Flatiron Hot! Pundit
The Dilemma of The Brainy Sci-Fi Blockbuster (BSFB): Looper
November 14, 2012 | Eric ShapiroFlatiron Hot! Critic on those Sci-Fi BLockbusters …
Like many Brainy Sci-Fi Blockbusters (BSFBs), Looper begins with an emphasis on its intellectual side. The film’s basic premise is that in the distant future, crime syndicates have devised a new, foolproof way of making their enemies disappear: sending them back in time to be executed by agents known as Loopers. The moral implications of this concept bring up interesting thematic possibilities.
Superstorm Sandy Shut Down Your Business? Have no Fear, NYCSCC is Here!
November 13, 2012 | Eric ShapiroFor many, Hurricane Sandy was more than just an inconvenience. Survey the wreckage of seaside communities such as Long Beach, the Jersey Shore, and Fire Island for first-hand evidence of the havoc natural disaster can wreak. However, take a closer look and it becomes clear that residential areas were not the only places affected by the storm. In Manhattan, many businesses were put out of action, whether due to flooding, loss of electricity, or an overall sense of panic. In the midst of a recession, any loss of revenue is bound to sting entrepreneurs, non-profits and corporations alike.
Flatiron Hot! Pundit: The Real General Petraeus Sex Scandal
November 12, 2012 | Eric ShapiroLest anyone thought the re-election of Barack Obama – the multiracial president who endorsed gay marriage and mandated contraception coverage – signaled in any way a moderation of America’s puritanical impulse, feast your eyes on the latest Washington spectacle, this time starring General David H. Petraeus.
The Dilemma of the Brainy Sci-Fi Blockbuster (BSFB) Part 1
November 8, 2012 | Eric ShapiroThe Flatiron Hot! Critic deconstructs the Sci-Fi Blockbusters – Part 1 …
One can select any number of summer blockbusters to support the cliched assertion that Hollywood has lost its magic. Loud, flashy, and utterly bereft of such cinematic staples as storytelling, characterization and directorial vision, the films in question are unashamedly tailored to deliver the biggest possible adrenaline rush to the widest swath of the testosterone-fueled young male demographic.
Election Fever Strikes the Flatiron Neighborhood – A Sampler
November 6, 2012 | Eric ShapiroAll eyes in the Flatiron district and its environs, as well of the New York City Seminar and Conference Center and its patrons, turn to the elections! Pundits and experts on both sides of the aisle have weighed in on how “superstorm” Sandy would affect voter turnout in regions most directly impacted by the devastation. Many have speculated that exhaustion and/or logistical issues at the polls would prevent citizens from casting their ballots, likely to the detriment of President Barack Obama, who faces the prospect of losing the popular vote even if the swing states deliver him a narrow Electoral College victory.
William Galston and Nick Eberstadt Debate Entitlements at New School’s John Tishman Auditorium
October 23, 2012 | Eric Shapiro
Nicholas Eberstadt and William Galston
debate Entitlements at the New School in NYC
On Thursday, October 19th, esteemed scholars William Galston and Nick Eberstadt met at the New School’s John Tishman Auditorium to discuss entitlements, an issue that lies at the center of an American ideological battle that has raged for decades. Although billed as a “debate,” anyone who was expecting an event resembling Tuesday’s Obama-Romney brawl at Hofstra University probably left feeling disappointed. Instead, the two scholars confronted the audience with two drastically different perspectives on what has, over the course of the 20th century, come to define U.S. politics, particularly since the economy tanked in 2008.
The Flatiron Hot! Pundit: How Obama Should Have Hit Romney in Last Night’s Presidential Debate
October 17, 2012 | Eric ShapiroOur disclaimer: FlatironHot! News and Bulletin is not a political blog per se, but all of us in the Flatiron District should recognize that the outcome of the Presidential election will have broad implications for the nation as a whole and the community that we love – so here at FlatironHot! News, we have no compunctions about adding in our two cents … and so is born the Flatiron Hot! Pundit … and of course, it is a two-way conversation, so feel free to comment and respond …
Danza Permanente Blends Color, Music, Dance for Unique Aesthetic Experience
October 16, 2012 | Heath RobbinsTechnically, a critic would not be remiss in describing choreographer DD Dorvillier’s Danza Permanente as an interpretive dance based on Beethoven’s String Quartet in A Minor (op. 132), but that would be reductive. Dorvillier’s ambitious work invites interpretation through lenses decidedly outside the repertoire of dance criticism.
Renowned Historian Talks Anti-Semitism, Holocaust at Local Event
September 27, 2012 | Eric ShapiroIn a recent lecture at the Center for Jewish History at 15 West 16th Street, aptly (albeit long-windedly) titled “Anti-Semitism and Judaeophobia: A Critical Analysis of the Development in European Anti-Jewish Sentiment During the Interwar Period,” John Lukacs, 88, showed himself to be a historian in the truest sense of the word. Sponsored by the YIVO Center for Jewish Research, the talk was trim, concise, and focused, almost to a fault at times.
Flatiron Hot! Pundit: The Campaign comes to the Flatiron! Jay-Z’ s 40/40 Club Hosting Obama Fundraiser …
September 18, 2012 | Eric ShapiroOwing to the controversial Supreme Court decision Citizens United, which allows for wealthy individuals to make unlimited donations to shadowy entities known as “Super-Pacs,” Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has enjoyed a consistent fundraising advantage over President Barack Obama, whose anti-Wall Street rhetoric and center-left policy prescriptions have scared away many a hyper-ventilating plutocrat. That being said, the President has one thing on his side that his opponent does not: star power (unless you count Clint Eastwood’s infamous conversation with an empty chair at the Republican National Convention).