There shan’t be in-depth analysis. I just wanted to impart in this probable last entry of the year that I finished reading Pat Frank’s novel Alas, Babylon and loved it. Although the subject matter is bleak, the themes of self-reliance, teamwork, hope, and groundedness coalesced into something of a comfort read for me. The characters contemplate, strategize, and make tough choices, but they don’t live in their heads the way I live in mine, so how the author portrayed their challenges in third-person omniscient narration was refreshing to me.
I also watched Bugonia (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2025) on DVD. Jesse Plemmons and Emma Stone were cast perfectly. I didn’t get around to watching it at the theatre and am glad I got it on home video. The making-of featurette is insightful (I learned about its connection to the Korean film from the early 2000s called Save the Green Planet!). Much of the film was filmed in and around Atlanta. I was thrilled to see Fernbank get some screen time over the High Museum. Yes, the Jackson Street Bridge had to be there, but so was the end-curve of the Spring-Buford Connector behind SCAD.
Bugonia inspired part of a poem.
Pic creds: Barnes & Noble, google street view
Sitting Pugs: Sports Movies 