The term “cancel culture” now features prominently in conservative talking points. They’d like for you to think that it’s a bad thing, that it is a new thing and that it is only practiced by the left. All of these assertions are false. If you are somehow unfamiliar, “cancel culture” is used by politicians when…
Never belittle the court of public opinion, it’s the most important court of all
Fair or not, the court of public opinion is the most important court in the world, people should stop acting as if it’s insignificant. One of the cliches of the #MeToo era is people bemoaning the “court of public opinion”. “Innocent until proven guilty” they’ll say and “but he was acquitted by a court of…
Helix Season 2 teaser promo raises more questions than it answers
SyFy posted the first real trailer for season 2 of Helix today. It’s clear that this one isn’t in the Arctic but we knew that from the end of season 1. The troubling bit is what, or who, isn’t in the trailer for season 2 – namely, the best characters from season 1. It’s a…
Relaxation & meditation recordings for nerds
BBC 6’s Peter Serafinowicz created the Dalek Relaxation Tape for Humans (see below) as a bit of a joke, but somehow it fits. For most of my life I’ve seen the new-agey meditation and relaxation tapes and CDs. Things like “Songs up the Humpback Whale”, “Mountain Stream”, “Bird Songs”, “Thunderstorm” etc. At one point in…
The 100 Most Iconic Shots of All Time
This quick, 5 minute, video from CineFix crams together a ton of great cinema. It also establishes the value of the defining shot. These shots, many of which are only a few seconds long, don’t tell the story of the films they are from. However, for people who have seen the film, they define what…
It’s time to give celebrities back their privacy
A great deal of ink has been devoted over the last few days to the leaked nude photos of young female celebrities. I’m not going to devote a great deal of time here to discussing how the leak is related to rape culture. That has been covered very well elsewhere. Suffice it to say, for…
Doctor Who needs a show runner with a bit more imagination
Peter Capaldi may be the best pure actor to ever take on the role of Doctor Who. I cannot think of a single film where I couldn’t find a role for him somewhere. He has shown a remarkable ability to take on a wide variety of roles and own them all. Stephen Moffat however is,…
Growing up with Robin Williams
Normally, when someone famous dies I have a tendency to go dark and simply let the wave of Tweets and Facebook posts pass. After all, whether I was a fan of the person or not, I didn’t really know them and feel that I should leave the eulogies to those who did. This time it’s…
Douglas Adams’ ‘Dirk Gently’ coming to US television
I am simultaneously excited and skeptical. Douglas Adams is one of my favorite writers. For anyone who is unaware the late Mr. Adams, novelist and TV writer, wrote The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, as well as episodes of Doctor Who and Monty Python’s Flying Circus. I’m always happy when I hear that one…
An interview with the stars of BBC’s “Intruders”
Intruders is one of the more intriguing new series this year, not least because it stars John Simm (Doctor Who, Life on Mars). It is based on Michael Marshall Smith’s novel of the same name and tells the story of a secret society devoted to, essentially, keeping people alive by putting them into other, existing…