On January 9 of this year, my nephew was born. He came into this world under less than optimal circumstances, having been born prematurely. At 4 pounds, 7 ounces, he’s a tiny little thing, and he’s currently well-cared for in the NICU. He arrived a little early, but he’s a strong boy. I know beyond […]

During the last couple of years, there’s been a weird trend in movies. From late December to January, we’ve been treated to a film that glorifies the heroism, cultural superiority, and all-around awesomeness of the military. These movies have a few things in common. They’re loosely based on true stories. They tend to emphasize the […]

A great film doesn’t have to be subtle. Sometimes it shouldn’t be, depending on what the story is about and how it is told. Oliver Stone is genetically incapable of subtlety, but JFK and Platoon are a couple of the greatest movies ever made. Along similar lines, one of the big myths in filmmaking is that a great […]

You want to know why I love film? It’s simple, really. As a straight, white guy living in the United States, there are a lot of aspects to life I can only understand from a distance. Lucky for me, to paraphrase Roger Ebert, film acts as an empathy machine. I’m allowed the opportunity to drop […]

If you’re an aspiring or practicing writer of fiction, there’s one rule you’ve most likely had drilled into your head. You’ll frequently hear this from creative writing instructors and hacky screenwriting books. Your protagonist, or hero, must be likable, in order for the audience to relate to them. This is wrong. The fact is, your protagonist […]

There’s a line in Adam McKay’s new film, The Big Short, that perfectly encapsulates what the film means and how its characters relate to it. “The truth is like poetry. And everyone f**king hates poetry.” When we’re children, we’re taught to share, to be nice, to behave in a fundamentally decent way. Theoretically, anyway. As we get […]

Back in the old days of 2009, you might remember that J.J. Abrams rebooted the Star Trek franchise. Abrams took a series that had lain dormant and supercharged it. When we think of Star Trek, we think of sci-fi that’s a bit cerebral, that’s a little stately, and that’s focused more on exploration. “Screw that,” Abrams said. Instead, […]

Okay, folks, time for a thought experiment. Imagine you’re a whale, a sperm whale to be precise, living in the year 1820. While most of your kind measures 50 feet long, you’re a big sucker that’s around 85 feet long. You spend your days hanging out with your pod, hunting squid, enjoying the freedom of the […]

The last day of Tyshawn Lee’s life was November 2, a little over a month ago. His father was a gang member, and he was involved in a beef with a rival gang. It’s unclear to what extent Tyshawn understood this. Odds are, he just cared about the regular things kids care about, like basketball. […]

I believe in the concept of parallel universes, alternate dimensions that exist alongside our own. Within these universes, things are largely the same, with a few differences here and there. In one of these universes, a young actor named Sylvester Stallone made some slightly different decisions regarding his budding film career. As a result of […]