2023 Year in Review
Books Book that made me nod my head again and again and also left me deeply unsettled: Naomi Klein’s Doppelganger Best book about scary caves: The Luminous Dead Best use … Continue reading
Childhood’s End: Finding Meaning in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
The story goes that one of the first screenings of The Dark Crystal for suited investors went very, very badly. After the credits rolled and the lights came up, there … Continue reading
Best of 2018
Hey there, blog that I update like twice a year! At least this time I’m actually getting my “best of” list out before January. Movies Managed to watch 69 movies … Continue reading
Best of 2017, Part 2: Movies
I really slacked on the movie-watching this year—in 2016 I managed to watch 73 movies, but in 2017 I only made it to 47. Chalk it up to a new … Continue reading
Best of 2016
Is 2016 fucking over yet? I said recently that my pre-election social mediaverse looked like that sweet first date video camera footage that they accidentally recorded an alien apocalypse over … Continue reading
Horror Movie Recommendations
Because I’ve been asked for recommendations half a dozen times in the past few months from people who haven’t seen many horror films, and I always draw a blank. So … Continue reading
Best of 2015
I’m a bit late with this list, but here it is. Japanese Movies (I saw 78 movies last year, a number I’d like to push to at least 100 this … Continue reading
No Illusions: Shinya Tsukamoto’s 野火 (Fires on the Plain)
I’m pretty tired of films that try to depict war as a clear-cut battle between good and evil, or really as anything resembling a world of order and reason. I’m … Continue reading
Chaos in the Wrong Place: Nihon no ichiban nagai hi (The Emperor in August)
The last few years have seen the release of several big-budget period dramas commemorating Japan’s wartime experiences both at home and abroad. One of the more controversial efforts was Eien … Continue reading
Adventures in (Post) Gradland 