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4 days ago | 
scottholleran.substack.com | Scott Holleran
The first American pope was elected this week by cardinals at the Vatican in Rome. Chicago priest Robert Prevost also became the world’s first pope born in Chicago. Pope Leo the 14th is 69 years old. Having recently written a short story (“Sesame Flanagan”) which debuted in Classic Chicago magazine in which the title character appeals to the pope for justice—and is ex-communicated—I appreciate the irony.
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1 month ago | 
scottholleran.substack.com | Scott Holleran
The Amateur starring Rami Malek entertains. Watch for characterization and theme, not plot. As a mystery or thriller, the two-hour movie is good. But it’s Malek’s lead character, who goes rogue with reason after his wife’s murdered in a murky act of terrorism, that absorbs attention.
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1 month ago | 
scottholleran.substack.com | Scott Holleran
The article’s title reflects today’s choice in medicine. Though ObamaCare and self-care are not perfect terms, they both denote facts and concepts mixed and smashed into a single makeshift term. The origins of the word care are particularly relevant—the word care was fitted with a facade in the mid-Sixties at the start of America’s steep drop downward—commencing with the government’s ghoulish redistribution scheme dubbed Medicare, which slowly cripples the young to proliferate the old.
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1 month ago | 
scottholleran.substack.com | Scott Holleran
Losing your highest values depletes, tests and tries the soul, The Penguin Lessons dramatizes with humor, charm and a little bird. This poignant movie about the role of a bird in one man’s life begins with a drop of paint, jettisoned by his shudder from a bomb explosion during arrival to teach boys at an academy in a South American dictatorship in 1976. Steve Coogan (Philomena) portrays the English teacher. Jonathan Pryce, warning Coogan’s instructor to be politically correct, plays the principal.
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2 months ago | 
scottholleran.substack.com | Scott Holleran
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2 months ago | 
scottholleran.substack.com | Scott Holleran
Can the ordinary man make extraordinary impact? The answer lies in the life and career of Gene Hackman, a United States Marine born here in Southern California—in one of our poorest counties—in San Bernardino in 1930. Hackman’s career spans decades. He’s not a movie star. He’s not known for playing the hero—Gene Hackman often played the villain—and he’s not known for showboating. Gene Hackman is an actor, not a celebrity. Acting was his way of life.
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2 months ago | 
scottholleran.substack.com | Scott Holleran
I watched A Matter of Time with my friend Kim at her San Fernando Valley home. This 1976 movie starring Liza Minnelli, introduced to me by the late Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne when I interviewed him about Liza for my blog before he died, begins with Liza as Nina, donning a costume in Western Europe while looking in the mirror. It’s a charming start to a lovely little film.
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2 months ago | 
scottholleran.substack.com | Scott Holleran
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2 months ago | 
scottholleran.substack.com | Scott Holleran
The Journey is uniquely interesting and thought-provoking. Directed by a man born in Kiev when the city was located in Soviet Russia, now in Ukraine (which was invaded by Russia three years ago today) and written by a man born in Hungary, the 1959 motion picture depicts a band of international travelers and tourists detained by Communists during the 1956 uprising of Hungarians in Budapest when Soviet Russia invaded. The film has been forgotten. Several factors make it worth watching.
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Feb 14, 2025 | 
scottholleran.substack.com | Scott Holleran
According to the source, Denver-based Boom Supersonic, created by Blake Scholl (pictured above), pledges to revolutionize supersonic air travel by eliminating the sonic boom typically associated with speeds exceeding the sound barrier. Listen to this episode with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to Autonomia to listen to this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives. Thoughts about voyages, the world and works of art. Thoughts about voyages, the world and works of art.