Paul Levinson
Bio
Novels The Silk Code, The Plot To Save Socrates, It's Real Life: An Alternate History of The Beatles; LPs Twice Upon A Rhyme & Welcome Up; nonfiction The Soft Edge & Digital McLuhan, translated into 15 languages. Prof, Fordham Univ.
Stories (698/0)
Review of 'Outlander' 7.8
[Spoilers ahead ... ] Outlander 7.8, the midseason finale, was superb on many levels. First and foremost, it amply continued what was clear in the previous episode 7.7: it provided a vivid example of the insanity of war. Those Battles of Saratoga brought home the sheer depravity of war. Jamie is almost killed in the first battle. He almost kills his son in the second battle. Characters that we got to know at least a bit and liked are shot down like blades of grass being mowed. There's always a discrepancy between the nobility and the insanity of war -- the wanton killing of people. And watching these battles unfold on the screen was almost enough to make me a pacifist. But I always also think about Bertrand Russell, a dedicated pacifist until Hitler and the Nazis changed his mind.
By Paul Levinson9 months ago in Futurism
Review of 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' 2.7
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds from its inception was a boundary-breaking Star Trek, daring to launch a whole series about a character who had appeared in a crucial two-part episode in the original Star Trek in the 1960s, after re-introducing him for one season of Star Trek: Discovery in 2019. Strange New Worlds has succeeded in this admirably, not only telling us stories about Pike, but about younger Spock, Chapel, Uhura, and James T. Kirk, as well as introducing a whole passel of admirable new characters, including M'Benga, Noonien-Singh, Ortegas, Chin-Riley, and Sam Kirk (James T's brother). Episode 2.7, put up on Paramount Plus just a few days after 2.6, continues that pathbreaking storytelling, with a time-travel tale that combines Strange New Worlds with the animated Lower Decks.
By Paul Levinson10 months ago in Futurism
Review of Foundation 2.1-2.2
Foundation is back on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes of its second season. Here's a review, with some spoilers. Here's what the first episode of the second season is most like: the first season of Foundation on Apple TV+. Here's what it's significantly not much like: Isaac Asimov's novels, upon which this series is supposed to be based. But you knew that, and I said that, already. In fact, I just did, when I said the first episode of the second season is most like the first season.
By Paul Levinson10 months ago in Futurism
Review of 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' 2.1-2.5
Great to see Star Trek: Strange New Worlds back with its second season, even if it has too little of Pike, who may be becoming my favorite Star Trek captain. I should add, Strange New Worlds is already my favorite new Star Trek series.
By Paul Levinson10 months ago in Futurism
Why the Final Beatles Record via AI is Not So Revolutionary
Everybody's talking about Paul McCartney's comment in a BBC interview that AI was used in the creation of the "last" Beatles record, based on a demo John Lennon made in the 1970s, and already worked on by the surviving Beatles -- Paul, George, and Ringo -- in the 1990s, when The Beatles released two other Lennon demos they recrafted, "Real Love" and "Free As A Bird". I'm really looking forward to this new record, to be released later this year, but I expect it won't be very much different in production and outcome than any other Beatles recordings released in the past few years, including the beautiful things Peter Jackson did to the Beatles recordings from their 1969 rooftop concert and a little before in Jackson's 2021 documentary, "The Beatles: Get Back."
By Paul Levinson11 months ago in Beat
Review of 'Fatal Attraction' (2023, the TV series), Season One
Fatal Attraction -- the new 2023 series -- finished its 8-episode first season on Paramount this past Sunday. Yes, it's the same story as the 1987 stunner of a movie, retold and refigured in all kinds of significant and even profound ways, and I think it largely succeeded.
By Paul Levinson12 months ago in Criminal
Review of 'Citadel' 1.3-1.6
So, I said in my review of The Diplomat that it had elements of James Bond. Citadel, an outright spy thriller, set in the future, of course has elements of Bond, too. And watching the third episode, I was struck by the vibe of Star Wars it conveys, too: Citadel which fell, with just a few disparate agents left, is a lot like the Jedi, and the few of them that remained in the darkest days of the fall and the rise of the Force.
By Paul Levinson12 months ago in Futurism
Review of Silo 1.4-1.5
The excellent episode 1.4 of Silo up on Apple TV+ last week was entitled "Truth," no doubt after the word inscribed on the back of Holston's sheriff badge, now in the possession of Juliet. But there wasn't much truth revealed in this episode, as far as I could see, and hence no spoiler warning immediately after this paragraph. But the episode was still a pleasure to see, and my guess is some of what we saw will be crucial further on in the series.
By Paul Levinson12 months ago in Futurism
Review of 'Silo' 1.1-1.3
Just saw the first three episodes of Silo on Apple TV+, show-run by Graham Yost, whose previous impressive credits include The Americans, Sneaky Pete, and Justified, based on the Wool series of novels by Hugh Howey that I haven't read. These first three episodes bear some resemblance to most post-apocalypse stories, and even more to Apple TV+''s much lauded Severance. But Silo has a story and an ambience all its own, and it looks to be on its way to a top-notch science fiction series.
By Paul Levinsonabout a year ago in Futurism