New Fiction 2021 – April

A Stitch in Time by Andrew J. Robinson (2000)

Star Trek x Godfather II.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Crossroads of Time dev. Novotrade International (1995)

I don’t know where to land here. It’s frustrating until it’s not because one must practice and fail repeatedly to make progress, which is the nature of the thing. Can I hate it for being what it is? Regardless, all these characters and stories make no sense unless the television show is top of mind.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Harbinger dev. Stormfront Studios (1996)

Everything is as stiff as a board, which constraints of the era demanded of it. However, as above, knowledge of the show and its relationships enrich the experience, and in that scenario it is perhaps worth the journey. Special shouts to the writers and voice actors who elevate this several notches above where it appears it should be.

“Burrow” dir. Madeline Sharafian (2020)

It’s to let them help me.

“Genius Loci” dir. Adrien Merigeau (2019)

Sharing space, understanding and regret.

“Opera” dir. Erick Oh (2020)

We’re vital members of society.

“If anything happens I love you” dir. Will McCormack & Michael Govier (2020)

Our capacity is bottomless.

“Já-Fólkið” dir. Gísli Darri (2020)

To exist together.

“Kapaemahu” dir. Kanaka (2020)

A divided people.

“The Snail and the Whale” dir. Max Lang & Daniel Snaddon (2020)

I don’t know. I think it would be nice to have someone.

“To: Gerard” dir. Taylor Meacham (2020)

You really can’t know, so be good.

“The Present” dir. Farah Nabulsi (2020)

The simple fucking dignity.

“Feeling Through” dir. Doug Roland (2020)

You know what they say about life.

“Two Distant Strangers” dir. Travon Free & Martin Desmond Roe (2020)

Trapped because the trawler net stretches back centuries.

“Ayn Levana” dir. Tomer Shushan (2020)

What’s important to you.

“The Letter Room” dir. Elvira Lind (2020)

The fascination is real, as are the consequences.

“Monsters in The Dark” dir. Apollonia Thomaier (2021)

Trust is closely guarded.

“The Tell-Tale Heart” dir. Ted Parmelee (1953)

Everyone has the eye, the eye.

“Captain Yajima” dir. Worthikids (2021)

A master of the craft.

The Pianist dir. Roman Polanski (2002)

Humans,

The Journey of Natty Gann dir. Jeremy Kagan (1985)

If father abandons then father pays.

Aeon Flux dir. Karyn Kusama (2005)

Watch The Invitation.

Lucky dir. Natasha Kermani (2021)

You don’t believe, you don’t believe, you don’t believe.

A New Leaf dir. Elaine May (1971)

The rich man’s legacy.

The Dig dir. Simon Stone (2021)

Let the man dig.

Shipwrecked dir. Nils Gaup (1990)

Keep it under the mattress.

Godzilla vs. Kong dir. Adam Wingard (2021)

Challenged by the mere notion.

Avalon dir. Mamoru Oshii (2001)

It’s only real when you accept that longing is the source of your melancholy.

Nobody dir. Ilya Naishuller (2021)

A middle-aged fantasy.

The Fog dir. John Carpenter (1980)

The blame is always there.

Blood Simple dir. Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (1984)

Desperate measures call for desperate times.

Rango dir. Gore Verbinski (2011)

Performance is the essence of our existence.

The Black Cauldron dir. Ted Berman & Richard Rich (1984)

It must be nice to be born of potential.

Batman: The Killing Joke dir. Sam Liu (2016)

Barb deserves better, but so does any woman in these stories.

Tangled dir. Nathan Greno & Byron Howard (2010)

Youth is a prison.

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run dir. Tim Hill (2020)

Of a different era of celebrity appearances.

Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown dir. Bill Melendez & Phil Roman (1977)

The gas crisis as a repressed memory.

La Casa Lobo dir. Cristóbal León & Joaquín Cociña (2018)

Horrifying history through art, I tell you.

Seoul Station dir. Yeon Sang-ho (2016)

I didn’t see it coming.

The Last Unicorn dir. Arthur Rankin Jr. & Jules Bass (1982)

Quite a mood in this one. Ethereal and lonesome.

Fantastic Planet dir. René Laloux (1973)

Takes me back to the Heavy Metal movie and how strange and different it felt from everything, except of course this begat all of that which arrived in the late seventies and eighties.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)

The new Agent Carter gets shafted in these stories, so I sincerely hope they don’t drop the ball again.

New Fiction 2021 – April

A Stitch in Time by Andrew J. Robinson (2000)

Star Trek x Godfather II.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Crossroads of Time dev. Novotrade International (1995)

I don’t know where to land here. It’s frustrating until it’s not because one must practice and fail repeatedly to make progress, which is the nature of the thing. Can I hate it for being what it is? Regardless, all these characters and stories make no sense unless the television show is top of mind.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Harbinger dev. Stormfront Studios (1996)

Everything is as stiff as a board, which constraints of the era demanded of it. However, as above, knowledge of the show and its relationships enrich the experience, and in that scenario it is perhaps worth the journey. Special shouts to the writers and voice actors who elevate this several notches above where it appears it should be.

