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 'You' Season 2
Well, it's rare that a mystery or thriller surprises me with almost all of its twists, but the second season of You, now streaming on Netflix, did just that. And with the same wit and style that lit up the first season, maybe even more. All of which adds up to a highly, often immensely, enjoyable second season of this literate and introspective serial killer.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Criminal
Review of 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'
So here's where I am regarding the nine episodes of Star Wars: I thought the first trilogy, by George Lucas, was fabulous -- every bit as good, and maybe even better, than the other trilogy of that era, The Godfather (the third part of which, coming along almost 20 years later in 1990, not as good as the first two). And I thought, contrary to a lot of critics, that the second Star Wars trilogy, also by George Lucas, in the movie theaters at the turn of the 20th into our 21st century and a little after, was every bit as good as the first trilogy, and at times even better.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'His Dark Materials' 1.6
I'm not sure who the "His" is in His Dark Materials (I haven't read the books). I'm not even clear what the "Materials" are (the Dust? but I don't know yet exactly what that is, either). I do get the "Dark". And I also thought that last night's action-packed episode 1.6 moved preternaturally quickly.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'Watchmen' 1.8
Well, last night's episode 1.8 of Watchmen was my favorite so far. All the pieces came together; not easy in a time-travel story, especially when the time traveler is some kind of god, Dr. Manhattan, who, among his many impressive powers, has the ability to live and act in all times that he exists, at the same time, all of the time.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'His Dark Materials' 1.5
His Dark Materials 1.5 on HBO earlier tonight upped the evil of the villains, making them, well, the equivalent of Nazis. They're doing some kind of experiments on the kids they've kidnapped. Billy was separated from his daemon, and he dies. Lyra is kidnapped, and ends up in some kind of research facility with a nurse speaking in a Germanic or Scandinavian accent. The episode ends with Lyra realizing that Billy was wearing the same kind of smock that the nurse is now asking Lyra to wear.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'Emergence' 1.8
To be blunt: I thought Emergence 1.8 was, well, a weak episode. Here's why: I think the series is spinning its wheels, or choose your metaphor for a series that started out ok, got considerably better, and now seems to be going nowhere. This in part is because there have been too many deaths of villains or conflicted characters — Kindred and then Wilkis. And to make up for this, we keep getting new villains emerging on Emergence. Unfortunate, since that presumably is not why the series was so named.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'Emergence' 1.7
A fast-moving episode 1.7 of Emergence. I hope the rest of the season continues at this pace. We learn a lot. Emily is Kindred's daughter. She created Piper — or, rather, got Wilkis to create her — to satisfy Emily's need to have someone who really loved her. But, for reasons we still don't completely know or understand, the AI that is Piper wound up with a mind of her own.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Futurism
Review of 'His Dark Materials' 1.4
The bears took center state in episode 1.4 of His Dark Materials last week. If this is starting to sound like a three-ring circus, that's because it is, but the menagerie in His Dark Materials is far more diverse and intriguing than any you'll find in any circus, or, for that matter, to use another place where the Bears appear, in any football game.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'Watchmen' 1.6-1.7
I thought I'd review episodes 1.6 and 1.7 of Watchmen together, since they're both episodes of Nostalgia — the powerful drug that makes Angela relive her family's memories — and I thought two episodes might make a little more sense than the one. Which they do. I think. (Again, with the proviso that I never read the comics or saw any movie, and knew nothing at all of Watchmen before I started watching the HBO series.)
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'His Dark Materials' 1.3
I'm enjoying His Dark Materials, most of all the nature, behavior, and variety of the Daemons. As I understand them, they're some sort of external manifestation of the humans they're connected with, including their human sensibilities, with perhaps some other things that Daemons have on their own.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Geeks
Review of 'Watchmen' 1.5
That was the best thing about the insane episode 1.5 of the insano Watchmen on Sunday—"Some Enchanted Evening"—sung first by Sinatra at the beginning of the episode and at the end by some group unknown to me. But my favorite rendition of the song that Ezio Pinza first sang in Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific all those years ago has always been this one by Jay and the Americans.
By Paul Levinson6 years ago in Geeks
