A.I., Boomer: "Here," reviewed."

Robin Wright and Tom Hanks get decades shaved off by an A.I. tool called Metaphysic Live in Here. (Sony)

On Here, the reunion of Forrest Gump principals, for the Paper of Record.

Lots here about Bob Zemeckis’s obsession with still-janky digital de-aging tech. Spike Lee’s 2020 war-vet drama Da Five Bloods achieved more stirring results by making no attempt to hide its 60-something-year-old cast members’ ages in the flashback scenes set during their combat tours in Vietnam half a century prior.

I’m rooting for Zemeckis. Flight is great. I liked Allied, his 2016 WWII espionage thriller that no one saw, too.

"Masters of the Air," recapped.

Callum Turner, Austin Butler, and a B-17. (Apple TV+)

With seven years as an editor for Air & Space / Smithsonian, may it rest in power, under my belt, I was the only man for the job of telling you which real American historical figures are played by real English and Irish actors. My Vulture recaps of Masters of the Air, showrunner John Orloff’s long-delayed Apple TV+ adaptation of Donald L. Miller’s nonfiction history book, are here.

A DEGREE ABSOLUTE! episode ten — Checkmate

We are all of us pawns, my dear, in this quintessential Prisoner episode that some observers believe should've aired third in the run but didn't surface until much later. Wherever it belongs, what is undisputed is that it combines an underdeveloped chess metaphor with another conspiracy to escape The Village and an important life lesson for Number Six about how one should treat one's fellows. You might say the real jailbreak was the friends he utterly failed to make along the way. 

But on the plus side, Peter Wyngarde is this episode's Number Two, and his scarf is longer than that worn by any prior runner-up. This is a post-The Avengers, pre-Department S, pre-Jason King Wyngarde performance, and certainly worthy of further study. Which is why Glen briefs (debriefs?) us on his arrest record.

Also starring Ronald Radd as Brian Cox, Rosalie Crutchley as Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Patricia Jessel as Bea Arthur, and Basil Dignam as Luke Wilson.

Written by Gerald Kelsey

Directed by Don Chaffey

Initial airdate: November 24, 1967

PLUS: A mildly embarrassing correction! A deeply embarrassing confession! Listener mail! A discussion of Wyngarde's brief career as a recording artist, and a possibly triggering play-through of his 1970 single "Hippie & the Skinhead." Plus an unexpected detour into one of the darker corners the career of Mr. Tom Hanks, America's Reasonable Dad!

Leave us a five-star review with your hottest Prisoner take on Apple Podcasts!

Write or send a voicemail to the Citizens Advice Bureau at adegreeabsolute dot gmail!

Follow @NotaNumberPod!

Our song: "A Degree Absolute!"

Music and Lyrics by Chris Klimek

Arranged by Casey Erin Clark and Jonathan Clark

Vocals and Keyboards by Casey Erin Clark

Guitar, Percussion, Mixing by Jonathan Clark

Bass by Marcus Newstead

Pop Culture Happy Hour: "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" and What's Making Us Happy

Tom Hanks, America’s Reasonable Dad, pulls double duty as Mr. Rogers & Daniel Striped Tiger. (Lacey Terrell)

I sure hope my friends Linda Holmes, Stephen Thompson, Glen Weldon, Jess Reedy, and Emmanuel Johnson aren’t suffering today from the head cold that audibly ailed me on Monday during the recording of today’s Pop Culture Happy Hour. Our subject is A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, the Tom Hanks-IS-Fred Rogers movie directed by Marielle (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) Heller loosely fashioned after Tom Junod’s 1998 profile of Rogers for Esquire magazine. As I say in the show, this movie’s depiction of the life of a magazine journalist reflects the circa 1998 expectations on which I based career choices that I have, over the last 20 years, had more than one occasion to lament.

Thanks to all of them for allowing me once again to plug my yulemix. You can hear the show right here or via whatever podfeeder brings you your NPR.