Danny Baram

It felt like a lot of the pieces really fell into place in this week's STARFLEET ACADEMY, the penultimate S1 ep. This felt like the template of how to do a really strong episode of this series. I had a good feeling when I saw "directed by Jonathan Frakes" at the beginning, too.

Helped to launch another batch of new-to-digital films last week. Including:

- The Ipcress File
- The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid
- Sometimes a Great Notion
- The Seret War of Harry Frigg
- Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here
- The Frozen Ghost
- Secret Ceremony
- Mirage
- Morocco
- Shanghai Express

I was reading something about the PS3 game ENSLAVED: ODYSSEY TO THE WEST and how Alex Garland helped to write it and how it was sort of an overlooked cult classic. So I impulsively bought a copy, hooked up my PS3 ... and can confirm, it seriously rules.

It must be really hard working in a professional kitchen what with all the spies and secret agents in hot pursuit of bad guys constantly running through smashing up all your shit.

Slowly been catching up on THE BEAR, and wow, S4 Ep7 (the wedding episode) is a master class. Best of the series so far? The number of great performances in this episode is insane.

Oh man, finally caught up on the first few episodes of THE FALL AND RISE OF REGGIE DINKINS - starring Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe - and ... it's amazing!

The jokes are 30 Rock levels of sharp and hilarious. I was laughing from start to finish and there is so much great, quotable writing here.

100%. 100%. 100%.

Also watched a movie I'd been curious about for a while - THE PALE BLUE EYE on Netflix, where Christian Bale plays an investigator in the 1830's who teams up with Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling) to solve an occult-ish crime. A great vibes movie, even if the mystery drags a bit. Fantastic cast too.

Watched the movie WICKER PARK for the first time. Does this movie have a cult following? It seems like it should? It's a huge swing that's sort of "what if Mulholland Drive, but soapy and YA adjacent?" The cast is excellent - Josh Hartnett, Rose Byrne, Diane Kruger. A sorta clunky but fun film.

A horrible tragedy. The people behind this war cannot be trusted and they’re a danger to the world.

Everything Trump does - even a war with Iran - must be viewed through the lens of his own desperate need for self-preservation.

We need to understand that this entire effort was carried out under bad faith and false pretense.

Hopefully some good at least comes out of it for the Iranian people.

I found SCREAM 7 to be a lot of fun, and it was supremely entertaining to watch with a packed audience. I missed Ortega and Barrera, but this one is a great showcase for the always-awesome Neve Campbell, who is an undeniable *star.* I have a few gripes, but this was a really good time at the movies.

My brain has so many concerns about the WB deal.

My heart keeps coming back to one of them: I just want Superman to be in good hands, because we really need that right now.

The one thing I will say is that there is room for NEW media companies. Studios like A24 and Neon are growing. Mubi is doing cool stuff. Support these studios, see their movies in theaters, etc. We can speak with our dollars to fight monopolies.

The whole argument that Netflix buying WB would kill theaters was a bit silly, IMO. Netflix wasn't going to purchase WB just to leave the billions of dollars of theatrical revenue from their movie business on the table. The far greater concern is the impact that a Trump-backed Paramount will have.

We should all be very worried about what impact & influence Trump had on Paramount ultimately winning the bid to own WB. We've seen what's happened to CBS News and Colbert under the new Paramount leadership. What's next for CNN? This is potentially a very dark day for entertainment, media, and news.

Finally got around to starting DEATH BY LIGHTNING on Netflix. Wow, that first episode is an incredible hour of television. The great Michael Shannon at the absolute top of his game.

Anyone with even a passing interest in American history … check it out!

Post: "Millennials, what's a movie, TV show, or game that you're conviced that only you remember?"

Replies: "The absolute most popular pop-culture things from the 90's that were each consumed by literally millions and millions of people."

I Saw The TV Glow made me a fan of writer/director Jane Schoenbrun, and this looks like that but ratcheted up to 11. Lynch-ian weirdness, 80's/90's nostalgia, Gillian Anderson?! Sign me up!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA5N...

Many of the people in Trump's orbit, from Melania to Marco Rubio, appear as if they are being held hostage at the State of the Union. They probably are.

The only takeaway any of us should have from tonight's State of the Union is the absolute urgency by which Trump needs to be removed from power, held accountable for his crimes, and rot in jail for whatever remains of his miserable life.

Trump has no empathy, no sense of the moment, no morality, and no real ideas or plans to actually make this country better. Every single agenda item he brings to the table is about protecting, empowering, and enriching himself and himself alone.

Where we're at with Trump is now beyond the pale. For the sake of our country and its people, you can't help but hope for some sort of positive change or turnaround signalled by tonight's State of the Union. But it's not going to happen.

Good lord. We all know this man is guilty. This is the most blatant and obvious and right-there-in-front-of-our-faces cover-up in history. It's barely even a cover-up.

There's literally no reason to give him the benefit of the doubt on anything (attn: Dems, media, Republican supporters, etc.).

Working on the business side of the entertainment industry has trained me that responses must be FAST. If I don't respond to an email within a few hours, let alone a day, it's bad form. And yet - communications in the creative side of my life are so, so SLOW. Days, weeks, months to get responses.

First time watch of Jane Campion's BRIGHT STAR. A unique film that is ostensibly a period piece romance, but is actually more sort of a period-piece hangout movie. Like A Complete Unknown but in the 1820's. The casting is also pretty interesting, with Ben Whishaw as leading man.

KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS … what a great first season. I wish it was longer - this feels like the kind of show that could support 20 eps per season and just have new standalone adventures each week. But, what we got was fantastic and I hope the wait for S2 isn’t too long.

Also, the heavy use of sardonic voiceover really made me think Glen Powell could be a good FLETCH.

Enjoyed HOW TO MAKE A KILLING. Played to Glen Powell's strengths, and made great use of Margaret Qualley as well. A lot of fun supporting turns too, from Ed Harris, Zach Woods, Topher Grace, Jessica Henwick, etc. Would have been interesting had it leaned more into the noir of it all. But very solid.

First time watch of Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN. A very raw, pull no punches coming-of-age film with a lot going on. Amazing how this launched the careers of Alfonso Cuaron and stars Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal. You can see why. It’s a statement movie that remains totally unique in vision and voice.