Maybe the third time’s a charm. I mean for this post. I started it last night; restarted from scratch earlier this evening; and now as I get ready to close-out another birthday, I’ve started over once again. Why is it so hard? I can’t say. The “birthday post” was long the one consistent and reliableContinue reading “The Return of the Birthday Post (My 6th Jack Benny Birthday)”
Author Archives: AaronOOF
UCLA Daily Bruin, “Out of Focus”: There goes Johnny — May 22, 1992: “The end of a late-night institution has arrived”
Only a dumb 20-year-old would have a photo like that and think it looks good. Also, can’t for the life of me explain the terrible copy editing, but the poor writing is definitely my fault. The following was published on Friday, May 22, 1992 in the UCLA Daily Bruin precisely as transcribed below, as you canContinue reading “UCLA Daily Bruin, “Out of Focus”: There goes Johnny — May 22, 1992: “The end of a late-night institution has arrived””
An Appreciation for Susan Smith
"Aaron," yelled my boss. This was not unusual. Her dark, wood-paneled, windowless office was about 20 feet down the hall from my little nook that looked out onto San Vicente Blvd. "Yes, Susan?" I called back. "Come here, please." Also, not unusual. But once I got there, pad in hand: "Get your dad on theContinue reading “An Appreciation for Susan Smith”
On the “Breaking Bad” finale – Walt didn’t win: Don’t forget Walter Jr.
(Obviously, spoilers present. 'Nuff said.) The relationship between Walt and his son forms the primary foundation at the heart of "Breaking Bad." (Photo credit: Ursula Coyote/AMC) I suppose I'm not surprised that many felt less satisfied with the "Felina" – excuse me, the finale – of Breaking Bad than I was. I've read tweets andContinue reading “On the “Breaking Bad” finale – Walt didn’t win: Don’t forget Walter Jr.”
Trusting Douglas Adams on the Importance of 42: The 10th Annual birthday post on my fourth Jack Benny birthday
I did something different this year before sitting down to write this post: I read the previous nine. Since I began this blog in Feb. 2004, I can only claim one constant: Without fail, on Sept. 21st of each year, I have written a post acknowledging, sometimes even celebrating my birthday. That's something I doContinue reading “Trusting Douglas Adams on the Importance of 42: The 10th Annual birthday post on my fourth Jack Benny birthday”
The oldest of them all: The history (and rivalry) between Showtime & HBO (thoughts spurred by a conversation with Showtime)
Each time I interview another cable network programming head, the conversation gets my brain abuzzin' on larger stories among the film and television landscape. As I planned for and spoke to David Nevins for the third interview in this series at Indiewire, I kept thinking about Showtime in relation to HBO, much more so thanContinue reading “The oldest of them all: The history (and rivalry) between Showtime & HBO (thoughts spurred by a conversation with Showtime)”
The changing landscape of cable channels & their programming (thoughts spurred by a conversation with Sundance Channel)
In the second of my interviews with cable network programming heads for Indiewire, I spoke with President and General Manager of Sundance Channel, Sarah Barnett. Sundance Channel made noise earlier this year with the premiere of Jane Campion's limited series Top of the Lake and the six-episode first season of Rectify. Both received a greatContinue reading “The changing landscape of cable channels & their programming (thoughts spurred by a conversation with Sundance Channel)”
Is the “Third Golden Age of Television” the new ’90s Indie Film phenomenon? Let’s talk to some cable execs and find out!
Perry SImon of BBC America What a great way to start a (Jewish) New Year: For some time now, I've been working on putting together a series of interviews with cable network programming heads for Indiewire. Today, they published the first of these: my chat with BBC America General Manager Perry Simon. As IContinue reading “Is the “Third Golden Age of Television” the new ’90s Indie Film phenomenon? Let’s talk to some cable execs and find out!”
Context and Peter Bogdanovich’s magnificent “Targets”
My transformation from casual movie enthusiast to full-blown cinema addict occurred during the summer of 1989, between my 1st and 2nd years of college. Clichés exist because of their inherent truths, so it should come as no surprise that my entry into this obsessive world occurred while working at a Blockbuster Video in San Francisco.Continue reading “Context and Peter Bogdanovich’s magnificent “Targets””
One-year married, and one wedding announcement revised
I probably spend too much time marking milestones. I often attribute significance to dates, especially when I'm able to choose both the event and the date. For instance: Jan. 1, 1995: Quit smoking once and for all. Oct. 23, 1996: Left L.A. and moved to New York. Feb. 26, 2004: First post on this blog.Continue reading “One-year married, and one wedding announcement revised”
Out of Focus 