The Call of the Wild (2020) **

Apparently the filmmakers intended to show the film to 10 year olds only. Even so it does have impressive CGI and Harrison Ford is pretty good.

Cause for Alarm! (1951) **

Loretta Young keeps the picture together despite the crazy noir-ish contrivances.

Force Majeure (2014) **

Extremely subtle performances as well as extremely long scenes undermines the impact the film intends. Beautifully shot and well constructed.

Downhill (2020) **

Thankfully avoids Hollywood-izing the source material but the casting leads viewers to expect a laugh riot which it is certainly not.

Three on a Match (1932) **

Breakneck pacing helps this sordid melodrama of 3 grammar school chums and their varying paths in later life.

Red Desert (1964) ***

The lovely Ms. Vitti can't cope with reality after a brush with death. Welcome to the club. Beautifully shot.

Hardcore (1979) **

George C. is always an interesting actor and he's the best thing about the flick, another exploration of the Calvinist upbringing of Schrader as it clashes with modernity.

The Draughtsman's Contract (1982) *

Period snoozer is pretty to look at. Might have been better with the sound off?

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) ***

Beautifully shot period romance, not played as a weepie but as a melancholic remembrance.

Clear History (TV Movie 2013) **

An all star cast and excellent use of some great Chicago tunes help this enjoyable Curb-esque comedy.

Day for Night (1973) **

Enjoyable movie about movie making from a French perspective with a lovely Ms. Bisset.

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) **

Despite Damon being very wrong for Ripley and some significant deviations from the source novel, this is a well made, enjoyable romp through some lovely Mediterranean locales.

Dark Victory (1939) **

Intermittently successful weepie with a nonsense ending. The times when it hits are due to Ms. Davis.

Where the Money Is (2000) **

Under-produced and under-written heist flick proves that even at 75 Paul Newman could carry a picture.

Realism Is False | Edge.org

I'm not denying that there is an objective reality. There is some objective reality that exists independent of whether or not I perceive it, but that objective reality is not space and time or anything inside space and time. Those are just human forms of perception. That's what quantum theory is telling us. It's telling us local realism is false, non-contextual realism is false, and realism is false, at least what we call realism of objects in space and time. They don't exist, except when they're perceived. They don't have their properties, except when they're perceived because spacetime is not fundamental. That's what the physicists are now telling us, like Nima Arkani-Hamed. Spacetime is doomed. There is an objective reality, but it's not space and time. It's a deeper reality outside of space and time. Spacetime is emergent and is not fundamental.

In This Our Life (1942) ***

Entertaining melodrama, paced like the Indy 500, with Ms. Davis in a risky wild performance. A little heavy with the music but well composed scenes, few single closeups.

Blue Chips (1994) **

Well made look at college sports exploitation of athletes. Good use of actual athletes as actors.

The Cabin in the Cotton (1932) **

Pre-code Hollywood melodrama "picturizing" Great Depression era inequality and potential remedies. Nice to see Bette in the vamp role.

Beyond Fracking: Oil-and-Gas Industry's Toxic Waste Is Radioactive - Rolling Stone

The levels of radium in Louisiana oil pipes had registered as much as 20,000 times the limits set by the EPA for topsoil at uranium-mill waste sites. Templet found that workers who were cleaning oil-field piping were being coated in radioactive dust and breathing it in. One man they tested had radioactivity all over his clothes, his car, his front steps, and even on his newborn baby. The industry was also spewing waste into coastal waterways, and radioactivity was shown to accumulate in oysters. Pipes still laden with radioactivity were donated by the industry and reused to build community playgrounds. Templet sent inspectors with Geiger counters across southern Louisiana. One witnessed a kid sitting on a fence made from piping so radioactive they were set to receive a full year’s radiation dose in an hour. “People thought getting these pipes for free from the oil industry was such a great deal,” says Templet, “but essentially the oil companies were just getting rid of their waste.”

Parasite (2019) ***

Satire is tough to do and this flick almost hits its ambitions, keeps it real while making its points.