Archive for February, 2012

You Can Be Redeemed [Things I'm Still Bitter About]
/ February 29, 2012 2:15 pm

You Can Be Redeemed [Things I'm Still Bitter About]

Let’s talk about television. I am a child of modern television. Most of what I know about narrative I’ve learned from television or at least referenced to television for understanding. My sensibilities on family and relationships developed somewhere between 1994 and 2002. That was a very intense period for television. The X-Files was creating new ideas about science fiction and horror. [...]

The Importance (and Pitfalls) of Self-Doubt
/ February 29, 2012 12:00 pm

The Importance (and Pitfalls) of Self-Doubt

Cullen Murphy has a good op-ed in the Sunday New York Times on the timeless importance of doubt. Here, I want to write something of a corollary to that piece, on the importance of self-doubt in specific. Self-doubt works on multiple levels. First, there is doubt in our own correctness. This doubt is roughly divisible into doubt in our ethics, [...]

When Laura Met Billy: A One-Sided Romance
/ February 29, 2012 10:00 am

When Laura Met Billy: A One-Sided Romance

I keep hundreds of mental file cabinets for my celebrity crushes. I forgo the alphabet or the Dewey Decimal System. Instead, I use much simpler organizational markers: place of origin, hair color, personality, age, movie roles, gender, body type, etc. It’s a system that hasn’t failed me yet, though it does cause some cabinets to be used more than others. [...]

Even Monsters Get Confused Sometimes [Being Human (US)]
/ February 28, 2012 12:00 pm

Even Monsters Get Confused Sometimes [Being Human (US)]

misconception (n) – a false or mistaken view, opinion, or attitude. Tonight’s episode was all about misconception. Sometimes, especially with monsters, things aren’t always what they seem. I mean, you wouldn’t know Josh (Sam Huntington) was a werewolf or Aidan (Sam Witwer) was a vampire just by looking at them. So one might not realize someone or something is what they [...]

Movie & Music New Releases [03-28-12]
/ February 28, 2012 8:12 am

Movie & Music New Releases [03-28-12]

Another week of new releases has come along and your wallet is screaming to be emptied. Seriously! I can hear it from here. DVD/Blu-ray New Releases for February 28th, 2012 Hugo. [Academy Award Winner] Starring Chloe Moretz, Ben Kingsley, and Jude Law. Trailer Johnny English: Reborn. [Editor's Choice] Starring Rowan Atkinson, Dominic West, and Gillian Anderson. Trailer Justice League: DOOM. Featuring the [...]

DC Comics Review – Suicide Squad
/ February 27, 2012 12:00 pm

DC Comics Review – Suicide Squad

I haven’t read this week’s comics, so I don’t have any ratings today. Plus, next week I’m going to update my reading list. I’ve decided some books aren’t worth the money. When I say superhero teams, you probably think of The Avengers, The Justice League or (shudder) Super Friends. But what about a more realistic team? Imagine you’re a government [...]

See No Evil: The Myth of “Women’s Issues”
/ February 27, 2012 10:00 am

See No Evil: The Myth of “Women’s Issues”

So, it’s 2012, and we’re still arguing about birth control. Even though 95% of American women have pre-marital sex. (With American dudes, in most cases, also indulging in some non-marital bliss.) Even though contraception goes hand-in-hand with greater educational and professional opportunities and healthier families. And let’s not forget that women make up roughly half the workforce– I only took [...]

Retro Review – Disney’s Coaster
/ February 26, 2012 8:00 am

Retro Review – Disney’s Coaster

If you ever went to an amusement park as a child you remember with joy those moments spent riding roller coasters and waiting in lines with nothing but your anxiety and a severe sunburn to comfort you. Maybe you remember laying down to sleep after a long day of amusement, feeling the rush of crazy inversions and steeply angled hills [...]

The Cool Ship Talks Oscars.
/ February 26, 2012 12:01 am

The Cool Ship Talks Oscars.

Every year the film industry is swarmed with awards shows, highlighting the talent and achievements of many. Director’s Guild, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, etc. There’s even The Razzie’s, an awards show that points out how bad many of the films were. But none of them compare to the prestige and acclaim that comes from The Academy Awards. Every year it’s [...]

