Golden Years: A Flash-Fiction Story
“Everyone kept telling me to wait until my golden years. I tell ya, ‘golden years,’ what a crock!” The words struck me as I dropped my trash into the compactor, […]
“Everyone kept telling me to wait until my golden years. I tell ya, ‘golden years,’ what a crock!” The words struck me as I dropped my trash into the compactor, […]
This week I returned to my novel after a hiatus of almost four months. That is certainly not as long as the infamous break in Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain took from
Since Breaking Bad this week swept the 2014 Emmy Awards, it seems to be a good time for me to highlight three narrative techniques the show’s writers and directors exploited
As a final assessment of the ninth season of 24, I wrote a guest blog for Blackwell’s Philosophy and Pop Culture series, which highlights the moral reasoning of Jack Bauer
Jack finishes as martyr. He has played this role many times through the series, sacrificing his humanity in the nightmarish choices he has made in service to his country and
The Final Sacrifice: The Last Hour of Live Another Day Read More »
Despite the silly move Mark made last episode, calling Anatol Stolnavich to give him Jack’s com link code, as a way of getting back at Audrey after a tiff over
The plotlines converge in a powerful way in this episode, offering us two poignant confrontations: on one side, Jack Bauer and Kate Morgan drill Steve Navarro on the consequences of
All Your Work Has Led to This: Hour 10 of Live Another Day Read More »
The conversation where Jack convinced President Heller he and Chloe could pull a fast one on the Al-Harazis must have been on a need-to-know basis. It is a lazy turn
Near the start of the episode, President Heller and Jack Bauer have a heated discussion about Heller’s plan to hand himself over to Margot Al-Harazi. Heller argues that his choice
It’s a Personal Decision: Hour 8 (200th Episode) of 24: Live Another Day Read More »
Back in 2010, when I knew nothing of the books, I admired the first film for its characterization, the animation, the thematic material: (1) the misfit who fights against the
Bigger, Bolder, and More Heart-wrenching: How To Train Your Dragon 2 Read More »
Though this episode is largely an extended cat-and-mouse game between Team Al-Harazi and Team Bauer, there are a few crucial moral moments. In one particular scene, Jack is hurriedly escorting
Please Don’t Leave Me Here: Hour 7 of Live Another Day Read More »
In a crucial scene, when Jack finally explains his risky plan to Kate, he says, “If you don’t want to do this, I can’t force you. It’s a lot to
It’s a Lot To Ask of You: Hour 6 of Live Another Day Read More »
Today I got to a point in my novel where there is a funeral and an emotional reunion between my two leads, who have been emotionally estranged from each other
Since the two-hour premiere (and earlier for those who heard in advance which characters were returning for this season), we’ve been waiting for the drama this episode delivers. Jack finally
Mistakes & Apologies : Hour 5 of 24 : Live Another Day Read More »
Early in this episode, Jack Bauer seeks the help of Chris Tanner in locating the flight key from the drone which the terrorists hacked. Because no one else has believed
“I Believe You!” : The Politics of Trust in Hour 4 of 24: Live Another Day Read More »
We are all babies in the water…. As I’ve been wrestling with myself to get words in my computer to finish my novel, and as I’ve been reading comments from
Although I favored titling this meditation, “It’s the Only Way Forward,” after Jack’s poignant comment to Chloe, I decided upon further reflection this episode seemed more a portrait of the
“What Must Be Done” : Ethical Reflection in Hour 3 of 24: Live Another Day Read More »
“I don’t have any friends,” or so says Jack Bauer to his Serbian associate Belcheck, just after breaking Chloe out of a CIA black site, near the end of the
“I Don’t Have Any Friends” : A Review of the Premiere of 24: Live Another Day Read More »
Pixar’s animated movie Ratatouille tosses around the slogan, “Anyone can cook!” The story dramatically plays with this slogan, putting a rat inside one of the most prestigious restaurants in Paris. For
It is rare to have a comic-book-inspired movie actually draw intelligently from the comics that inspired it. Dark Knight Rises took material from No Man’s Land in a new direction, and Spider-man 2 (Tobey MaGuire) faithfully
A Short Review of Captain America: Winter Soldier Read More »