Jay Dyer
21st Century Wire
Based on the chapter in my best selling book with new information and analysis, I decode the highly philosophical and esoteric 1982 film from Ridley Scott.
Blade Runner is not only important for its predictive programming, but also for its alchemical and gnostic themes, as found in the rest of Dick’s novels.
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Jay Dyer of jaysanalysis.com joins the popular Grimerica podcast to chat about his well reviewed book “Esoteric Hollywood – sex, cults, and symbols in Film”. We get into the sections of his book; Kubrick, Spielberg vs. HG Wells, 70’s and 80’s, 007, Lynch, Hitchcock, and the CIA in Hollywood.
Do you like dramatic period pieces? Preferably dealing with geopolitics and the rise of totalitarianism in the early 20th century? With great scenery and swelling film scores? Then we should be friends, and you should watch The Way Back, a movie about a group of prisoners of war escaping a Soviet gulag in Siberia, based on the book one of them wrote.
George and Harold’s pranks and comics are elevated above mere grade school shenanigans, and become a principled defense of creativity, imagination, and the pursuit of happiness. Even in the face of a madman with a weapon that literally extinguishes one’s sense of humor, George and Harold’s drive to enjoy life is indomitable.
Sharing my love of these times was the late Joey Rothbard, wife of Murray. We used to talk about the Gilded Age all evening, particularly the culture of the times: the music, painting, architecture, and daily technology. She frequently recommended that I read Age of Innocence by the great American writer Edith Wharton. She told me that more than any other work, this book captured everything I needed to know. She kept asking me if I had read it yet. I was too busy with my head full of political economy so I never got around to it. Just recently, I found the movie version. It is amazing.
Prosperity does not depend upon “great men,” either as socialist planners or capitalist entrepreneurs. Intentionally in generally is wildly exaggerated as a cause of social outcomes. Institutions matter far more.
Netflix has had some stumbles, but overall, their move from DVD-by-mail to online streaming leader to enabling force of amazing content has been nothing short of breathtaking. It’s one of the most impressive core business pivots the world has ever seen. Hollywood is afraid of it, and it's coming for Amazon. Can this continue forever though?
Wonder Woman, who throughout the film racks up quite a body count of conscripted German youths, is not so much a princess of peace as she is a valkyrie for “humanitarian” war: a Samantha Power with super-powers and a magic sword.
At this point, it’s old hat to rag on iTunes. It has been so bad, for so long, that the joke is stale. And yet, somehow Apple doesn’t seem to be in on the joke. Because if they were, surely iTunes would no longer exist.
I’ll be honest: I went to see Wonder Woman with zero expectations. I did, however, hope that this first modern woman-centric superhero movie wasn’t going to mess it up. It didn't.
