Tag: Arts & Culture

Epoch Booklist: Recommended Reading for June 30–July 6

This week, we feature a naval history of an important British evacuation and a lush novel about the fate of three generations of an Indian family. Fiction ‘The Covenant of Water’ By Abraham Verghese This is a lovely, sweeping novel of epic proportion following the fates of three generations of a family living on India’s…


New US Intelligence Bill Seeks Extraterrestrial Materials, Probes Former Government Workers

Legislation recently proposed by the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee calls for any current or former government workers to hand over materials of “non-earth” origin to the defense department’s office that investigates UFOs. Bill S. 2103, introduced in the Senate on June 22, says anyone currently or formerly under contract with the federal government would have…


1956’s ‘The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit’

NR | 2 h 33 min | Drama | 1956 Tom Rath (Gregory Peck), wife Betsy (Jennifer Jones), and their three children get by on his barely adequate mid-20th-century salary. Betsy’s hankering after a higher quality of life, and his brief but decisive wartime extramarital affair claw at him, triggering a spiral of regret and…


Rewind, Review, and Re-Rate: ‘The Age of Innocence’

PG | 2h 19m | Drama, Romance | 01 October 1993 (USA) During a 1976 magazine interview, Jimmy Carter (without being asked) voluntarily stated that he “looked on a lot of women with lust” and had “committed adultery in my heart many times.” That’s a bold statement from an allegedly happily married, God-fearing man seeking the highest elected office on the planet,…


2022’s ‘In Defense of German Colonialism: And How Its Critics Empowered Nazis, Communists, and the Enemies of the West’

When social activists and ideologically driven historians claim something is evil by virtue of its existence, chances are those who receive that information are missing context. Typically, a lot of context. The idea of colonialism is one of those topics in which today’s social and political commentators are missing a lot of context, though indeed…


Henrietta Maria: Patroness Who Transformed English Culture

Henrietta Maria arrived in England after her wedding to King Charles I, who was one of the greatest royal art connoisseurs in history. Descending from the family of preeminent Renaissance patrons, the Medici of Florence, the new queen became a devoted patron to the arts, literature, and architecture in 17th-century England. “Queen Henrietta Maria,” 1636,…


Samuel Morse’s Device Connects the World

He made his living as an artist, but love for family led Samuel Morse (1791–1872) to invent a communication system that laid the groundwork for our lightning-speed technology today, when we have information at our fingertips. Although raised in Charlestown, Massachusetts, Morse moved when he married and settled his growing family in New Haven, Connecticut….


Michael Cutiz Film Shows Men of Character in ‘Dodge City’

NR | 1 h 44 min | Drama, Western | 1939 Director Michael Curtiz’s film is set in 1866 Kansas, after the Civil War has ended. Armies have disbanded and the long, slow, difficult work of building the West begins. “Dodge City” is meant to be a crowd-pleaser and please it does, but not without…


TV Series Review: A Taut Airline Drama ‘Hijack’

TV-MA | 7 episodes | thriller | June 28, 2023 Sam Nelson is flying Kingdom Airways, a fictional airline more like British Airways than Etihad or Emirates, but its first-class section should still be quite luxurious. Unfortunately, he will not be able to enjoy it, because his flight will be disrupted by hijackers. As it happens, sitting in first-class…


Film Review: ‘Nefarious’

R | 1h 37m | Thriller, Horror | April 14, 2023 The Epoch Times typically doesn’t cover the horror film genre, but the buzz around “Nefarious,” which was released in April, has been strong, so I decided to see what the fuss was about. Considering “Nefarious” is roundly despised by critics who think “The Flash” is awesome, touted…