‘Cultural Artifacts’ out now! (about the cover, plus a giveaway)
Yay! It’s pub day for my collection of science fiction, fantasy, and horror flash fiction.
Year: 2021
hidden gems from Amazon Prime, Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and Hulu
Passion, creativity, and suspense in stillness… [A teaser of an essay for Patreon patrons and Substack subscribers only.]
Shiva Baby movie review: secrets, lies, and other adulting
A wonder of emotional claustrophobia and narrative economy. Rachel Sennott is delightfully caustic in this painfully poignant, dryly funny portrait of a deeply awful moment of young adulthood.
Godzilla vs. Kong movie review: whole earth monster catalog
Everything a monster movie needs: Monsters, natch. Cute kids who Know Things. Nerdy-hot scientists. Spectacular sci-fi visions. Humor but no cheese. Warmth but no schmaltz. And a superb green message.
Raya and the Last Dragon movie review: warrior princess
The Disney paradigm is hard at play again here, its familiarity offset by its inspiration in Southeast Asian culture and mythology. Sweepingly told, gorgeously animated, and audaciously optimistic.
The Father movie review: the quiet horror of Alzheimer’s
A deeply compassionate, deeply unnerving portrait of a man suffering from dementia and losing his grip on reality. The empathy machine of cinema has rarely been put to such uncomfortably intimate use.
lockdown cinema that ironically will make you feel better about lockdown
Movies for coming back from coronavirus-crazy. [A teaser of an essay for Patreon patrons and Substack subscribers only.]
‘Cultural Artifacts’ cover reveal!
My collection of sf/f/h flash fiction is available for preorder now; out April 8th.
Stray documentary review: a dog’s eye view of humanity, from the outside
A bittersweet, multilayered vérité portrait of the street dogs of Istanbul. Startlingly immersive, howling with moral questions about what we owe these creatures of intelligence, dignity, and feeling.
Locked Down movie review: criminally awful
Ejiofor and Hathaway are game, but they’re grasping for something solid, and don’t find it. A deeply unsatisfying novelty artifact of the pandemic that fails to create a necessary sense of transgression.
