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 (742)
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Review of 'Slow Horses' 1.4
Well, I was glad to see that Slow Horses continued its streak of flatulence by Lamb in episode 1.4, up the other day on Apple TV+, with Lamb advising that some lamb dish he ate earlier would be making a "reappearance". Ok, this was not flatulence per se, it was just an allusion to it, but it gets a boost as a mention with someone named Lamb talking about lamb.
By Paul Levinson4 years ago in Criminal
Review of 'Outer Range' 1.1-2
The hybrid of science fiction/fantasy with the western (contemporary or historical) genre has long been sought after, touted as a natural, powerful combination for a television series, for as far back as I can remember. But it's seldom been realized, and off the top of my head, I can't think of a single successful example. Last year's Invasion on Apple TV+ took a shot with a lead-off episode out West, with no less an actor than Sam Neill in the lead -- but it was the weakest episode segment in an otherwise top-notch series. My wife suggested Westworld as an example that achieved the elusive goal, and yes, it did, but only partially, because the heart of its narrative was not western.
By Paul Levinson4 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Stream this Next'
I've been saying at least since 2015 that streaming -- in particular the capacity it gives viewers to watch as much of a television series as they like, at one time, as if they were reading a book -- constitutes a third golden age of television (the first being what TV broadcast networks began to bring us in the 1950s, the second being the cable revolution which I take as beginning with The Sopranos on HBO in 1999). Indeed, I watch a huge amount of television -- I find it quite good for my brain -- and I'd estimate more than 80% of the dramas and comedies I watch are via streaming (all the live news I watch is on cable -- mostly MSNBC, with a little CNN, in case you'd like to know).
By Paul Levinson4 years ago in Geeks
Review of a Review
I don't usually write reviews of reviews -- in fact, I'm pretty sure I never have -- but Joel McKinnon, whose views on science fiction, music, and the world at large I've found invariably worthy, strongly recommended that I read Ian Leslie's lengthy review of Peter Jackson's lengthy masterpiece The Beatles Get Back ("Knowing how much you loved Get Back I think you'll love this beautiful essay about it," Joel told me), so I did, and he was right.
By Paul Levinson4 years ago in Beat
