Tuesday - March 19, 2024
OnDenver.com - Your One Stop Site For Everything Denver!

Posts Tagged With ‘ steven spielberg ’

 

Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start

April 1st, 2018

On its face, nostalgia isn’t always a bad thing. It can be comforting, the dwelling on people, events, and things in the past, a mental bubble bath that we can slip into with a content smile. Some researchers even believe in the powerful psychological benefits of nostalgia. Hell, the foundation of the Trump campaign and presidency is based in the belief of a better* America of decades ago. Nostalgia has some nasty traps, too. The obvious one is that bygone eras are only great if you happen to be a straight, white guy. For literally everyone else, it sucks pretty hard. Worse yet is that nostalgia... Read More

An Essential Institution

January 14th, 2018

More than most countries, America runs on narrative. We call ourselves a shining city on a hill, lay claim to exceptionalism.* We brand ourselves as a nation of self-starters, rugged individualists, a place where a person from humble beginnings can rise all the way to the top through nothing more than determination and grit. Is it all true? Obviously, it’s better if it is true, but we have an almost singularly unique talent for lying to ourselves. We talk about our love of freedom, then take steps to disenfranchise people of color. We believe that anyone can become a success, then defend policies... Read More

All The Secret Whisperings Of The World

July 3rd, 2016

24 years old isn’t far from childhood. It’s far enough that you have lingering memories, but you’re anxious to be a grown-up, particularly when everyone else seems more grown-up than you. It seems like everyone else knows what they’re doing, so you maybe have to fake it a little. It’s likely that these thoughts went through the 24 year old head of Roald Dahl. World War II had begun, and he had joined the Royal Air Force to do his bit. He was assigned to fly a Gloster Gladiator, the last biplane aircraft that was used by the RAF. It must have been worrying to know... Read More

Spy Vs. Guy

October 18th, 2015

History has a delightful habit of repeating itself. It seems like humanity falls into the same traps and creates the same problems. Luckily for us, there are usually people of goodwill and upright character to keep us from collectively toppling into the abyss. For example, our country is currently involved in a cold war, or something that looks an awful lot like a cold war, with Russia. Yes, again. For those of you who aren’t ancient like me, it’s time for a brief history lesson. After the end of World War II in 1945, the majority of our planet was controlled by either the United... Read More

Run, It’s A Serialkillerasaurus!

June 21st, 2015

I remember seeing Jurassic Park in 1993. As a callow young punk, my father and I saw it at the dearly departed Village 4 theater in Boulder. I remember gasps from the audience at that first view of the Brachiosaurus.  I remember yelps of terror during the kitchen scene with the velociraptors. But the scene I remember most is the scene everybody remembers most. The T-Rex attack. The sound of the impact tremors. The sound waves rippling through water. The feeling of primal, escalating dread. Since then, Jurassic Park has become a landmark in blockbuster cinema. Pretty much everyone has had... Read More