Shakespeare

Love's Leisure's Park

Nostalgically celebrating Shakespeare and the good ol' days when kids could spend their summers in an edenic, anarchist fever dream

Before Sunrise

Memories of a Sleepless Night - Before Sunrise

Linklater's grand romance starts by hiding deep themes in a deceptively simple film

Monthly Check-in

July 2025 Check-in

Gosh is the year half started already?

Television

Using a Little Fat to Cut Through the Acid - The Bear s4

After a good season that also felt almost ulcer-inducing, The Bear returns with a season that delivers a comfort food version of the show.

Methodology

Building a New List of Top 250 Movies

This one's for process nerds and those who love methodologies...

Joss Whedon

Toxic Wells of Inspiration

It's been 150 years and still The American Civil War is a hot button issue

2025 Films

The Zombie Apocalypse Makes Parents of Us All - 28 Years Later

More than two decades later and it's still pretty gnarly...

Television

You Can't Take the Skies From Me: Revisiting Joss Whedon's Firefly

20 years ago, it was the great cancellation trauma of the early 00s. Today, accountability culture has (rightly) eclipsed its creator into disgrace. What should be its legacy?

Malazan

Gardens of the Moon Chapters 1-10 - The Sandee Boyz

Our march into the Malazan Book of the Fallen begins...

Television

The Worlds of Joss Whedon - Foundational Texts

What do we do when our heroes let us down?

Martin Scorsese

Circling Around Themes

With a long enough filmography, recurring fascinations emerge...

Blank Check

I caught up on Blank Check!

2.5 years and 400 films later...

Los Angeles

On Los Angeles...

We'll be back to regularly scheduled programing on Friday, but first...

Television

Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts* and the Waning of American Cultural Hegemony

Does the world still want what America is peddling?

Television

The Intersection of Art & Commerce - Hacks Season 4

HBO Max's hit comedy explores a timeworn theme...

Episode Reviews

June Check-in

A grab bag to kick off the month and see how things are going...

Episode Reviews

"The Reality War" - Doctor Who s15e08 Review

It's been an absolute joy... but... reality has a way of mucking with that.

Television

[Adjective]-able Characters - The Last of Us Season 2

Ellie's vengeance trip to Seattle is a gruesome, blood-soaked road to hell. And it's only half the story...

Television

LOST - Foundational Texts

I'll always go back...

Episode Reviews

"Wish World" - Doctor Who s15e07 Review

The Rani's big bold play starts at midnight...

2025 Films

Live Together, Die Alone - Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

For Ethan Hunt, it takes a village.

Movies

Sometimes Audiences Know

The fascinating flop that was Joker Folie a Deux

Episode Reviews

"The Interstellar Song Contest" - Doctor Who s15e06 Review

The parade of classic series returnees continues...

Television

Small Actions Become a Cascading Avalanche: Star Wars's Cassian Andor Prequel Trilogy

The Empire's greatest strength is a weakness the Rebellion exploits

Television

Have Stories Gotten Too Long?

Or is it just our insatiable appetite telling us we're perpetually hungry?