Slashing Private Ryan

So I’m reading this film studies article by Linda Williams called “Film Bodies,” which explores the connection between horror films, pornography, and tear-jerkers. She actually makes a pretty persuasive case. Each genre shows us actors experiencing the things we as … Continued

Death of a Pac-Man

Death of a Pac-Man

Good morning. It’s-a me, Mario. It’s wonderful to see so many old friends here. I feel like I’m back in Super Smash Brothers. But of course, the circumstances today are very un-super. We mourn a man many of us thought … Continued

Tom Hanks Is Lying to You

Tom Hanks Is Lying to You

When somebody gets hit in the nuts in a baseball movie, it is customary to laugh. When the plucky underdog wins in a baseball movie, it is customary to cry. Back in my days as a Real World, Non-Movie Little … Continued

I bear the weapon Excalibur!

I bear the weapon Excalibur!

I just got through watching John Boorman’s 1981 film Excalibur (thank you Netflix). What a weird-ass movie. Not least because you get to see young Helen Mirren, Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart (already bald), Gabriel Byrne, and Ciaran Hinds, most of … Continued

Soulja Boy Up In This Blog

Soulja Boy Up In This Blog

I know that I missed the time when it was socially relevant to talk about Crank Dat by about three months, but whatever. It’s the internet. And I think that the song deserves some digging-into. First, a little refresher course: … Continued

Everything’s coming up Milhouse!

“If you don’t want to exercise too much,” asks Dr. Morten Gronbaek, epidemiologist with Denmark’s National Institute of Public Health, “can you trade it for one to two drinks per day and be fine?” A study Gronbaek and colleagues just … Continued