Month: March 2023

Today it is my sad duty to commemorate the passing of Lance Reddick. He was easily one of my favorites, not least for his distinctive saunter, and to an extent I felt like I knew him because his best roles (in my humble view) created a sort of cursus honorum.

First he was Lt. Cedric Daniels in The Wire.

Then he joined Homeland Security as Philip Broyles in Fringe:

Then, not to rest on his laurels, he ended up as chief of the LAPD in Bosch:

As careers go, in acting or in law enforcement, this is a meteoric rise, and, in my view anyway, well deserved. I am sad I will never see him as Chairman of the Joints Chiefs, Secretary of Defense, or Vice President. He would, I’m sure, have been tremendous in all of those roles.

As an archaeologist, and, well, as a human being, I wish to congratulate Ke Huy Quan on his Oscar. My eight-year-old self definitely wanted him to win for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (to be clear, I was 1 when that film was released; I had to wait a few years to watch it).

Everything Everywhere at Once is no Temple of Doom, but it’s a fine picture to be sure. (Michelle Yeoh was tremendous in it). I’m especially impressed by the fact that Ke Huy Quan hadn’t acted in 20 years before this role. It gives me hope for my own lackluster career, and of course fills me with childish glee.

And speaking of ‘archaeological’ film stars, congratulations also to Brendan Fraser.