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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
If you want to mess up your YouTube algorithm for a while—and make yourself a little dumber—go on YouTube and search “Sovereign Citizen.” There’s no shortage of compilations and short documentaries ab...
The French Connection, Heat, Bullitt, Dirty Hairy....HAWK JONES
I was merely a child when I first found this movie in the local video store. I would rent this film once a week. My parents would try to talk me out of it, but it was too no avail. Hawk Jones is the s...
“How can the dead be truly dead when they still live in the souls of those who are left behind?” A well-lauded, if somewhat overlooked classic of 20th century American literature, what’s left to be sa...
I was completely on board with Fury Road when I saw the trailer in early 2015. It looked bombastic and fun. When I walked out of the theater on May 17, 2015, I had gotten everything I wanted—and so mu...
“Third time watching and only just noticed "Plate O' Shrimp" in the background of a scene. Really cool for a movie that feels so loose in many ways to put so much thought and care into the production design (the script as well). Also, always blown away by how a few shots here actually approximate the look of a comic book — there's a reason the Criterion packaging looks the way it does!”
I have to admit something. It’s a little embarrassing, and from it you might make some assumptions about my parents. Despite their attitudes about respect, responsibility, accountability, and integrit...
Inspired by the resurgence of sci-fi and the emergence of more mature-themed comics in the 1980s, RoboCop tells the story of a police officer in a decaying Detroit. He is assigned to the most violent...
I was sold on the film the moment I saw the trailer and heard Michael B. Jordan say, “Naw, we cousins.” Set in the Jim Crow South, Sinners tells the story of a juke joint (think club in Prohibition-er...
I'd never considered myself a fan of horror until I delved into Mike Flanagan's various limited series on Netflix. He has a very captivating way of building earnest drama along slow-boil tension and r...
This Cyber-Organic Techno-Naturalist Rivals-Turned-Lovers Gender and Time Non-Conforming High-Concept and Abstract Sci-Fi Romance Novella Rules. There's Your Title.
“The twist of you in me. The writhe. You’re a whip uncoiling in my veins, and I write between the rearing and the snap.” Amal El Mohtar’s and Max Gladstone's Award-Winning(Hugo, Nebula, and Locust) Sc...
I am skeptical of deconstructions of genre. In lesser hands the deconstruction is boorish with nothing to say more than “Doesn’t this suck? AMIRIGHT?!?!” I call that finger in your eye satire and it's...
Run, Rabbit, Run-Reading Alex Greican’s “Red Rabbit”
There’s powerful, totemic magic at play here. Devils walk the earth, ghouls consume men alive, and you’d better be careful of any strangers you meet alone on a dusty Kansas trail. You see, Samuel Colt...
I saw the trailer for the movie the summer before college, over 20 years ago, and picked this book up. I read it quickly. Years later I read it again, something truly rare for me. I drove through Odes...
“A greatly enjoyable listen for indie rock in the 2020s, Annie DeRusso's "Super Pedestrian" hits a lot of high notes without hitting true perfection. The songs are emotive and diverse in their topics and pace. The identity of the album is strong. Tracks, "Legs," "Wet," and "Derek Jeter" are standouts. I'm looking forward to future works.”
It's been 36 years since the debut of Depeche Mode's "Violator," and it remains as relevant as ever. Representing a tremendous shift in sound and songwriting, there's little left so say about the 1990...
Man Seeking Woman season three is the final season and a logical place to stop for the show. I thought it was a planned final season but the show was canceled but given how it ends I assume they were...
If you are expecting a purely Lovecraftian story then this isn't for you. This feels like a blend of pulp action, historical fiction and magical fantasy all filtered through the lens of black people s...
