Lary Crews ©
@larycrews.bsky.social
Retired writer and broadcast journalist with
44 years of computer expertise.
Former actor in theater, TV and one movie. (Insidious 2011).
Eight published books. Content provider for Bluesky.
Living with his college-educated cat, Stanford in Reno NV.
44 years of computer expertise.
Former actor in theater, TV and one movie. (Insidious 2011).
Eight published books. Content provider for Bluesky.
Living with his college-educated cat, Stanford in Reno NV.
Pinned
The characters in The Spanish Prisoner are all given motives, romance, greed, pride, friendship, curiosity, and these motives are inventions and misdirection; the magician cuts the deck, and the joker wins. We like to be fooled. It’s like being tickled. We say “Stop!” and don’t mean it.
February 19, 2026 at 6:48 PM
The characters in The Spanish Prisoner are all given motives, romance, greed, pride, friendship, curiosity, and these motives are inventions and misdirection; the magician cuts the deck, and the joker wins. We like to be fooled. It’s like being tickled. We say “Stop!” and don’t mean it.
The Spanish Prisoner is delightful in the way a great card manipulator is delightful. It shows it has no hidden cards and then produces them out of thin air.
Our attention is misdirected and we forget to watch closely to see where they are going and how they are being handled.
Our attention is misdirected and we forget to watch closely to see where they are going and how they are being handled.
February 19, 2026 at 6:46 PM
The Spanish Prisoner is delightful in the way a great card manipulator is delightful. It shows it has no hidden cards and then produces them out of thin air.
Our attention is misdirected and we forget to watch closely to see where they are going and how they are being handled.
Our attention is misdirected and we forget to watch closely to see where they are going and how they are being handled.
But at this point the plot summary must end, before the surprises begin.
I can only say that anything as valuable as the Process would be a target for industrial espionage, and that when enough millions of dollars are involved, few people are above temptation.
I can only say that anything as valuable as the Process would be a target for industrial espionage, and that when enough millions of dollars are involved, few people are above temptation.
February 19, 2026 at 6:46 PM
But at this point the plot summary must end, before the surprises begin.
I can only say that anything as valuable as the Process would be a target for industrial espionage, and that when enough millions of dollars are involved, few people are above temptation.
I can only say that anything as valuable as the Process would be a target for industrial espionage, and that when enough millions of dollars are involved, few people are above temptation.
The film’s hero is Joe Ross (Campbell Scott), who has invented a Process that will make so much money for his company that when he writes the figure on a blackboard, we don’t even see the figure, only the shining eyes of executives looking at it.
February 19, 2026 at 6:45 PM
The film’s hero is Joe Ross (Campbell Scott), who has invented a Process that will make so much money for his company that when he writes the figure on a blackboard, we don’t even see the figure, only the shining eyes of executives looking at it.
Writer David Mamet is easy to recognize. His characters speak as if they’re wary of the world, afraid of being misquoted, reluctant to say what’s on their minds:
As a protective shield, they fall into precise legalisms, invoking old sayings as if they’re magic charms.
As a protective shield, they fall into precise legalisms, invoking old sayings as if they’re magic charms.
February 19, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Writer David Mamet is easy to recognize. His characters speak as if they’re wary of the world, afraid of being misquoted, reluctant to say what’s on their minds:
As a protective shield, they fall into precise legalisms, invoking old sayings as if they’re magic charms.
As a protective shield, they fall into precise legalisms, invoking old sayings as if they’re magic charms.
The Spanish Prisoner (1997) does not take place in Spain, and it has no prisoners.
The title refers to a classic con game.
Everything takes place in full view, on sunny beaches and in brightly lit rooms, with attractive people smilingly pulling the rug out from under the hero.
The title refers to a classic con game.
Everything takes place in full view, on sunny beaches and in brightly lit rooms, with attractive people smilingly pulling the rug out from under the hero.
