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Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Awakens and Awakens…
My friend Kellie on Facebook wanted to post something about Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but before doing so, she posted this insane spoiler alert: I wanna discuss A Thing about Star Wars. If you’re… [more]
The Red Wing
Time travel stories can be some of the most enjoyable, as well as some of the most complex science fiction stories. When done well, they’re intricately plotted and deal with a number of complexities that… [more]
On Altered States and the Art of Making a Science Fiction Cult Classic
The science fiction film Altered States bears all the hallmarks of a cult film. For one thing, it’s about outsider topics, like psychedelic mind states, genetic memory, float tanks, and entheogens. For another there’s a… [more]
The Complete D.R. & Quinch: Alan Moore’s Sci-Fi Fun Time
Like many readers who discovered the world of comics in bookstores rather than comic shops, the works of Alan Moore made an immediate impression on me. He’s a comic book rock star and, undeniably, one… [more]
Creed Plays the Spin-Off Game Right
I wasn’t really anticipating enjoying Creed. I had heard some fairly positive response, but I sort of assumed I’d be able to appreciate it without being especially engrossed or involved in the proceedings. It’s not… [more]
Plutona #3: Want To Be A Superhero?
The Roman Empire had nothing on groups of kids when it comes to conspiracy, collusion, forming alliances and keeping secrets. That’s one of the great truths about young people that Jeff Lemire and Emi Lenox… [more]
The Basic Competency of Spotlight
Spotlight is a fairly derivative film in a lot of ways. The movie, which deals with The Boston Globe’s investigation into the systemic sexual misconduct of the Catholic Church, owes an arm and a leg… [more]
Some Short Thoughts on Recent Theatrical Releases
As you may or may not have noticed I’ve been falling rather dramatically behind on reviews this past month or so. All I can say to excuse it is that I’ve been busy and I’m… [more]
Supergirl: Not the Feminist Superhero People Want
I admit to never knowing, or caring to know, much about Supergirl. While I can talk pretty confidently about the story arcs and history of Batman or Superman or Wonder Woman or even to a… [more]
Spectre: Losing to the Times
I didn’t come in with high expectations for this film, which might be an odd thing to say considering that I really enjoyed Skyfall. You know Skyfall is a good film when it turns into… [more]
Invisible Republic #7: You Can’t Leave
“I’ve been involved in several cults, both as a leader and a follower. You have more fun as a follower, but you make more money as a leader.” -Creed Bratton We have to start the… [more]
Prometheus Eternal: New Reflections on a Classic Myth
Greek mythology is, it almost goes without saying, full of characters who incur the wrath of more powerful gods by violating their arbitrary rules. Most of those violations amount to stepping outside of the proverbial… [more]
Sorting Through Tim Burton’s Promising Wreckage: The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?
We have all probably heard, even if just in passing, of the great lost Superman film of the 1990s, but probably only rumours of goofy costumes and questionable casting. The recent independent documentary The Death… [more]
The Goddamned: The Bible as You’ve Never Seen it Before
Anyone of a certain inclination who has read the Old Testament can’t help but come away thinking of it as pretty “metal”, to coin a phrase. Fights to the death, plagues, burning cities, vendettas, and… [more]
Southern Bastards #12: The Return of Earl Tubb
“Americans love a winner, and cannot abide a loser.” -Gen. George S. Patton We have to go way back to issue #4 of Southern Bastards to recall the story that’s picked up here in issue… [more]
Descender #7: A New and Bold Chapter
Sometimes, maybe all the time, compelling narrative storytelling is about constantly raising the stakes. For a book that started with the destruction of a major human civilization, Descender has fairly masterfully managed to raise the… [more]
Rasputin #10: The River of Life and Death
As previously mentioned in our discussions of Rasputin, one of the more curious aspects of this historical figure is that we all know how he died. That’s the first and sometimes only thing we learn… [more]
Project Greenlight‘s Season Four Finale Shows Real Courage
For a season that crackled with energy and drama, the finale of season four of Project Greenlight ends on a note of resigned exhaustion. All the participants in this project, from executive producers on down… [more]
Halloween Binge: Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Last year when my Halloween Binge came to a close, I decided to wrap it up with a classic – an essential horror film I had never seen before. That was, of course, The Exorcist,… [more]
Halloween Binge: The Bird With the Crystal Plumage
I was pretty confident I’d have to watch a Dario Argento movie at some point during my Halloween Binge; it was just a matter of which one. The two of his films I’ve seen are… [more]
Manifest Destiny #18: The Dark Side
This isn’t the first time, nor, I suspect, will it be the last, when there is blood on the scales in Manifest Destiny. One of the things that makes this comic so fascinating is how… [more]
Halloween Binge: Inside
I like a movie with guts. Sorry, that was an abusively bad pun to start off this article. As a film fan I like a lot of different kinds of movies, obviously. There’s one style… [more]
Halloween Binge: The Howling
This movie is weridly about werewolf sex, so heads up on a NSFW image part way through. My very first thought about Joe Dante’s The Howling was: “Holy shit Slim Pickens is in this?” My,… [more]