Movies and TV

Reclusive billionaire scientist Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) has built a machine. It processes information from an omnipresent surveillance network he’s created for the government — and is able, based on that info, to predict terrorist events.

There are few things more powerful than the perfect combination of music and visuals. Think of your favorite movie scenes, and I’d be willing to bet they’ve got amazing music in them.

On one hand, you’ve got the great film composers; Herrmann, Goldsmith, Williams, and so on. They’re all worth study in their own right, of course. But what I find equally powerful, and arguably more interesting, is the effective use of popular music.

Interesting, because often, directors (and presumably, music supervisors) get it so horribly wrong.

The arrival of a giant man-eating great white shark on the shores of a New England beach resort in 1975 and its cruise out of the universal unconsciousness and through the international zeitgeist from was a historical and game-changing event.

This week Olive Films are releasing these two classic westerns from the early 1950s. Rio Grande (1950) is part of what is known as John Ford’s cavalry trilogy — along with Fort Apache (1948) and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) — based on stories by James Warner Bellah.

Above all, we admire mastery. A painter, sculptor, athlete, musician, actor, scientist — whatever the profession, there is nothing quite like witnessing someone working at the top of their game. The expression of professional confidence, ease, and poise is a joy to behold. You sit back and let it wash over you, and think to yourself — this is really good.