Viewing the future through the lens of science fiction is often an either/or proposition. You are either regaled with an idealised utopia where want, need and hunger are banished, where humanity has found its zenith and fulfilment its apotheosis; or you are confronted in the most brutal and nihilistic Continue Reading
Stabbity Bunny: A diminutive comic book hero who defies expectations
SNAPSHOT The comic series, Stabbity Bunny, focuses of Grace Lee, a seven-year-old girl destined for incredible things, and Stabbity Bunny, a plush rabbit that has been passed down within the family for nearly 100 years. They live in Holiday, Vermont, a peaceful town filled with quirky, but amazingly good, Continue Reading
Star Trek Discovery: “Choose Your Pain” (S1, E5 review)
SPOILERS AHEAD … AND A BIT OF A MUDDY SITUATION … In “Choose Your Pain”, where Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs), after being unceremoniously kidnapped by L’Rell (Mary Chieffo), finds himself in a Klingon call with a fellow Starfleet abductee, Lt. Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif) and The Original Series rogue, Continue Reading
Want to paint a pumpkin? Bert and Ernie can (bickeringly) help you with that
SNAPSHOT Welcome to Backyard with Bert, a vlog hosted by your favorite Sesame Street duo: Bert and Ernie! In today’s vlog, Bert & Ernie are competing in the Pumpkin Painting Challenge where they’ll have to draw a self-portrait on their pumpkins…blindfolded! (synopsis via Laughing Squid) Ernie and Bert have Continue Reading
The Library is alive! Let the amusing chaotic fun begin … (S4 trailer)
I have longed shows with a quirky, comedic bent that know they’re goofy and over the top and unselfconsciously run with it. Shows like Warehouse 13 and Eureka gave us punchy, emotionally-engaging storytelling and characters you cared about all bedded down in a wildly and colourfully zany premise, and Continue Reading
Book review: Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
We are the products of our life experiences. Even the most empathetic among us is subconsciously influenced by personal worldviews which inform how we interpret everything that anyone says or does to or around us, complicating how we respond to another’s life circumstances that divert greatly from our own. Continue Reading
Animation Evolution: How CGI profoundly changed the way cartoons tell stories (video essay)
SNAPSHOT When CGI took over animation in the late 1990s, it didn’t just upgrade the visuals of the medium: it helped transform the way animated stories are told. In this video, I trace the progression of American animated films from conservative fairy tales to liberal allegories. (synopsis (c) Just Continue Reading
Weekend pop art: Thor Ragnarok’s colourful character posters
SNAPSHOT In Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok, Thor will arrive in Asgard after hearing about trouble in his home world, and when he arrives he finds Loki’s style of ruling (while impersonating Odin) has led to some lapses in the rules and leads to the freeing of prisoner Hela. Thor Continue Reading
Book review: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
It’s hard not to fall in love with Eleanor Oliphant. True, at first, she’s socially awkward, judgmental and cleaves to routine like it’s a liferaft in a stormy sea (you soon discover that’s exactly what it is) and is as alone as a person can get. But as Gail Continue Reading
Coco: How did Pixar’s next masterpiece come to be? (featurette + clip)
SNAPSHOT Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel (voice of newcomer Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (voice of Benjamin Bratt). Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead Continue Reading