Remember when you were 9 and or 10 or 12 and you stayed up until all hours reading your favorite fantasy novel? Remember that strangely comforting feeling of slipping neatly and completely into some other place and so totally embracing the story of another person that you were engrossed until the sun came up? You […]
Remember When Fantasy Books Were AWESOME? Thoughts on The Cloud Roads Read More »
With a name like “Cowboys and Aliens” I should have expected that, yes, really, it would only feature cowboys and aliens, and the appearance of a female character with a gun did not make her a cowgirl, of course, but an alien (obviously. If you aren’t a cowboy you must be an alien). But, whatever. This movie was
Cowboys and aliens… about what you would expect (with spoilers) Read More »
I don’t even know why I started reading this book. My publisher sent it along with a stack of others I had requested, and I couldn’t figure out why. I took one look at the cover and made a terrible face. “What the hell is this?” I said. My husband, J, grabbed the book out
NO HERO: Brain squid, explosions, and yes – chicks with swords Read More »
I had heard Genevieve Valentine’s name around a bit (it’s such a marketable name!), but, not being much of a short story reader, had never read anything from her. Folks who knew my reading tastes recommended this one to me… and, of course, we have the same agent, and I do know that Jenn has
Mechanique: The Fighting Circus is In Town Read More »
I didn’t hate this movie as much as most people, and I suspect this is because I didn’t go into it expecting some Grand Feministe Epic. You can generally tell how seriously a movie takes it female characters by what they’re wearing throughout. One glance at all the lingerie and little-girl fetish gear in the
Some Belated, Spoiler-Filled Thoughts on Suckerpunch (An Epic of Failed Potential) Read More »
It’s so sad when a movie with a potentially great story goes so wrong. I am willing to forgive Kristen Stewart the whole Twilight thing because she had such a great Joan Jett look. The problem was she just wasn’t given much at all to work with. Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie was even worse,
The Runaways: When Good Stories Go Bad Read More »
J and I went out to see Red on Saturday night at the cheap theater. The previews were great, but it performed a bit poorly and showed up at the cheap theaters quickly, so I wasn’t holding my breath. This, despite the draw of Helen Mirren as a retired assassin among Bruce Willis’s crew of
The Warrior’s Way is a beautifully shot, silly little film that’s apparently been stuck in post-production for years. This doesn’t surprise me, as anybody who starts mixing genres is going to have some trouble with marketing. In this case, it’s a mix of martial arts movie + western, with all the silliness that that implies.
The Warrior’s Way: Ninja Assassins and Blowing Shit Up in the Old West Read More »
One of the things that makes Mad Men so consistently watchable is that it defies soap opera conventions. We’ve come to expect certain things from TV shows. We expect these people to live crazy, over-the-top lives full of great tragedies and great good fortune (but mostly, great tragedies). We expect miscarriages, drowned children, car wrecks,