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 (701/0)
Foreseeable
They sometimes call bathrooms washrooms, right? Anyway, I went into the bathroom – the men's room – in Saggio's just to wash my hands and face. It was a hot July day in the city, I'd walked from the train at 181st Street, and I wanted to be as fresh as possible for Jenny. We'd known each other for a while, ever since the Psych Class we’d taken at NYU almost a year ago, but this was just our second date, and I very much wanted everything to go right.
By Paul Levinson2 years ago in Fiction
Review of 'Utopia' (British version)
I watched and reviewed the American version of Utopia -- the one season -- here on Vocal two years ago. I thought it had its moments, was right for the occasion of the COVID pandemic, but also had several things I didn't particularly like. Now, two years later, I barely remember it. Indeed, I wasn't thinking about it all until a friend, Mike Grynbaum, urged me to watch the 2013-2014 two-season British version. He said the 2020 American version was terrible, but the British version was right up my alley. He knows that I like to write, read, and watch the genre known as biological science fiction.
By Paul Levinson2 years ago in Horror
Review of 'The Peripheral' 1.1-1.2
I saw the first two episodes of The Peripheral on Amazon Prime Video last night. It's an adaptation of the 2014 novel of the same name by William Gibson, the veritable godfather of cyberpunk who practically invented the genre with his novel Neuromancer in 1984. It was made by the creators of Westworld on HBO. So, The Peripheral has to be good, right?
By Paul Levinson2 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Bosch: Legacy'
As you readers of my reviews may well recall, I said Bosch was the best cop show currently on television. I was therefore not too happy that it concluded, and I expected to be at least somewhat disappointed by its sequel Bosch: Legacy, which I just got around to watching on Amazon's new Freevee service (see a few paragraphs below for more of my thoughts about Freevee). But as to the new series itself: I was just the opposite from being disappointed. I thought the first season of Bosch: Legacy, which continues the story of Bosch, now a private detective, and his beloved daughter Maddie, now a rookie LA cop, was better even than Bosch. It was non-stop superb, with none of the dips and slowdowns that even the great original series occasionally fell victim to.
By Paul Levinson2 years ago in Criminal
Review of Rachel Maddow's Ultra podcast
I just listened to the first two episodes of Rachel Maddow's new podcast, Ultra. Its vivid exploration of the fascist right-cadre in America in the late 1930s and (thus far in the podcast) 1940 offer a chilling, stunning historical precedent for what is threatening America right now. I'm recommending the podcast to all three of the classes I'm currently teaching at Fordham University this term.
By Paul Levinson2 years ago in The Swamp
Review of 'The Outfit'
If you'd like a 2022 movie on Amazon Prime that takes place in the 1950s in one indoor place -- a tailor's shop in Chicago -- starts off slowly and builds up to one of the best series of twists and turns that I've ever seen in a few hours on the screen, check out The Outfit.
By Paul Levinson2 years ago in Criminal
Review of 'Quantum Leap' (2022) 1.1-1.3
The new Quantum Leap sequel debuted on NBC two weeks ago. I was prepared not to like it, though recently, I've very much enjoyed the sequel of The Man Who Fell to Earth on Showtime, and, for that matter, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on Paramount Plus. And turns out I did enjoy this first episode of the new Quantum Leap, for all kinds of reasons, which I'll tell you about after I warn you about spoilers ahead.
By Paul Levinson2 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Blonde'. Top Story - October 2022.
Just watched Blonde on Netflix. I'm sorry to say I found only the acting was excellent. Let's talk about that excellence first. Ana de Armas as Norma Jeane delivered an Oscar worthy performance, conveying the 20% bravado/80% vulnerability that we think we know of Marilyn just perfectly. The voice, the facial expressions, and body language were so good, I could believe I was seeing Marilyn on the screen.
By Paul Levinson2 years ago in Filthy
Review of 'House of the Dragon' 1.1-1.3
It's been two months since I posted any reviews here -- I've been busy expanding my alternate history story, It's Real Life, in a novel, and helping put together a radioplay of the story -- and I figured House of the Dragon would be a good time to resume my reviewing. I saw the first three episodes, and I really enjoyed them. Indeed, I liked them more than some of Game of Thrones. Here are some non-spoiler reasons:
By Paul Levinson2 years ago in Geeks
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