Category: Movie Review

More Notes and Asides

I can understand Trump’s desire to have the title of Pope. It would confirm at least in his own mind, his infallibility.

Recommend listening to Is the Sun Setting on America’s Financial Empire? | The Ezra Klein Show for an interesting discusssion between Ezra Klein and Kenneth Rogoff, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund and a professor of economics at Harvard University on Trump’s tariff policy and its implications for the U.S. dollar and economy. Rogoff is rather blunt about how moronic the current economic path is.

Also suggest a listen to Where in the World Is Trump Taking Us? | TED Explains the World with Ian Bremmer. Bremmer is articulate, candid and very conservant about global affairs, the world economy, geopolitics and U.S. domestic policy. Like a professional referee, he calls them like he sees them.

I believe that our freedoms include the right to die with dignity. If an individual who is cogent and psychologically stable believes that she has lived life well, that her life is complete and that her future will not bring improvement or joy, she should have the right to make the decision to terminate her life. Period.
Joan Temko Anyon
San Francisco

Daniel Kahneman’s Decision: A Debate About Choice in Dying NYT

For those who have not seen it, I hardly recommend viewing Four Seasons, a romantic comedy movie from 1981 starring Alan Alda, Carol Burnett, Jack Weston and Rita Marino. I looked forward to the reprise of Four Seasons, 2025 Netflix version starring Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Will Forte and Kerri Kenney-Silver. However, I found the 2025 version to be dark, depressing and not very funny. The one bright spot in the movie was the acting of Steve Carell, whose character in the movie was most entertaining of the seven characters featured.

Maybe the most irritating commercials that I see on TV come from injury lawyers who probably boast of exorbitant cash settlements they get for their injured clients. Who winds up paying for these exorbitant cash settlements? The insurance companies? Not really. Consumers are on the hook for paying huge cash settlements as our annual auto insurance premiums continue to rise exponentially.

“Changing your mind once about a theory, an investment, or a person, is healthy. Changing your mind twice is not.” Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Movie Review: A Haunting in Venice

Summary: Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) is asked by a friend and mystery author Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey) to attend a seance held on Halloween so he can debunk claims by a woman (Michelle Yeow) that she can communicate with the dead. Strange events occur including a few murders, unexplained attacks, spooky noises and visions of ghosts. Excellent storytelling and plenty of plot twists and turns.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Highlights: Branagh is brilliant as Poirot. First time, I saw Tina Fey in a dramatic role and she was very good.Kelly Reilly plays the distraught mother of a deceased child and it good to see her outside her role of Beth Dutton in Yellowstone. Excellent supporting cast.

This is a bit of a “dark movie.” Most of the scenes are shot with little light. A bit disconcerting at times but consistent with the movie’s theme and settings.

I really enjoyed the ending. Poirot was able to review events and even minute clues to come up with not only the murderer but the motives and ambitions of all the guests.

Excellent mystery and storytelling…