You can’t have a dignified suicide if the score is provided by a flatulent corpse. It simply can’t be done. So Hank gives up on the suicide thing and instead, rides his new corpse-pal as a fart propellor across the ...
Read More »The Magnificent Seven: A clichéd Hollywood remake
I love Westerns. I love the bleakness, the dirt, gruff cowboys, and the acknowledgement that no matter what the cause, no death comes with glory. Remakes are always going to be tricky. Hollywood seems to think they are a safe ...
Read More »Kubo and the Two Strings: If you must blink, do it now
Considering most children’s films are saccharine explosions of gaudiness rendered in bargain basement 3D animation with glib, feel-good pop music for soundtracks, it’s nice to see a children’s film with a sense of craft about it. Kubo and the Two ...
Read More »Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal
Having been a regular listener of the excellent Writing Excuses podcast for several years, it’s amazing that I’ve never read any of Mary’s novels before now. But Ghost Talkers felt like a good introduction, being a standalone fantasy novel. Not only ...
Read More »In the Bag: The Adventures of Archer and Armstrong
I’ve heard a lot of good things about this series reboot, both from reviewers I respect as well as personal recommendations from friends. Having read volume 1, In the Bag, I have to admit that I don’t understand what all ...
Read More »The Childhood of a Leader: He’s been acting out a bit
Europe is to be carved up anew in the wake of World War I. Relocated to France with his American diplomat father and his European mother for the duration of the negotiations, Prescott is a troubled boy. Growing up amid ...
Read More »The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet: Do not judge other species by your own social norms
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is damn fun.While Becky Chambers’ debut might not have the most polished prose or general technical skill that an established SF writer, more science fiction novels should err on the side of ...
Read More »War Dogs: Welcome to Dick Cheney’s America!
The lives of international arms dealers must be formulaic. By the end of the nominally ‘based on true events’ War Dogs, I was struck by just how neatly the protagonists’ lives had dovetailed into a screenplay template. The fact that ...
Read More »Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
Parody films of this nature are like a blanket and a cup of tea on a cold day. Pure comfort. Popstar was never going to break the mold, say anything particularly new or incisive, or be the next big thing ...
Read More »Nevernight by Jay Kristoff: Never fear. Never flinch. Never forget.
If there were ever a novel to have strong feelings about, this is it. I’m angry at this novel, disappointed by it, frustrated with it, and sucked in by it. The prose is so obnoxiously purple I want to wring ...
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