Author Archives: williamjcobb

The Year Without a Winter continues

Winter 2025-26 has been a seriously weird weather stretch worthy of the phrase The Year Without a Winter.
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“Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” Review: Our A.I. Future Will Be a Gilded Cage, Maybe

Hollywood is rightfully worried about how A.I. fakes, perhaps in the (near) future, could disrupt it’s movie-making biz: In the meantime, A.I. is all over the big screen: Gore Verbinski’s new movie Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is right up that digital alley.  Continue reading

Posted in A.I., A.I. Apocalypse, A.S.I. (Artificial Super Intelligence), Comic Movies, Gore Verbinski movies | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

On Maggie Gylenhaal’s “The Bride”: Bonnie & Clyde in Stitches

The only thing worse than Frankenstein remakes are Dracula remakes. But this one rocks.
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On George Saunders’ New Novel “Vigil”: Jumping the Shark Across the Heavens

So George Saunders’ new novel Vigil is out and about and it seems everywhere you look George is staring back, from an interview in the New York Times that labels him a “secular saint” and “guru of goodness” to a new film … Continue reading

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On HBO’s New Series “DTF St. Louis”: Charm & Glory of the Mundane

So the best show on TV I’ve seen lately is the new HBO series DTF St. Louis, starring Jason Bateman, Linda Cardellini, and David Harbour. I’d heard a little about it but was pleasantly surprised. For one thing, it’s billed somewhat … Continue reading

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On “Dr. Strangelove” 62 Years Later: General Jack Ripper in Charge Now

“A mentally unstable American President orders a missile attack on the Islamic nation of Iran, triggering a path to global holocaust that politicians at a war room in Mar-a-Lago, while noshing on boiled shrimp and cocktails, does everything to encourage.” Continue reading

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On Tom Waits in “Father Mother Sister Brother”: Grifter Like Me

So I came to appreciate the genius of singer/songwriter Tom Waits much later than I should have, even if I did know the Eagles version of his song “Ol’ 55” in early college years. (Waits thought their version was “antiseptic” … Continue reading

Posted in Film, Jim Jarmusch films, Tom Waits' films, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

On “After the Hunt” and “The Tavern at the End of the World”: Land of the Lost Professors

So the lives of professors are fodder for contemporary fiction and film, as evidenced by these two respective gems: the recent Julia Roberts’ film After the Hunt (2025) and Morris Collins’ just-published novel The Tavern at the End of History. … Continue reading

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On Morris Collins’s Novel “The Tavern at the End of History” (2026) and the Coen Brothers’ Film “A Serious Man” (2009)

So years ago a good friend of mine had seen the new Coen Brothers’ film A Serious Man before I had and I asked his opinion. He liked it but added, “It’s very Jewish.” Which, now that I know the … Continue reading

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“Song Sung Blue” Makes Kate Hudson Oscar Worthy

So I’ve never given the actress Kate Hudson much thought: She’s Goldie Hawn’s daughter so I’ve probably unconsciously (and unfairly) dismissed her with the ubiquitous “nepo baby” label (see under: Gwyneth Paltrow). I liked her in the unlikely Larry David … Continue reading

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