Reading, Watching, Listening: 11/14/2025

Reading - I finished reading Red Storm Rising, the 1986 novel by Tom Clancy that imagines a WWIII scenario. Facing an energy crisis and terrorist attacks, the USSR decides it needs to seize oil fields in the Middle East - but first must destroy NATO. The wide-ranging narrative is mostly focused on naval warfare in the North Atlantic as the Soviets attempt to destroy NATO's supply lines. The novel expresses the complexity of naval warfare and the unlimited number of variables faced by commanders. It can be difficult to read about such battles in fictional prose, unless one's an expert on 1980s military hardware, so the book can be a slog at times. The lack of visual aids when describing complex battles can make for leaden prose, depicting the strategies of modern warfare might work better in a graphic novel or video game. Despite its dense technology, Red Storm Rising is an engaging artifact of 1980s Cold War culture. I even picked up The Hunt for Red October, which is far better. 

I also read the graphic novel Lucas Wars by Laurent Hopman and Renaud Roche, which is about George Lucas and the making of Star Wars. There's been many books on the subject: Skywalking: The Life and Times of George Lucas by Dale Pollock, George Lucas: A Life by Brian Jay Jones, The Making of Star Wars by J.W. Rinzler, How Star Wars Conquered the Universe by Chris Taylor, The Secret History of Star Wars by Michael Kaminski, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls by Peter Biskind, and The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. Documentaries on the subject include: The Making of Star Wars (made for TV in 1977), From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga, Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy, the Disney series Light & Magic, Icons Unearthed: The Making of Star Wars, which is told from the perspective of Marcia Lucas, and the podcast Blockbuster which dramatizes the friendship between Spielberg and Lucas.

Lucas Wars was engaging, drawing upon all the sources on the making of Star Wars. There's an emotional heart to it, focused on George and Marcia, Fox President Alan Ladd Jr., and the principals in the cast. The villains are naturally the suits at 20th Century Fox, who consistently tried to undermine the film. There's a bit of hagiography with Lucas as the misunderstood visionary who triumphed against all odds. The artwork nicely conveys the emotional beats of the story. At its center are George and Marcia Lucas, she encouraged him, called out his bad ideas, and played a crucial role in editing the film. Gary Kurtz is also a major character, George's producer and troubleshooter. There's a hint of melancholy since George and Marcia would eventually have a bitter divorce, while Kurtz would also have a falling out with Lucas. Yet there's no doubt Lucas revolutionized filmmaking for good and ill, creating his own special effects company, drawing upon so many influences, gathering so many creative people, and eschewing all the conventions of filmmaking all brought incredible dividends. 

Watching - Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere which follows Bruce Springsteen around the time he recorded his 1982 album Nebraska, an acoustic record released in defiance of his record company who wanted more hits. There's nothing on Springsteen's rise in the New Jersey rock scene, getting signed by Columbia, nor being on the cover of Time and Newsweek with the 1975 release of Born to Run. Neither is it about rock star excess or creative stagnation, but more about overcoming inner demons. As a character study it works well, Jeremy Allen White was well cast Springsteen, Jeremy Strong is effective as his manager and conscience Jon Landeau. The insular nature of the film felt fresh at times, but the focus on childhood trauma was overwrought. 

I also enjoyed Death by Lightning on Netflix, which tells of the improbable rise of James Garfield who was elected President of the United States in 1880, but was assassinated just a few months into his term. The story emphasizes the long shadow of the Civil War (Garfield suffered from PTSD), corruption, and civil service reform. Michael Shannon plays Garfield with humanity, while Matthew Macfadyen plays the unstable assassin Charles Guiteau, he was like a Travis Bickle who read way too many self-help books. 

Listening - I'd recommend three movie podcasts. The Projection Booth Podcast discussed the 1978 Walter Hill film The Driver. Watch with Jen held a free-ranging discussion on the career of Jackie Chan. The Pure Cinema Podcast released Part One of their series on Stanley Kubrick, going through his filmography and recommending films to pair with each Kubrick entry.