This Week's Distractions

I'm only semi-appreciative of what J.D. Salinger has brought (thus far) to the literary table, so I don't much trouble myself with the speculation that surrounds his silent years. Ron Rosenbaum is always worth reading, however, and he crosses the threshold of the Ramakrishnah-Vivekananda Center of New York searching for clues as to what preoccupied the (ostensibly) productive writer's intellectual life. Now I have preoccupations of my own — thank you, Mr. Rosenbaum.

“Dated” SF movies have their own peculiar charms. So, has Mad Max aged well? How about The Road Warrior? How about Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome? (Don't answer that last question . . . rhetorical, you know.) What makes a movie — particularly SF movies — look dated?

"Does this look . . . date me?"