During Covid and beyond we semi-retirees have struggled to keep ourselves entertained. I’ve been researching movies online, focusing on books’ various adaptations to cinema. For example, I compared the two adaptations of Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley’s Game to movies The American Friend and Ripley’s Game. While I admired the androgynous sophistication John Malkovich brought to the role of Tom Ripley in Ripley’s Game, I was thoroughly delighted watching Dennis Hopper’s Ripley, wearing glasses with a cigarette cocked in his mouth, garrote a guy in a restroom in The American Friend.” I also watched the British remake of The Big Sleep, which felt like a teacup rattler compared with the original.

I’ve looked to many sources for movies to stream, including columns in The Boston Globe by Ty Burr. Ty recently retired from The Globe after 19 years. “In that time just about everything has changed as far as how we watch movies and what we watch. The major studios gave themselves over completely to digitized franchise action properties, forcing other kinds of movies (dramas, comedies, romances, and anything involving humans) to festivals, arthouses, and streaming platforms,” he writes. “As much as I cherish the big-screen experience, I found myself increasingly frustrated by the widening gap between industry practice and viewer reality.” In 2021 Ty launched Ty’s Watch List, which has given him a chance to branch out. “I like writing about popular culture. I can and want to talk about streaming TV series we’re all addicted to, the music we listen to, and the personalities that defined us in youth and are still shaking up things today.” To subscribe to Ty’s Watch List, visit tyburrswatchlist.substack.com, create a Substack account, and sign up for the newsletter. It’s free, but if you pay a nominal subscription fee you will receive recommendations and the ability to join all the discussion threads. “It’s basically like the Film Society notes I wrote back in Hanover except you can talk back to me and you can’t fold them into paper airplanes and throw them at the screen.” (Read more about Ty on page 53.)

On a sad note, Al Noyes reported on the passing of our fellow classmate, Harry Shulman. “On August 11 a celebration of life took place for our recently departed classmate Harry Shulman. It was a beautiful and well-attended event. Speakers included stories and events from Harry’s life. His brother, John, spoke about growing up with Harry and then others shared experiences about Harry from Dartmouth, UVA law school, his time in Colorado, and his life in San Francisco. It was all orchestrated by his wonderful wife, Annie Williams, and their beloved children, Zoe and Sam. Common themes throughout included his ever-present contagious smile, his optimism, his intelligence, and how much he cared for others and made them feel appreciated,” Al writes. “The ceremony ended with a tequila toast. Harry will be sorely missed and never forgotten.”

—Rob Dinsmoor, 14 Rust St., South Hamilton, MA 01982; (978) 269-4069; dinsmo@earthlink.net; Meg Coughlin LePage,8 Brookside Drive, Cumberland, ME 04021; (207) 791-1382; mlepage@pierceatwood.com; Wade Herring, P.O. Box 9848, Savannah, GA 31412, (912) 944-1639; wherring@huntermaclean.com