War is, by any estimation, a harrowing and horrifying experience. There is nothing edifying or life-affirming about it in any way, but as Christopher Nolan’s latest, and you could well argue, greatest masterpiece Dunkirk demonstrates with engrossing intensity, the actions of people within that macabre theatre of human misery Continue Reading
The short and the short of it: The dystopian desperation of Helio
SNAPSHOT It’s been almost 200 years since “the final war”, and the masses dwell in a grimy underground metropolis, controlled by their totalitarian government’s cruel police force. It’s a grim future indeed… until one desperate man lucky enough to own a very special pair of shoes accidentally inspires an Continue Reading
Movie review: Tom of Finland
Being repeatedly told that who you are and who you love is some divinely-cursed perversion is guaranteed to take its toll on anyone. In director Dome Karukoski’s film Tom of Finland, which beautifully brings to life the world’s foremost homoerotic artist Touko Laaksonen, we see how this seemingly unending denunciation Continue Reading
A story that’s unexpected, but right: Star Wars the Last Jedi posters + bts video
SNAPSHOT Rey took her first steps into a larger world in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and will continue her epic journey with Finn, Poe, and Luke Skywalker in the next chapter of the continuing Star Wars saga. “The Last Jedi” is written and directed by Rian Johnson and Continue Reading
Book review: Release by Patrick Ness
As a young gay man growing up in a Christian household back in the ’70s and ’80s, there was a distinct moment, most likely several really, when it dawned on me with a sickening sense of dread that I was not like everyone else around me. All the good Continue Reading
Ozark: Delve into the dark, dangerous, and sometime quirky, world of money laundering
SNAPSHOT Ozark is an upcoming American drama series created by Bill Dubuque. Jason Bateman will play financial planner Marty Bird, who suddenly relocates from a Chicago suburb to a summer resort community in the Missouri Ozarks, and who must pay off a debt to a Mexican drug lord, with Continue Reading
Toying with expectations: Michael Tucker examines the storytelling of #GameofThrones
With season 7 of Game of Thrones mere nanoseconds away from kicking off – a slight bit of hyperbole but after waiting so long, it does feel like that – Michael Tucker aka Lessons From a Screenplay arrives with a timely look at the way HBO’s ratings juggernauts frames Continue Reading
Book review: Yuki Chan in Brontë Country by Mick Jackson
Grappling with the death of parent from known or unexpected causes is hard enough; but when they die in mysterious circumstances, most likely at their own hand, it’s even harder to find a way to deal with their loss, their absence, and the void upon empty void that is Continue Reading
Rikki Tikki Tavi! Rick and Morty have some new non-canonical adventures
Rick and Morty is, hands, and other sundry body parts, down, one of the most fabulously weird, gloriously and delightfully over the top cartoons on anywhere. There is nothing I don’t like about it – it’s witty, clever, gleefully crass, spectacularly imaginative (the world-building and characters are nothing short Continue Reading
Presto and Zesto in Limboland: New Maurice Sendak book found
The loss of Maurice Sendak in 2012 was a cruel blow for anyone who delights in brilliantly-imaginative stories for children. He was a fearless writer and illustrator, happy to buck trends and go for broke, unwilling to simple churn out the same old same old because that’s what had Continue Reading