What makes the Bat?
In honor of the upcoming The Dark Knight sequel (and the continuing and somewhat problematic Christian Bale interpretation of Bruce Wayne), here are five key traits of the Batman, according to Gavin. (Sources will be cited, but like Frank Miller’s bat-universe, my bat-universe may diverge slightly from accepted continuity.) 1. Bruce Wayne is the mask. … Continue reading
January 24-29, 2011
Mike Vincent closes out his list of his favorite albums of 2010 with an album that might not be an actual album, but marks the return of a master. Read “Getting back in the mix”
Ten films, three weeks, and that’s just the Best Picture category. Kevin Mattison’s “Great Oscar race begins”
Kate Sloan loved Scott Pilgrim even though Scott Pilgrim wasn’t terribly likeable. Confused? Get a clue in “My clash at demonhead”
Andrew Simone returns to one of his essential indie games to explain why the genius of “Minecraft” is that it’s about play involving creation and collaboration instead of destruction and competition.
The Gamers’ Club is playing Final Fantasy VII. Read “Guided strategy” by Gavin Craig, “Swap meet” by Daniel J. Hogan, and “Junon Harbor” by Andrew Simone.
Rosemary Van Deuren says that it’s easy to get a biographical film wrong, usually by focusing too much on the filmmaker’s own personal take on the subject. But when the filmmakers focus on the life, context, and experience of the subject, like in Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s Howl, the result can be amazing. Read “Howling for authentic biographical cinema: Why the new Ginsberg film succeeds”
In “Rounding Third,” read Angela Vasquez-Giroux’s “Wild Thing, or, Poem For Matt Anderson, Attempting a Comeback”
Eating healthy is really important to Jill Kolongowski, it’s just a matter of pulling something together before sheer, unbridled hunger takes over her brain. Read “Virtue in a hurry”
Getting back in the mix
The past few weeks I’ve been writing about the music that “made my list” for 2010. I had a snippet column where I gave some hints and I have talked about three of those four releases. But as I approach the fourth mix I do need to let you all in on a little secret. … Continue reading
The great Oscar race begins
I am now embarking on a foolhardy quest to see each of the Best Picture Oscar nominees before February 27th. I do this to myself every year. It is a daunting task for a busy fellow such as me, as I find myself only four films deep into the ten film category. Ten films! Who … Continue reading
My clash at Demonhead
Scott Pilgrim: 23 years old. Rating: Awesome. When Scott Pilgrim and his precious little life migrated to our purple-mountained land from our neighbor to the north, I slept right through it. I was determined to make up for my lack of fandom once the movie gossip took flight. Michael Cera, you say? Mae Whitman of … Continue reading
Minecraft
It takes a pretty special game to get a non-gamer artist and Newton historian, a former gamer (distracted by graduate studies in Chinese history), and myself to sit in a cramped room in front on one computer. This game, which I have mentioned before, is Minecraft. A game that is essentially about using the randomly … Continue reading
FFVII: Guided strategy
I believe that I’ve admitted in the past, with almost a perverse sense of pride, that I’m one of those people who buys the strategy guide. (Or at least tries to look at it. Building a collection of strategy guides would be crazy expensive.) I’ve backed off a bit in recent years, but only because … Continue reading
FFVII: Junon Harbor
After a forty-seven minute grind (I timed it), I finally saw this. Nobody likes grinding, but this was particularly odious since I can’t stand Yuffie, but I am compelled to get her since her early game equipment is much better than what I have at the moment, plus she gets a three-slotted materia leveling weapon … Continue reading
FFVII: Swap meet
I’m really getting tired of swapping party members and deciding who-gets-what-materia. Every time I start my gaming session, I spend about ten to fifteen minutes just equipping my party with different materia. Don’t get me wrong—I do enjoy the materia aspect of this game. It grants Final Fantasy VII some great customization options and replay … Continue reading
Howling for authentic biographical cinema: Why the new Ginsberg film succeeds
When I was a teenage movie-watcher, I was the first to jump on the new-genre bandwagon whenever anyone tried something different that played with, bent or overlapped conventional film structure. Somewhere between those teenage years of wonder when everything was fascinating, and, like, 2008, I got burned by experimental filmmaking. Not enough to make me … Continue reading
