Being a superhero is, for the most part, a grimly singular endeavour. Sure, Marvel’s crop of cinematically-popular fighters of evil and catastrophe such as Thor, Black Widow, Iron Man and the like come together when needed as The Avengers, and even Batman, Superman and a cameo-like Wonder Woman have Continue Reading
Weekend pop art: Reading books made quick and easy with abridged illustrations
I love reading books. Losing myself in books, long and short, big and small, has been a passion of time since I can remember but even I have to admit it’s well near impossible to read everything (not that I don’t give it a red hot go!). Riding to Continue Reading
Book review: The Lonely Hearts Cinema Club by David M. Barnett
Jenny Ebert is not even remotely comfortable in her own skin. That much is apparent from the get-go in The Lonely Hearts Cinema Club, the latest book from David M. Barnett (Calling Major Tom) in which the film nerd who won’t accept she’s a film nerd – she loves Continue Reading
It takes an arachnid to crush a village: Lucas the Spider in “Giant Spider”
Lucas the Spider is a sweetheart. True in the latest adventure from creator/animator Joshua Slice, Lucas, who is voiced by Slice’s nephew, he upends the lives of some fair wooden folk who he charmingly calls in on in the kind of sing-songy way people in musicals are wont to Continue Reading
Book review: LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff
When the cover of a book proclaims it’s Romeo & Juliet meets Mad Max meets X-Men with a little bit of Blade Runner cheering from the headlines” it’s either got a healthy sense of what makes it work so well or its hopelessly derivative and is hoping that bringing Continue Reading
The creativity of mental playfulness: Calvin and Hobbes’ Bill Watterson speaks to what really matters
Brain Pickings, a fascinating website run by the supremely-dedicated Maria Popova which she describes as “an inventory of cross-disciplinary interestingness, spanning art, science, design, history, philosophy, and more”, and Bill Watterson’s masterfully-clever, exuberantly funny and visually imaginative comic strip Calvin and Hobbes are a perfect match. Even more so Continue Reading
Colony: “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” (S3, E7 review)
SPOILERS AHEAD … AND THE UNEASY SENSE A MONSTER IS LURKING BENEATH THE HAPPY FACADE OF THE Sometimes the darkest shadows lurk in the most well-lit of places. Dazzled by the light, you don’t notice them at first but take a look around – the darkness creeps in on Continue Reading
“And that’s why I always say, ‘Shumshumschilpiddydah!'” Deep dives into Rick and Morty
Dan Harmon’s fantastically off-the-wall, clever animation creation, Rick and Morty, is a very clever beast indeed. (And on its way to be pleasingly prolific with another 70 episodes on their way … eventually.) Possessed not only of beautifully-detailed characters, highly-imaginative plots and lush visuals that take worldbuilding to an Continue Reading
Sword at the ready: The fantastical destiny of The Outpost
SNAPSHOT “Years after her entire village is destroyed by a gang of brutal mercenaries, Talon travels to a lawless fortress on the edge of the civilised world, as she tracks the killers of her family. On her journey to this outpost, Talon discovers she possesses a mysterious supernatural power Continue Reading
Movie review: Puzzle #SydFilmFest
Agnes (Kelly Macdonald) is lost. Not physically necessarily; in fact, as you watch her walk, automata-like, through her daily routine of housework, church meetings, religious observance, and even waking up where the sameness of waiting for the alarm to go off is a thing of exquisite drudgery in and Continue Reading