Reviews
Read what the community thinks about their favorite albums
Aiming for profound but hit soap opera sullen
What About the Bodies
In high school and college creative writing classes, you inevitably read stories written by your peers that attempt profundity through impossibly hard-luck circumstances, deeply unhappy people, relent...
Back at it
Take Care, Take Care, Take Care · Explosions in the Sky
Explosions in the Sky’s sixth album, Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, starts strong and finishes just as strongly. Not since How Strange, Innocence has one of their albums felt so much like a complete...
A thriller's thriller
Jurassic Park
Spoiler Jurassic Park is the signature Crichton novel. Released in 1990 it pushed genetic engineering directly into the center of popular culture and ignited a franchise that spans movies, comics and video ga...
Right down the middle
Thor
If Thor was the exact same movie but released in 1997 it would have been the best superhero film since Batman Returns. But it had to be released in a world that already had Blade, X-Men, X-Men 2, two...
A sadder sequel
The Cartel
The best writers know how to balance the stories they want to tell with the stories they need their audience to read. Frank Herbert wrote Dune Messiah to correct a common misinterpretation of his firs...
A modern war film
Warfare
I saw Warfare in theaters when it was first released and I will be the first to say that I think this movie should have been at least nominated for Best Sound. I was in awe of the concussion force of...
They were right... no one can hear you scream
Alien: Isolation
Horror movies and action movies exist on almost diametrically opposed ends of the emotional spectrum. Action movies are often about wish fulfillment. The main character is usually a self-insert figure...
Amaze. Amaze. AMAZE!
Project Hail Mary
Once I realized they were releasing a movie based on a book sitting in my backlog, I quickly picked it up and tried to finish it before the premiere. I missed that deadline by a mile, but I did manage...
The best of humanity
Project Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary is a sci-fi novel set against impossible odds, a lone survivor must 'science' his way out of the biggest problem in his life. The difference between Astronaut Mark Wayney and Dr Ryla...
A refreshing horror movie
Hokum
I will keep this one a bit short and sweet because I don't want to possibly give any spoilers as this movie subverted my expectations (in a good way). I think Hokum is the best original (as in not a r...
This could have been SO MUCH MORE
The Lamplighters League: Deluxe Edition
What happens when you blend inspired art direction, a fun narrative steeped in the pulp literary tradition of the Western canon, turn-based tactical strategy, and terribly unbalanced gameplay? You get...
Lets try again
Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2 is the first real Disney Marvel film. The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man had already come out in 2008. Surely the negotiations had been happening for years, but Disney did not officially buy...
No one saw this coming
Iron Man
It was the ’90s. Our president was cool and played the saxophone, I was a lot shorter, and Saturday mornings were reserved for cartoons. It was a glorious time that I got to enjoy whenever my mother d...
Uva Uvam Vivendo Varia Fit
Lonesome Dove, Episode 1
Spoiler “I’m glad I’ve been wrong enough to keep in practice… You can’t avoid it, you’ve got to learn to handle it. If you only come face to face with your own mistakes once or twice in your life, it’s bound...
Review of Alone With Heaven
Alone With Heaven · The Saddest Landscape
What makes The Saddest Landscape stand out among their peers in the emo/screamo scene is their ability to capture the tension of hope and despair so viscerally. They utilize massive, melodic wall-of-s...
Cameron's First Classic
Aliens
Aliens. That’s a pretty good summary of this movie, especially if you’ve seen Alien. This is Aliens. A rare sequel that switches genre, increases the enemies and makes another great film. Alien is a g...
Another great DLC
Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches
A two‑part DLC would irritate me were it not for the sheer amount of fun it delivers. You jump straight back into Daud’s story. He has solved the mystery of Delilah’s identity, but her motives remain...
A Knife in the Night
Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall
The Knife of Dunwall might be the best DLC I have ever played—not the best for Dishonored 1, not the best in the entire Dishonored series, but the best DLC I have ever experienced. What the Knife of D...
An Exceptional Game
Dishonored: Definitive Edition
I did not like Dishonored when it was first released. Coming out shortly before Bioshock Infinite, it was not the game I wanted it to be. It wasn’t easy or forgiving—no, it was an immersive sim sold t...
All of a Sudden I Want to Dream
All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone · Explosions in the Sky
Explosions in the Sky is not shy about evoking the unnamed emotions that exist between your initial reaction and deeper introspection—those first flashes of excitement, the tension of a held breath. A...
A Perfect Blend
Alien
If Ridley Scott’s Alien were just science fiction, it would rank among the very best in cinematic history. If it were purely horror, it would still stand among the best. It’s the confluence of these s...
Emotions for Rent by Hour
Rental Family
Spoiler Rental Family raises poignant questions about the commodification of loneliness, the impact of genuine connection, and what it means to be a friend, family, lover, or community - questions which are u...
Wow... What a Let Down
RoboCop 3
I was 7 and I was the problem. I liked Robocop and I was the problem. I was too little to have seen it. So many of us were just to young for the violence and satire. So a movie studio did what they sh...
A Book and Game Worth Your Time
The Last Great Game: Duke vs. Kentucky and the 2.1 Seconds That Changed Basketball
Sports only matter if you care. If you care about the team, the school, franchise, the players. Gene Wojciechowski makes you care about Duke and Kentucky. He makes you care about Duke's rise and Kentu...