astronomical telescopes, chromatic aberrations, and surveying? Follow James Burke on the trail of discovering the connections between these and others in "Sentimental Journeys". … Continue readingSentimental Journeys
Advanced Television Production – 5 Days, 2 Scripts, No Sleep
The writer's room during the production of the fifth season of Community struggles with time while the show is being filmed. This behind the scenes documentary depicts the writing of
Continue readingAdvanced Television Production – 5 Days, 2 Scripts, No Sleep
El Secreto (The Secret)
Don Fernando's son Ramón calls his brothers and his uncle. He tells them that don Fernando wants the family come to La Gavia. Carlos, who lives in Miami, and Juan, who lives in New York, are en route. Juan's wife Pati works at the theater; he goes there to tell her about the family meeting. Ramón also calls his uncle Pedro in Mexico City.
The family members gather at La Gavia. Ramón, his wife Consuelo, and his daughter Maricarmen are already present, as they live at the hacienda. Carlos, his wife Gloria, and their children Juanita and Carlitos arrive from Miami. Juan arrives from New York with his wife Pati; they have no children. Mercedes, who is a widow, lives at La Gavia. Pedro, don Fernando's brother, also arrives from Mexico City. Upon their arrival, they all greet Lupe, a longtime family employee.
During the family gathering, don Fernando reveals the secret from his past. During the Civil War in Spain Fernando had married a woman named Rosario. When Guernica was bombed, Fernando thought that Rosario, who was pregnant, had died. But he has recently received a letter from Seville, from a woman named Teresa Suárez, saying that Rosario didn't die. It is possible that Fernando has another child in Spain.
Pedro, a lawyer, asks for help from a colleague, Raquel Rodriguez from Los Angeles. She goes to Mexico and then reviews the names of the members of the family. Don Fernando's second wife, Carmen—mother of Ramón, Carlos, Juan, and Mercedes—is dead. Is his first wife dead? Does he really have another child? That is the great mystery. … Continue readingEl Secreto (The Secret)
Harmontown
Sometimes the only way to self-improve is to self-destruct. … Continue readingHarmontown
Wynde: Behind the Man
Documentary on Tim Wynde made by a British television company shortly after the first broadcast of ‘AD/BC.’ However, owing to a lengthy legal dispute between Wynde and his lyricist Soloman
La Carta (The Letter)
The story begins at La Gavia, a sixteenth century estate near Mexico City. Dr. Julio Morelos, the family doctor, has been called to see the owner of the estate, don Fernando Castillo Saavedra. Don Fernando is very ill and very old. He has three sons and a daughter. One son, Ramón, and the daughter, Mercedes, live in La Gavia. Another son, Carlos, lives in Miami. The remaining son, Juan, lives in New York. He is a professor of literature at the university. Don Fernando's wife, Carmen, is dead.
Don Fernando, aware that his life is coming to an end, is worried about resolving a secret from his past in Spain. While looking at old photos, he recalls his days in Spain during the Civil War. He decides to call his children and his brother together for a meeting at La Gavia. He has received a letter that pertains to his secret. … Continue readingLa Carta (The Letter)