To its detractors pop music is vacuous, musical slop for the uncritical masses. But for those of us who know it well and see it at its best, it’s vibrant, inquiring, combining thoughtfulness and an irresistible way of getting its message across. That’s very much the case with these Continue Reading
Moonlight and the struggle to be true to yourself
SNAPSHOT Moonlight is the tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality. Anchored by astonishing performances and the singular vision Continue Reading
Comics review: Future Quest (issues 1-4)
As previously reviewed modern comic book iterations of Scooby Doo, The Flintstones and Wacky Races have illustrated, reviving an old pop culture property, in the case of Future Quest, quite a number of them, comes with a unique set of challenges. Not insurmoutable challenges of course but fairly sizable Continue Reading
Aardman goes way, way back for their new prehistoric feature Early Man
SNAPSHOT Set at the dawn of time, when prehistoric creatures and woolly mammoths roamed the earth, Early Man tells the story of how plucky caveman Dug [Eddie Redmayne], along with sidekick Hognob, unites his tribe against the mighty Bronze Age in a battle to beat them at their own Continue Reading
The Walking Dead: “The Well” (S7, E2 review)
*SPOILERS AHEAD … AS WELL AS RECOGNITION, MUCH OVERDUE AFTER LAST WEEK’S SHOCKING SEASON OPENER, THAT HUMANITY IS AS MUCH, IF NOT MORE, ABOUT THE GOOD AS THE BAD* Thank god for The Kingdom! The new community encountered by Morgan (Lennie James) and Carol (Melissa McBride – to Continue Reading
The world is in trouble! Time to get to Sweet/Vicious
SNAPSHOT Starring Taylor Dearden (“Ophelia”) and Eliza Bennett (“Jules”), “Sweet/Vicious” is an offbeat superhero story for the millennial generation. Hell-bent on bringing justice to those who get away with abuse on their college campus, Jules and Ophelia take on double lives as wannabe vigilantes. Filled with clumsy attempts and Continue Reading
Movie review: Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange, directed by Scott Derrickson, is proof positive that Marvel is capable of putting out more than one type of cookie-cutter superhero movie. Sure we’ve had Guardians of the Galaxy and Deadpool to reassure us that departing from the well-established, and granted highly successful, pattern that upholds the Continue Reading
Halloween book review: Stallo by Stefan Spjut
“If you go down to the woods today, You’re sure of a big surprise.” The opening lyrics to the “Teddy Bears’ Picnic” suggest that the worst thing you’ll encounter when you enter woodland are children’s much-loved playthings having a little too much tea and frivolity. But in Stefan Spjut’s Stallo Continue Reading
Beware the terror of … the vacuum cleaner! Well if you’re Simon’s Cat anyway
SNAPSHOT Watch Simon’s Cat face his greatest nemesis, the scary vacuum cleaner in this hilarious animated cat video. ‘The Monster’ is our 2016 Halloween film and features a number of cat fails, an ‘evil’ vacuum cleaner and of course lots of silly, cute and funny antics. (synopsis via Laughing Continue Reading
Road to Gilmore Girls A Year in the Life #6: Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days (S3, E1 review)
If there is one thing the good, fast-talking, quip-ready people of Stars Hollow love, well more than yet another festival – First Annual Stars Hollow End of Summer Madness Festival anyone? It fills in September! Taylor Doose (Michael Winter) is well pleased – it’s having an opinion on something Continue Reading