“How do you try to save the world when there are folks who just wanna watch it burn?” asked Michael Caine in The Dark Knight. That question from The Dark Knight captures the contradictions of Christopher Nolan’s latest complicated protagonist – J. Robert Oppenheimer. He helped invent the atomic bomb to end WWII but caused…
Category: NonFiction
Damon Albarn: Decades of Hits Sometimes Under the Radar
Back in January 2022, Damon Albarn stirred up controversy when he claimed in an interview that Taylor Swift “doesn’t write her own songs.” Swift immediately clapped back on Twitter, saying she totally writes all her own music and calling Albarn’s comments “completely false and so damaging.” Albarn quickly realized he’d stepped in it and apologized,…
Finding My Filmmaking Roots in Vermont
It’s been a while since I moved to Vermont, I was excited to join the Vermont Production Collective, a community of creative professionals working together to produce films and other media projects in the state. As someone who has dabbled in filmmaking over the years, I’m looking forward to collaborating with other local artists and…
The Fog of War: McNamara, Oppenheimer, and the Perils of Power
Two of the most influential yet controversial defense intellectuals of the 20th century were Robert S. McNamara and J. Robert Oppenheimer. Though coming from very different backgrounds, both men rose to positions of enormous authority over the US military establishment, especially concerning nuclear weapons. And both left incredibly complex legacies that historians still debate today….
Bringing the Surreal World of David Lynch to Life with AI with Video
David Lynch is known for his surreal, dreamlike films that take viewers into strange and mysterious worlds. As an avid Lynch fan, I wanted to try capturing his in this MidJourney test. With the help of AI art generation and some creative editing, I was able to make a Lynchian animated video using just still…
Uncovering Hidden Worlds: Connecting Blue Velvet and Under the Silver Lake
Blue Velvet (1986) and Under the Silver Lake (2019) may be separated by decades, but these two neo-noir thrillers share striking similarities in their exploration of lurking darkness beneath the sunny surfaces of idyllic neighborhoods. Both Films are available on Max as of today. Both films follow an amateur investigator diving into the seedy underbelly…
The Portrait Revolution: A Wedding Videographer’s Perspective on the Shift from Landscape to Vertical Video
As a wedding videographer with thousands of edited videos in landscape orientation, I’ve witnessed firsthand the monumental impact of social media’s shift to portrait-oriented video. Over the past few years, platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts have catalyzed a significant change in how we create and consume video content. This portrait revolution has…
Your Future is Behind You: Reflecting on the Themes of Past Lives
I finally had the chance to see the indie drama Past Lives this past weekend, and living up to the hype it has stayed on my mind since. While big-budget films like Oppenheimer seem poised to sweep up Oscar buzz, Past Lives deserves recognition for its quietly affecting themes. Your future is behind you is…
Dolly Parton’s Top 10 Most Charitable Contributions: From Imagination Library to Helping Dollywood’s Hometown
Dolly Parton is undoubtedly a music icon. But she is also one of the most philanthropic celebrities, contributing to various charities over decades. I’m often seeing facts about her life. Her passion for getting children into reading is without peer in the celebrity circut. While some of her donations garner headlines, many go unknown as…
Memories of the 1964 World’s Fair through My Father’s Lens
Hello all! Today we’re embarking on a trip back in time. Last week we went to 1961 Las Vegas. Today I’m excited to share with you a unique treasure trove, a collection of photographs taken by my father, John Rodgers, when he was just 20 years old. These images offer a vivid snapshot of the…