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Ex Machina and the Art of Appropriate Stylization
I want to be perfectly clear about something right from the start: I really liked Ex Machina. I’d go so far as to call it a great film. When it’s end-of-the-year-list time I suspect Ex… [more]
The Audacity of Hope, Geek Culture, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Part 1
When Emily Dickinson wrote, “Hope is the thing with feathers,” she clearly didn’t anticipate geek culture. For despite popular stereotypes, one of the most dominant characteristics of many in the geek community is a deep… [more]
The Ravishing Repertoire of Jean Rollin
This is a guest post by the fabulous horror critic Goregirl. You can keep up with her writing at 366 Weird Movies, Tumblr, and follow her on Twitter. Jean Rollin directed over fifty films in… [more]
Madness is Waiting: Hannibal Season Three Episode Eight
With episode eight of Hannibal’s third season, The Great Red Dragon, we’ve jumped ahead three years in time to the events of the first Hannibal novel, Red Dragon. It’s a dramatic jump, one that fundamentally… [more]
Outdoor Basketball Goals, Ant-Man, and Twinkies: Ambivalence at the Multiplex
When we first decided to buy a house, I had one requirement. I wanted a basketball goal. It’s not that I was a serious basketball player or anything, but having an outdoor goal seemed necessary—like… [more]
Where the Kaiju Things Are: All Monsters Attack
After Destroy All Monsters, Toho took the Godzilla franchise in a controversial direction. The studio decided to throw their biggest director at their smallest film yet, birthing one of the least popular Godzilla movies ever.… [more]
We Are a Zero-Sum Game: Hannibal Season Three Episode Seven
Hannibal comes to its midseason point with this episode, “Digestivo.” Not only does it essentially dramatically conclude the current storylines (before a jump forward multiple years into the events of Red Dragon), it also provides… [more]
Celebrating Apollo 11 Day: A Short Look at Space Travel and Pop Culture
Today is an historic day in world history, and ironically it will probably be some sort of world holiday at some point in the future. But as of 2015, we’re still grappling with the historic… [more]
“And Then It Was Continued Thereafter. Unto All Eternity.”: A Quite Unexpected Afterthought on The Multiversity
By far the biggest news to come out of SDCC, for me personally, was She Makes Comics winning best documentary at the independent film festival. Second to this was the fruit borne of the “Multiversity… [more]
Pluto: The Popular Culture Planet
Pluto, which our species is seeing up close for the first time this week, is a planet almost as firmly embedded in popular culture as Mars, and yet we know comparatively nothing about it. Since… [more]
You Dropped Your Forgiveness: Hannibal Season Three Episode Six
For a show perpetually willing to spend its time ruminating intellectually on personal philosophies, psychology, and characters’ perspectives Hannibal is also never short on events. The show achieves this wonderful complimentary and contrasting balance between… [more]
Mythology, Aunt May, and Fairy Tales: A Monday Morning Mosaic
How does the collective comics community respond to the news that an Oscar-winning and highly respected actress might participate in the next Spider-Man movie? Why, with weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, of course. [more]
5 Movies that Deserve Comic Spin-Offs
As this writer got into reading comics, he noticed that dozens of movies are comic adaptations. It was a startling realization to see Men in Black, The Mask, Wanted, Oblivion, The Crow, Kick-Ass, Snowpiercer, The… [more]
It’s You I See: Hannibal Season Three Episode Five
Sorry for the delayed review of the fifth episode of the third season of Hannibal. Things have been busy and threw off my review’s already strange schedule. But I’ve caught up on what was an… [more]
The Gore of Lucio Fulci: Don’t Torture a Duckling
Sometimes I like to imagine I have the kind of loyal readers who would hunt through my back catalogue like the kind of completist that, well, that I am. Although at this point I’m not… [more]
Ode to Dejection: On Children’s Animation, Art Films, and Pixar’s Inside Out
One of the unexpected side effects of having children is that you wind up watching a lot of kids’ entertainment. For some, this might sound like a nightmare, but it’s not always bad. Sure, you… [more]
Please God Let Netflix Save Hannibal
It was inevitable that Hannibal would be cancelled. There’s just too much about it that defies the conventions of network TV. It’s gory and creepy, yet utterly sophisticated. The sort of middle America viewers giving… [more]
Lewis and Clark, Manifest Destiny and Thoughts on America
In the long and storied history of the United States, a key moment occurred on August 18, 1805. That day, the “Corps of Discovery”, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, crossed the North American… [more]
The Women of Marvel and Geek Subculture
Whilst scrolling through the internet, trying to find the Women of Marvel variant covers which celebrate Women’s History Month through showcasing female artwork on comic book covers, I came across my favorite superhero, as her… [more]
Portraits In Alienated British Youth Circa 1989-90, Part Ten: Into The Fire
Here, friends, in where things get worse—not for True Faith itself per se, as Garth Ennis and Warren Pleece are both really hitting their stride at this point in the story—but for poor, hapless Nigel… [more]
Maybe This is One of Those Friendships That Ends After the Disembowelling: Hannibal Season Three Episode Four
The fourth episode of Hannibal’s third season, “Aperitivo”, barely features the eponymous serial killer. Instead it focuses on a sick survivor’s club of sorts, dealing plainly with the aftermath of the season two finale and… [more]
The Surreal Structure of the Shaolin
I watched The 36th Chamber of the Shaolin and had lots of lengthy thoughts about it’s structure in relation to modern action movies [more]