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 'Sharp Objects' 4
"You can't change history," Mr. Lacey tells Amma, as she tries her little best to seduce him—or begin to seduce him—in the fourth episode of Sharp Objects on HBO last night. If this were a time travel story, some character could set forth to prove Lacey wrong. Well, there is a kind of time travel in Sharp Objects, but it's the metaphysical or mental kind, not what we saw in the recently canceled Timeless series on NBC.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Horror
Review of The Blue Dahlia's 'La Tradition Américaine'
I had lunch a few days ago with my niece Dahlia—better known to you, the world, as The Blue Dahlia. In addition to her smiles, her laughter like summer rain, and her sparkle, she left me with a copy of her new album, La Tradition Américaine. I'm going to review it here. (Right, she's my niece. If you think that might bias my review, c'est dommage.)
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Beat
Review of 'Sharp Objects' 1 and 2
Catching up with the first two episodes of Sharp Objects, the limited summer series on HBO. It's distantly reminiscent of True Detective and Broadchurch, with a little Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and even "Eleanor Rigby" thrown in (one of the victims had a spider which she kept "in a jar by the door").
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Horror
Review of 'Humans' Season 3 Final Three Episodes
I decided to review the final three episodes of Humans, Season 3, as a single piece, since they're even more closely connected than episodes usually are in this fine series. The upshot of these episodes, and a great foundation for a fourth season, is that it's possible to have a true synch-human hybrid—true, that is, and assuming I'm understanding this correctly, on the genetic level.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Futurism
Review of '12 Monkeys' Finale
Well, I'm a sucker for happy endings, and I would never have forgiven 12 Monkeys if ended with Cole and Cassie apart, or dead—which indeed is the worst kind of apart—and I'm very glad I don't have to. That is, forgive 12 Monkeys. Because ... [spoilers ahead]
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Futurism
Paul McCartney's Two New Songs
I heard a new song by Paul McCartney earlier today on Sirius XM's The Beatles Channel—"Come On to Me"—and liked it enough that I just listened to it again on iHeart Radio, along with another new McCartney song, "I Don't Know," which I like even more. You can hear both along with the videos and lyrics over here.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Beat
Review of 'Humans' 3.5
On the eve of the Fourth of July in America earlier this week, it was good to see the synths in Humans 4.5 making progress towards independence, even though the show has been moved from 10 PM to the less desirable 11 PM hour by AMC, thank you.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Futurism
Review of '12 Monkeys' 4-7.9
I've been saying for years—well, since 1995, when Terry Gilliam's movie, starring Bruce Willis and Madeleine Stowe first came out—that 12 Monkeys (based on the 1962 short, La Jetée) is the best time-travel movie ever made. This gave the television series, which came out in 2015 and I've been reviewing ever since, a lot to live up to. Up until tonight's penultimate three episodes (4.7-9), the best it did was sidestep the movie, and tell us other time-travel stories. Especially in this final season, some of these stories were as good, in their own ways, as the movie.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Futurism