Top Videos of the Week [2-25-12]
/ February 25, 2012 8:45 am

Top Videos of the Week [2-25-12]

Normally I have 5 videos every week, but this week, I wanted to focus on only the best, rather than giving you good stuff and filler. What if the Phantom Menace was good? I’ve had this discussion multiple times with friends. What could have made the Phantom Menace a better movie? What plot elements could be cut? What should be [...]

Free-to-play Breakdown #1 – DC Universe Online
/ February 24, 2012 12:00 pm

Free-to-play Breakdown #1 – DC Universe Online

What’s all this nonsense about free-to-play games? We used to proudly pay to play Everquest, even before the epic elephant mount in the room took over subscription based gaming, relegating smaller subscription based games to sit in the corner with a niche cap on. Now, Everquest itself is going free to play next month, the Star Trek massively multi player [...]

The Weekend Purge [2-24-2012]
/ February 24, 2012 10:00 am

The Weekend Purge [2-24-2012]

Anthrax is back, and not the band. That may be a bit of an exaggeration as so far none of the literally dozens of letters mailed to lawmakers from Oregon have tested positive, but apparently there’s someone out there who really doesn’t like Citizens United. So much so, that by the time this is all over that person will likely [...]

Make Your Time [Rocking the Boat]
/ February 23, 2012 2:00 pm

Make Your Time [Rocking the Boat]

I work at home as an editor. I’m also a stay-at-home dad. I’m also a geek. As time goes by, however, I’m having less and less time to do the geeky things that I love to do. I’m fairly certain even more of my time will be swallowed up when my second child is born next month. My time-waster of [...]

DC Finally Makes a Good Decision
/ February 23, 2012 12:17 pm

DC Finally Makes a Good Decision

Let’s start with my admission that I will always choose Marvel over DC. Always. X-Men characters have been my favorite brand of superheroes since Fox’s engrossing cartoon introduced me to the absolute need to watch a show in linear progression. Seriously, if you missed one of those shows, you were totally lost when it came to the story line. Even [...]

Book Review: The Longest War
/ February 23, 2012 11:00 am

Book Review: The Longest War

For those of us who were children during September 2001, learning the bellicose realities of  the Taliban and the history of Afghanistan has often felt like running down a dark hallway towards a door that leaps further away every time you get close enough to grasp the knob. At twelve, predictably, an unauthorized biography of Posh Spice won out over Kuwait: [...]

A Week Later: First Impressions of the PS Vita
/ February 23, 2012 10:00 am

A Week Later: First Impressions of the PS Vita

If you glossed over the first edition launch of the PS Vita on February 15th but are still interested in the full product launch this Wednesday then read-on. Having used the Vita over the last week here is what I think you should know before you make the purchase. I’m very pleased with the build quality and design of the [...]

Space Adventure Is Relative [Things I'm Still Bitter About]
/ February 22, 2012 1:26 pm

Space Adventure Is Relative [Things I'm Still Bitter About]

So last week I went on a tear about Star Trek: Voyager. I’ve been catching up on some science fiction and one of my readers pointed out to me that my last post wasn’t very bitter. Actually, they said the same thing about the post before that too. While I find these topics absurd, outlandish, or unfortunate, some argue that [...]

Will the Next Ronald Reagan Please… Stand Down?
/ February 22, 2012 12:00 pm

Will the Next Ronald Reagan Please… Stand Down?

Love him or hate him Ronald Reagan may be the most influential politician since FDR. Reagan was a figure who drew support from members of both parties. He was a tough administrator who believed in hearing from all of his advisors before making a decision. A powerful and moving orator dubbed “The Great Communicator” by a press who showed equal [...]

Reviewing the Return of Twisted Metal
/ February 22, 2012 12:00 pm

Reviewing the Return of Twisted Metal

The developers haven’t exactly called the PS3 version of Twisted Metal a “product relaunch”, and that’s because in many ways its familiar to the Twisted Metal that we grew up with and came to love in the late 1990′s. That in mind, this game feels great, and it feels great in a way that makes me feel like I’m visiting [...]

I Was Just Starting to Be an Optimist: My Life Before ‘Albert Nobbs’
/ February 22, 2012 10:00 am

I Was Just Starting to Be an Optimist: My Life Before ‘Albert Nobbs’

Note: Before I begin my review of Albert Nobbs, allow me state that I am writing from the perspective of a cisfemale in 2012. Though this usually would be considered irrelevant in the sphere of general entertainment writing, I think it is an important factor to consider in my evaluation of this film and its depiction of trans* identities in [...]