Ross Blocher

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen under 50,000 for the past two days. Is it an okay time to talk about bringing child abusers to justice?

When I went to leave a review for Bugonia, Letterboxd gave me this CAPTCHA-style test. Hilarious! Review here: letterboxd.com/rossblocher/...

What is the point, NYT Spelling Bee, if you won’t take one of my favorite words?

lowl

If you live in (or have lived in) California, it's worth taking a moment to search for your name on the Unclaimed Property site. You may have some money waiting for you! Thanks to my cousin Rebecca for the reminder - I had $100 from decades ago just sitting there. claimit.ca.gov/app/claim-se...

In later editions, the rhetorical question mark was dropped from the title, as the pretense of neutrality fell away. This is a good day to remember that no part of history requires aliens to explain human achievements, and that no evidence supports such speculation.

I learned today that Erich von Däniken died recently. This picture is from a lecture I attended in 2017 at Contact in the Desert. Von Däniken’s 1968 book “Chariots of the Gods?”, and “documentary” in 1970, cemented the notion of ancient aliens in the public mind, and inspired countless imitators.

Proud of my local theater - #1 in the United States! ktla.com/entertainmen...

*I've been watching a string of gems from the NFB, inspired by Charles Solomon's excellent book "Animation for the People".

Universe A triumph of film art, creating on the screen a vast, awe-inspiring picture of the universe as it would appear to a voyager through space, this film was …

Universe (1960): www.nfb.ca/film/universe/
21-87 (1963): www.nfb.ca/film/21-87/ [quote begins at 3:33]
In the Labyrinth (1979): www.nfb.ca/film/in_the_...

Accordingly, Princess Leia's detention block room on the Death Star is Cell 2187. In a much later nod, "The Force Awakens" (2015) sees stormtrooper FN-2187 become the hero Finn.

"or, or, something behind this apparent mask which we see in front of us." This passage inspired a young George Lucas, who said that is where he got his idea for the Force in "Star Wars" (1977).

And, as a crazy aside, he contributed some musings to the avante-garde NFB short film "21-87" (1963), in which he could be heard on screen saying, "Many take the view that, in the contemplation of nature, in the communication with other living things, they become aware of some kind of, uh... force

Roman Kroitor wasn't finished. His work on "In the Labyrinth" inspired him to co-found the Multi-Screen Corporation at the NFB in Montreal, which later became IMAX. Kroitor also received two Academy Award Nominations for Best Live Action Short Film in 1979 and 1981 for films created at the NFB.

to help him with "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), but they were busy on "In the Labyrinth", a multi-screen projection which premiered at Expo 67 in Montreal. However, "Universe" effects artist Wally Gentleman joined Kubrick's effort, as did narrator Douglas Rain, who voiced the iconic HAL 9000.

I found some fun history after watching "Universe" (1960), produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB)*. It was the state of the art in depicting space onscreen, with animation, optical compositing, and detailed models. Directors Roman Kroitor and Colin Low were approached by Stanley Kubrik

Is it fair to say that Will is now a Semigorgon?

Would love to get your take. You won’t have the comparison engine running in the background and pointing out what the original left out, but there’s plenty more to gain from it. I should add that’s it’s not a knock on Twain; purely additive.

Sister, Sinner - What can I say? I'm a sucker for LA history. And Aimee Semple McPherson is endlessly fascinating.
They Flew - A deep investigation into the people in church history who were said to levitate, bleed from the hands, and even die in supernatural ways.

Actress of a Certain Age - Jeff Hiller feels like an instant friend, and this led me to watch (and love) the series Somebody Somewhere.
James - You've probably already heard others rave about Percival Everett's brilliant re-imagining of Huck Finn through the eyes of "Jim". And yet it's so much more.

Dinner With King Tut - Sam Kean takes us all over the globe for a dive into the world of experimental archaeology.
Replaceable You - I'll follow Mary Roach anywhere, so let's learn all about the history of replacing our body parts with whatever's lying around!

The Mirage Factory - Los Angeles's development told through the lens of infrastructure, film, and religion.
Blankets - A beautifully illustrated account of Craig Thompson's ultra-religious upbringing and his first time falling in love.

Daughter of Daring - Super fascinating Hollywood history about Helen Gibson and an earlier era in which women had a lot more power.
The Bible Says So - Dan McClellan clears up a lot of misunderstandings about how the Bible relates to controversial issues.

The Reading Glasses Podcast Reading Challenge inspires me to try new books, authors, and reading activities. Here are my 2025 goals, plus the 52 books I read this past year. #rgchallenge2025 I didn't have room to elaborate on my top 10, so quick pitches for each in the following posts:

*Vanity Fair

YouTube video by moviemaniacsDE The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz | full movie (2014)

Saw this quote at the beginning of "The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz", available here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vz0...
Fuller quote from Thoreau here: www.goodreads.com/quotes/39041...

"Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?" - Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience and Other Essays

Did this pop into anyone else's head when seeing that Christopher Anderson closeup of JD Vance in Variety?

YouTube video by NFB The Impossible Map

This 1947 stop motion animation does a brilliant job of explaining why it's so hard to represent a 3-dimensional globe on a 2-dimensional sheet of paper. Directed by Evelyn Lambert, an animation pioneer at Canada's National Film Board (NFB). www.youtube.com/watch?v=blQL...

Showing Andrew Cocoon the way the good Lord intended… on a VCR with horrible tracking issues and a loud squeal.