Paul Levinson
Paul Levinson's novels include The Silk Code & The Plot To Save Socrates; his LPs Twice Upon A Rhyme & Welcome Up; his nonfiction including Fake News in Real Context, The Soft Edge & Digital McLuhan have been translated into 15 languages.
Review of 'Foundation' 1.5
I knew it! How many times have you read here in my reviews of television series and movies, how many times have you heard me say this on panels at science fiction and other popular culture conventions , that if you don't see a character's head literally blown to pieces, well, he or she may still be alive. I said this about Tony Almeida on 24 and I was right. I'm still saying this about Tony Soprano -- that he wasn't killed, indeed, wasn't even shot -- and I still think I'm right.
Paul LevinsonPublished 2 days ago in Futurism
Review of 'Squid Game'
Well, I binged the nine episodes of Squid Game the runaway smash hit on Netflix the past few nights, and I really liked it. A lot more than Hunger Games, as a matter of fact, which the Korean Squid Game has been frequently compared to, though I'll admit none of the Hunger Games movies were ever high up on my favorites list.
Paul LevinsonPublished 4 days ago in Futurism
Review of 'Foundation' 1.4
Well, once again, I thought the narrative on Terminus in Foundation 1.4 ended much too soon, almost in mid-action. I suppose I should get used to it. And once again, my favorite part of the episode were the scenes with the clonal Cleons. I suppose I should get used to that, too. Yet episode 1.4 was because of those clones my favorite so far.
Paul LevinsonPublished 7 days ago in Futurism
Review of 'La Brea' 1.2
A strong second episode of La Brea on NBC last night, in which the situation of the narrative -- x number of people suddenly sucked 10,000+ years into the past, and x number of people in the present knowing something about this and trying to do something about it -- is clarified, deepened, and fleshed out with characters who are beginning to come into sharper focus.
Paul LevinsonPublished 10 days ago in Futurism
Review of 'Foundation' 1.3
I said in my review of the first two episodes of the Foundation series on Apple TV+ last week that the relationship among the Cleon clone triumvirate -- Brothers Dawn, Day, and Dusk -- was fascinating, and "one of the best parts of the TV series not in the Asimov stories". In episode 1.3 that relationship took up at least the first third of the narrative, and it was easily the best part of the episode.
Paul LevinsonPublished 11 days ago in Futurism
Review of 'The Many Saints of Newark'
After all of these years -- 21 or 14, depending on whether you count from the beginning or the end -- The Sopranos is arguably still the best series ever on any kind of television screen. What's beyond argument is that The Sopranos started it all, and opened the gates, paved the way, for all the great television that ensued on cable and streaming screens.
Paul LevinsonPublished 14 days ago in Criminal
Review of 'La Brea' 1.1
Well, I thought I'd take a look at La Brea, which debuted last night on NBC. One on the one hand, a time-travel sinkhole story is right up my alley. On the other hand, science fiction on network television all too often turns out to be annoying. Or, if not -- like Debris, which was pretty good -- it's cancelled after one season. Gone are the days of Star Trek the original series on NBC, or Lost on ABC. But it's time travel. I won't say no to at least giving a time travel series on network television a chance.
Paul LevinsonPublished 16 days ago in Futurism
Review of 'American Rust' 1.1-2
My wife and I just had a chance to see the first two episodes of American Rust on Showtime. We'll definitely be watching the ensuing six episodes.
Paul LevinsonPublished 18 days ago in Criminal