February 19, 2026 at 6:43 PM
The Spanish Prisoner (1997) does not take place in Spain, and it has no prisoners.
The title refers to a classic con game.
Everything takes place in full view, on sunny beaches and in brightly lit rooms, with attractive people smilingly pulling the rug out from under the hero.
The title refers to a classic con game.
Everything takes place in full view, on sunny beaches and in brightly lit rooms, with attractive people smilingly pulling the rug out from under the hero.
Let's hear from you!
February 18, 2026 at 11:18 PM
Let's hear from you!
Shattered Glass relates the rise and fall of Stephen Glass at the New Republic, which is written by and for intelligent people and, crucially, doesn’t even use photographs. (“Photos would have saved us,” one staffer notes, “because there wouldn’t have been any.”
February 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Shattered Glass relates the rise and fall of Stephen Glass at the New Republic, which is written by and for intelligent people and, crucially, doesn’t even use photographs. (“Photos would have saved us,” one staffer notes, “because there wouldn’t have been any.”
Stephen Glass was a better actor than most, playing the role of a whiz kid with bashful narcissism. There is an agonizing sequence during which Lane tries to pin down the slippery details of a Glass story. With mounting dread, it becomes obvious to Lane that the story is false.
February 18, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Stephen Glass was a better actor than most, playing the role of a whiz kid with bashful narcissism. There is an agonizing sequence during which Lane tries to pin down the slippery details of a Glass story. With mounting dread, it becomes obvious to Lane that the story is false.
Adam calls TNR, his query lands on the desk of Charles Lane (Peter Sarsgaard), the magazine’s new editor. Lane has enough to worry about: He has recently replaced the beloved Michael Kelly, he lacks Kelly’s charisma, and the staff instinctively side with Glass against the cool, distant Lane.
February 18, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Adam calls TNR, his query lands on the desk of Charles Lane (Peter Sarsgaard), the magazine’s new editor. Lane has enough to worry about: He has recently replaced the beloved Michael Kelly, he lacks Kelly’s charisma, and the staff instinctively side with Glass against the cool, distant Lane.
The first puncture of Stephen Glass’ balloon comes from Adam Penenberg (Steve Zahn), as a writer for the Web-based Forbes Digital Tool. But when Adam tries to follow up on that rich hacker with his own agent, he can’t find him, or his agent, or the company that hired him, or even his Web site.
February 18, 2026 at 4:58 PM
The first puncture of Stephen Glass’ balloon comes from Adam Penenberg (Steve Zahn), as a writer for the Web-based Forbes Digital Tool. But when Adam tries to follow up on that rich hacker with his own agent, he can’t find him, or his agent, or the company that hired him, or even his Web site.
Problem is, Stephen Glass (Hayden Christensen) made them all up. Magazines employ fact-checkers to backstop their writers, and they’re a noble crowd, but sometimes they check the trees and not the forest; so it doesn’t occur to them a piece might be a total fraud.
February 18, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Problem is, Stephen Glass (Hayden Christensen) made them all up. Magazines employ fact-checkers to backstop their writers, and they’re a noble crowd, but sometimes they check the trees and not the forest; so it doesn’t occur to them a piece might be a total fraud.
Then there was the gathering of Young Republicans at a Washington hotel, partying all night like a drunken fraternity. The convention of the political novelties industry, with display tables of racist, homophobic and anti-Clinton T-shirts, bumper stickers and books. Never happened.
February 18, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Then there was the gathering of Young Republicans at a Washington hotel, partying all night like a drunken fraternity. The convention of the political novelties industry, with display tables of racist, homophobic and anti-Clinton T-shirts, bumper stickers and books. Never happened.
Glass did a piece for New Republic about a young computer hacker who terrified corporations with raids on their computers and then sold them his expertise to shoot down other hackers. He was so successful, he had his own agent. It was fiction.
