I've watched a lot of films this past month.  Went through two franchises: Jaws . Began with  Jaws  in 1975, based on the novel by Peter Benchley, directed by Steven Spielberg and featuring that  theme song of John Williams , just an alternating pattern of E and F notes, which won an Oscar, and now is the standard sound of sharks. There were three sequels, earning $800 million for the entire franchise. Only the original  Jaws  movie did well by  Rotten Tomatoes , given a 97/90 scores by reviewers. However, the best shark film of all time was a Canadian documentary,  Sharkwater Extinction , which got a 100 score.  All about the illegal trade in shark fins. The  other Jaws films  got 62% ( #12 of all shark production s), 11% and 0% ( Jaws the Revenge  in 1987 got this rating, and ranks #39, the lowest of all shark flicks ).  In other words, don't bother to watch these sequels.  On the other hand, I did stay for the  Revenge , starring Lorraine Gracy, Mario van Peebles and Micha

This was a good year.  Avoided COVID.  Am at the best  Body Mass Index  in at least the past quarter century.  I've never been, as such, fat.  Well, maybe when I was around 1 year old.  But to the present. I saw 146.8 pounds on the scale a couple days ago.  My BMI is thus 23.0, just above average in the optimal green category. My weight before the pandemic was 165, or a BMI of 25.8, in the overweight category. Through a strict vegetable and little solid carbohydrate diet, with few snacks and almost no dessert, my weight dropped to 154, a BMI of 24.1, which placed me just in the optimal category. I just returned from a  five-week trip , including a 21-day Regent Seven Seas Explorer cruise, and saw 155.4 pounds, a BMI of 24.3, still barely in the optimal category.  But the amazing thing is that I thought I had gained at least 6 pounds, for I ate and drank a lot.  Too much. The solution, I determined, was a lot of sleep . True, we remain in COVID Pandemic status.  However, the bivalen

It's Saturday.  Enough of COVID, Ukraine, gun violence and global warming for today.  I don't go to movie theaters anymore, but, as I reported on  Top Gun Maverick   earlier this week , let me praise the film by indicating that it will continue to be #1 this weekend. Rotten Tomatoes reviewers gave it a 97% rating, while audiences bestowed 99%. Looking like this movie will get  close to a total of $300 million  in box office revenues by the end of this second weekend. And, if last week is any indication, this sum  could well double  when world-wide sales are added.   And  China has banned the film  for showing a Taiwanese flag. In 2020 China led the world at $3 billion. The total of U.S. and Canada was $2.2 billion, only $6/person for the whole year. Japan was $1.3 billion, or $10/person/year.  The  average price of a ticket  in Japan and North America is about $10. Overseas revenues were 82% of the total market. Global box office revenues fell by 72% in 2020.  Why?  The Pandemi