This cult classic courted controversy when it was first released for its ‘vulgar violence’. It was rated R in its home country of Japan and was either banned or found only limited releases in other countries. Watching it now, I ...
Read More »The Djinn Falls in Love & Other Stories
I love a good thematically organized short story collection, be it situated around an issue or a specific concept, the variety of stories around a singular subject matter can make for some intriguing reading. Every author interprets the theme differently ...
Read More »Nostalgic Impulse: Invader Zim
In 1999, comic book writer Jhonen Vasquez pitched his idea for a cartoon to Nickelodeon. That wacky little idea became Invader Zim, a series that began airing in 2001. The network had no idea what a gem Vasquez had produced for ...
Read More »Santa Clarita Diet: I know we have to kill somebody today, but we have to be parents every day.
I’ve always loved a good sitcom. And while the traditional set-up of the genre allows for plenty of scope for great comedy, I am thoroughly enjoying the inversion of tropes and exploration of variations on the structure that modern television ...
Read More »The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley
Can you think of any books that entirely populated by women? No? Well, now you’ll be able to name one. Kameron Hurley’s first stand-alone novel, The Stars are Legion, coming from Saga Press in the US and Angry Robot in ...
Read More »Nostalgic Impulse: Double Indemnity
Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity is a recognized noir classic, preserved by the National Film Registry for being deemed ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’. Perhaps you will focus on the venetian blind lighting style that became a staple of the noir ...
Read More »Yuri on Ice: The all-time greatest fictional representation of figure staking
It is fascinating how Japanese anime can encompass any genre, from fantasy to overly camp comedy, to realist drama, and even sports stories. I had no idea something like professional figure skating would ever be the subject of a television ...
Read More »Kindred: The comic book adaptation of a sci-fi classic
Doing a comic book adaptation of a novel must be a huge undertaking. There’s an awful lot of content crammed into a novel’s pages, much of which is subtle and doesn’t necessarily fit well with graphic representation and limited dialogue/text ...
Read More »Assassin’s Creed: We work in the dark to serve the light
Well, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. That’s something. Video game films have a bad reputation. They are often light on plot and character development. If they are one of the better entries, they ...
Read More »A Monster Calls: The truth that you hide, the truth you dream
As the credits rolled and the house lights came up, I realised something – I was the only person in the theatre not crying. People of all ages were sobbing and wiping their eyes, couples were holding each other… I ...
Read More »