The Beatles Anthology 2025 (Disney+)

I’ve been a huge fan of The Beatles ever since I could listen to music. (It comes from having older brothers with good taste as well.) I watched the original broadcast on ABC and still have a VHS tape of the off-the-air broadcast around somewhere. I bought the DVD set a few years ago which has most of the “Threetles reunion” bits on the special features disc. My mom gifted me the book the Christmas it was published.

This new packaging of the Beatles’ official story doesn’t have a lot of new material in it, but the live recordings have all had the Peter Jackson “MAL” magic done to them.  In the process EVERY recording is leveled much higher than any speaking interview, which is jarring and annoying.

I have read that some bits were dropped from the original show and some new things inserted, but I can’t tell you which ones they were.

I enjoyed rewatching this show over several days.  Just like with “Eight Days a Week,” Ron Howard’s 2016 film, the renewed revelation is just how mesmerizing they were as a live band.  Someone like me has read all the minutiae about recordings and squabbles, but hearing and seeing them in their prime is just so darn good!

There’s a lot of grumbling in fan circles about the accompanying “Anthology 4” record–it doesn’t have much “new” in it, but the audio therein and for Anthology 1-3 has also had the “MAL” process on it.  If you listen carefully the new mix of “Real Love” also has gotten rid of a large portion of George’s guitar work, which is a very strange choice to make.

Overall, Anthology 2025 is still a must-watch for anyone new to the Beatles’ story, and it’s compelling for the rest of us, too.

 

Lunar Logic by Adeena Mignogna (2024)

I met Adeena two years ago at Balticon. She gave an interesting talk on “Space Junk”.  At the end she quickly promoted her books and I took note.  I first read her “Crazy Robots” series, which had some interesting concepts in it.  Lunar Logic is a standalone story, and I just got around to reading it.

I felt that the story started slowly, and the robots all being named “Ai-something” was cumbersome to the reader, but it makes sense within the world she’s created.  The book really took off after the initial world-setting and groundwork laid, becoming more readable and with a bit more action.

It’s a very timely book with ‘AI this’ and ‘AI that’ all in our news and science speculation.  This book is the best kind of “speculative fiction”.

I recommend Adeena’s work.  I have been getting her newsletter this year and she’s been writing some ‘flash fiction’ that I hope gets developed into full stories.

The Diplomat S1-S3 (Netflix)

I gave this show a try because many of my friends said how good it was.  They were not wrong!  Surprisingly, this is the first show I’ve ever watched with Keri Russell in it. She’s a very compelling actress, and while she’s beautiful, I love that this show isn’t afraid to show her imperfections as well.

I binged the entire run so far in less than two weeks, and while comparisons are being made to The West Wing, there is a key difference.  West Wing was all about the decency and honor of the main characters.  This show seems to embody “The End justifies the Means.” Usually the End is something that is humanitarian or towards keeping peace, but not always.

I was struck by the frantic pace of much of the first two seasons–it seems to occur in about a week of real time.  In S2 we get a skip of, I think, five months.

Most shows that hook me have a good ensemble cast and this show is no exception.  Until the Penns showed up the only actress I recognized from something else I’d watched was the actress who plays Eidra (CIA chief). She had a good part in Agatha All Along.

In S3 one of the main supporting characters has a crisis of conscience, and it felt very much a parallel commentary on the 47th presidency and the abuse of the civil service. Possibly I am reading my own experience in there, but it’s definitely a reference point. I will be curious to see if that develops any more in S4.

Since much of the show is set in the UK, there are some amazing exterior and interior shots and sets.  Every other scene seems to be some kind of formal dinner or cocktail reception in someplace older than the U.S. Great eye candy for all of the machinations going on.

I’m glad I watched this and now I’m waiting with the rest of you for season four.