February 18, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Glass did a piece for New Republic about a young computer hacker who terrified corporations with raids on their computers and then sold them his expertise to shoot down other hackers. He was so successful, he had his own agent. It was fiction.
“Are you mad at me?” Stephen Glass asks in the movie Shattered Glass (2003). He’s like a puppy who’s made a mess on the carpet but knows he’s cute and all of the kids are crazy about him. The kids in this case are his fellow staffers at the New Republic magazine.
February 18, 2026 at 4:54 PM
“Are you mad at me?” Stephen Glass asks in the movie Shattered Glass (2003). He’s like a puppy who’s made a mess on the carpet but knows he’s cute and all of the kids are crazy about him. The kids in this case are his fellow staffers at the New Republic magazine.
We have had two days of snow in the winter 2025-2026 season.
But this one makes up for the other one!
But this one makes up for the other one!
February 17, 2026 at 7:06 PM
We have had two days of snow in the winter 2025-2026 season.
But this one makes up for the other one!
But this one makes up for the other one!
The plot has many viable twists, and the movie comes to an exciting and feasible conclusion. This movie should serve as a message to modern day Hollywood. It shows how a movie if made with a lot of thought and heart, as opposed to just violence and/or sensualism, can produce a real winner.
February 17, 2026 at 5:51 PM
The plot has many viable twists, and the movie comes to an exciting and feasible conclusion. This movie should serve as a message to modern day Hollywood. It shows how a movie if made with a lot of thought and heart, as opposed to just violence and/or sensualism, can produce a real winner.
Marlowe develops a machine which renders the spaceships incapable of straight flight. The film is a prime example of what good science fiction is all about. It has tension, extraterrestrials, fast pacing, and good special effects for its day. This film is very suspenseful and well worth a look.
February 17, 2026 at 5:49 PM
Marlowe develops a machine which renders the spaceships incapable of straight flight. The film is a prime example of what good science fiction is all about. It has tension, extraterrestrials, fast pacing, and good special effects for its day. This film is very suspenseful and well worth a look.
A space creature contacts a professor on Earth and wants him to talk to his leaders. When there is a communication problem, the aliens destroy a rocket base.
In short time, the aliens let the Earth and its people know that their intent is to take over the planet.
In short time, the aliens let the Earth and its people know that their intent is to take over the planet.
February 17, 2026 at 5:48 PM
A space creature contacts a professor on Earth and wants him to talk to his leaders. When there is a communication problem, the aliens destroy a rocket base.
In short time, the aliens let the Earth and its people know that their intent is to take over the planet.
In short time, the aliens let the Earth and its people know that their intent is to take over the planet.
Dr Russell Marvin (Hugh Marlowe) works for Operation Skyhook to send rockets into space to probe for future space flights. When things go awry, it's up to Dr Marvin and his wife (Joan Taylor) to fight space aliens and save the Earth.
February 17, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Dr Russell Marvin (Hugh Marlowe) works for Operation Skyhook to send rockets into space to probe for future space flights. When things go awry, it's up to Dr Marvin and his wife (Joan Taylor) to fight space aliens and save the Earth.
This is a terrific older sci-fi movie. It has a good variety of characters, an interesting plot, and a solid script. The great special effects are just icing on the cake. Much of the movie is told in documentary style with a voice-over, which adds to the realism.
February 17, 2026 at 5:46 PM
This is a terrific older sci-fi movie. It has a good variety of characters, an interesting plot, and a solid script. The great special effects are just icing on the cake. Much of the movie is told in documentary style with a voice-over, which adds to the realism.
A textbook example of '50s-era science fiction, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) boasts not only a solid script and competent performances, but some genuinely impressive stop-motion effects courtesy of one of the industry's recognized masters, Ray Harryhausen.
February 17, 2026 at 5:45 PM
A textbook example of '50s-era science fiction, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) boasts not only a solid script and competent performances, but some genuinely impressive stop-motion effects courtesy of one of the industry's recognized masters, Ray Harryhausen.
