ON COMICS CHARACTERS
ON SCI-FI FRANCHISES
ON GRANT MORRISON
ON TV AND MOVIES
OTHER BOOKS
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Magazine Archives for:
2014
Switch to calendar view.
Halloween Binge: Return of the Living Dead
An awesome zombie flick with nonsensical zombies, loads of camp, unnecessary nudity, punks, great needle drops, and, most importantly, “braaains.” [more]
Oh, My Aching Cranium!: Jack Kirby’s OMAC Deconstructed And Reconstructed, Part Six
The cover for OMAC #2 lays things bare – “In The Era Of The ‘Super Rich’ – Mister Big Can ‘Rent A City’ For Assassination!” And while, admittedly, this may have sounded a bit far-fetched… [more]
Halloween Binge: Genocide
Genocide is a bleak, nihilistic, Japanese horror film with killer bugs. It’s also not so secretly about war time atrocities. Like you do. [more]
Sifting Through the Ashes: Analyzing Hellblazer, Part 1
When the term “magic” is observed by a member of the Western world, certain images undoubtedly come to mind. Long bearded men with staffs and pointy hats, a young boy with a lightning bolt scar,… [more]
Halloween Binge: Cannibal Holocaust
Cannibal Holocaust is one of the more controversial horror movies ever made. Filled with sketchy content and upsetting gore, it’s a dark Halloween viewing indeed. [more]
Discovering Black Jesus, Episode 6: “Love Thy Enemy, Part 1”
“You better slow down Joe Brown. You know God’s love will get you f*cked up quick.” God’s love dominates Black Jesus as a recurring theme, but what it means exactly has yet to take shape… [more]
The Fallen and a Mystery: Arrow Season Three Episode 2 Review
The third season of Arrow is starting off in a subtly different fashion than the previous two years. In a strange and compelling way it’s almost managed to transform itself into a more modest show.… [more]
Halloween Binge: House
First up in my flood of Halloween themed articles: the insane Japanese horror movie House . It’s got magic cats, cannibalism, and crazy hand drawn FX. [more]
Categorizing Vampire Movies
In their classic form, vampires are immortal, nonhuman beings who sustain themselves by drinking human blood. Sometimes referred to as nosferatu or wurdalak, vampires are most often portrayed as “undead” individuals who have come back… [more]
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway: A Progressive Rock Album about Progress
Genesis, a band that’s been around longer than Crosby, Stills and Nash and has produced three times as many albums, is now enjoying a period of historical renovation. The recent documentary “Together and Apart” (that’s… [more]
“About Sixty Per Cent Happy”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 40
Continued from last week. The rest of Millar’s Swamp Thing tales shared the same weaknesses as River Run, although they only intermittently reflected the same strengths. The likes of Twilight of The Gods and Chester… [more]
Smorgasbord #4: Civil War, the Musical
It’s a busy post NYCC season as Shawn and Tom make their through a heap of news and declarations: new Marvel Comics events, the cancellation of the Fantastic Four, Vertigo’s expended line, Captain America 3 rumors, and… [more]
The Movie With a Million Titles: Gamera vs. Jiger
Validate me, watch along and let me know what you thought: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yISxIM1EJZs My least favourite Gamera movie was Gamera vs. Barugon. The second Gamera movie ever made and the first to feature an opposing kaiju.… [more]
How to Talk Like a Smart Person in 6 Easy Steps: Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom
Last year, while re-reading Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles, I was amused by the references to “smart drinks,” a popular ‘90s fad of high-powered, supplement-infused juices said to stimulate brain activity. While I never tried one… [more]
Kevin Smith’s Tusk: Chasing Whimsy
One of my oldest and dearest friends and I went to see Kevin Smith’s Tusk last week and his (unfavourable) description of the film is that it’s “pointless”. I think he speaks for a lot… [more]
Review of Kiss’s Music From “The Elder”
While I was searching my brain this week, trying to think of a suitable concept album to review, a curious bit of trivia surfaced without warning: I suddenly remembered that Kiss had released a concept… [more]
Hipster in Gotham: A Review of Batgirl #35
One of the biggest problems with a character like Batgirl is that she can’t grow up. Since DC Comics already has a Batwoman, it’s not like Batgirl can graduate and mature. Due to the nature… [more]
Subtly Problematic Script Structure: The Fly
There is something about David Cronenberg’s The Fly that didn’t quite sit with me perfectly. The über respected Canadian horror director’s seminal body-horror movie isn’t bad, far from it in fact. Instead the fact that… [more]
It’s Bobcat vs. Bigfoot in Willow Creek
If you’d have told me, say, ten years ago that the annoying comedian best known for doing the voice of that stupid rabbit puppet on a third-rate Married With Children knock-off sitcom would develop into one… [more]
“For the Man Who Has Everything”: The Animated Adaptation
Getting Alan Moore to approve of an adaptation is like… getting Alan Moore to approve of an adaptation. So, it’s very interesting to hear that the 2006 WB Animation adaptation of “For the Man Who… [more]
Straight Shooting: Arrow Season 3 Episode 1 Review
Partial spoilers ahead: The problems with happy endings in the middle of a TV series are that they must, by the very nature of storytelling, be undone. Arrow’s second season ended with just such a… [more]
Sex Criminals #8: “You Have Issues”
The Sex Criminals have issues, probably more than the number of issues already… issued. That’s what has come front and centre in the last couple of editions of Sex Criminals, and the time that Suzy… [more]
Space Cannibals and Guillermo del Toro: On Gamera vs. Guiron
The influence behind Knifehead. And a whole bunch of nonsense in this surprisingly violent entry in the Gamera series. [more]