“Burrow” dir. Madeline Sharafian (2020)

It’s to let them help me.

“Genius Loci” dir. Adrien Merigeau (2019)

Sharing space, understanding and regret.

“Opera” dir. Erick Oh (2020)

We’re vital members of society.

“If anything happens I love you” dir. Will McCormack & Michael Govier (2020)

Our capacity is bottomless.

“Já-Fólkið” dir. Gísli Darri (2020)

To exist together.

“Kapaemahu” dir. Kanaka (2020)

A divided people.

“The Snail and the Whale” dir. Max Lang & Daniel Snaddon (2020)

I don’t know. I think it would be nice to have someone.

“To: Gerard” dir. Taylor Meacham (2020)

You really can’t know, so be good.

“The Present” dir. Farah Nabulsi (2020)

The simple fucking dignity.

“Feeling Through” dir. Doug Roland (2020)

You know what they say about life.

“Two Distant Strangers” dir. Travon Free & Martin Desmond Roe (2020)

Trapped because the trawler net stretches back centuries.

“Ayn Levana” dir. Tomer Shushan (2020)

What’s important to you.

“The Letter Room” dir. Elvira Lind (2020)

The fascination is real, as are the consequences.

“Monsters in The Dark” dir. Apollonia Thomaier (2021)

Trust is closely guarded.

“The Tell-Tale Heart” dir. Ted Parmelee (1953)

Everyone has the eye, the eye.

“Captain Yajima” dir. Worthikids (2021)

A master of the craft.

The Pianist dir. Roman Polanski (2002)

Humans,

The Journey of Natty Gann dir. Jeremy Kagan (1985)

If father abandons then father pays.

Aeon Flux dir. Karyn Kusama (2005)

Watch The Invitation.

Lucky dir. Natasha Kermani (2021)

You don’t believe, you don’t believe, you don’t believe.

A New Leaf dir. Elaine May (1971)

The rich man’s legacy.

The Dig dir. Simon Stone (2021)

Let the man dig.

Shipwrecked dir. Nils Gaup (1990)

Keep it under the mattress.

Godzilla vs. Kong dir. Adam Wingard (2021)

Challenged by the mere notion.

Avalon dir. Mamoru Oshii (2001)

It’s only real when you accept that longing is the source of your melancholy.

Nobody dir. Ilya Naishuller (2021)

A middle-aged fantasy.

The Fog dir. John Carpenter (1980)

The blame is always there.

Blood Simple dir. Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (1984)

Desperate measures call for desperate times.

Rango dir. Gore Verbinski (2011)

Performance is the essence of our existence.

The Black Cauldron dir. Ted Berman & Richard Rich (1984)

It must be nice to be born of potential.

Batman: The Killing Joke dir. Sam Liu (2016)

Barb deserves better, but so does any woman in these stories.

Tangled dir. Nathan Greno & Byron Howard (2010)

Youth is a prison.

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run dir. Tim Hill (2020)

Of a different era of celebrity appearances.

Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown dir. Bill Melendez & Phil Roman (1977)

The gas crisis as a repressed memory.

La Casa Lobo dir. Cristóbal León & Joaquín Cociña (2018)

Horrifying history through art, I tell you.

Seoul Station dir. Yeon Sang-ho (2016)

I didn’t see it coming.

The Last Unicorn dir. Arthur Rankin Jr. & Jules Bass (1982)

Quite a mood in this one. Ethereal and lonesome.

Fantastic Planet dir. René Laloux (1973)

Takes me back to the Heavy Metal movie and how strange and different it felt from everything, except of course this begat all of that which arrived in the late seventies and eighties.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)

The new Agent Carter gets shafted in these stories, so I sincerely hope they don’t drop the ball again.

New Fiction 2019 – April

The Favourite dir. Yorgos Lanthimos (2018)

This was a fun movie about two adversaries jockeying for power and then, holy shit, what, it’s not that at all. But I loved it, it’s the kind of thing I want to read but who has the time, who? You might say it’s my… favorite.

Creed II dir. Steven Caple Jr. (2018)

Another movie of adversaries. Adonis Creed is the same man, out to prove something, and so is his rival as the son of the man who was humiliated by Rocky in Rocky IV. However, this man is far more fucked up, and his emotional arc is the stronger of the two.

If Beale Street Could Talk dir. Barry Jenkins (2018)

The injustice in this movie is the quiet, seething kind. The movie shows people trying to live within the rules and shot down at every opportunity. But their love, their connections to each other, provides the hope that allows them to survive. The movie never crescendos the way one might expect, much like Jenkins’s last movie. It just continues, like the best stories, like life.

A Private War dir. Matthew Heineman (2018)

Journalists of war exhibit a certain bravery to tread into war and tell the story of those who must suffer it. This telling of the life of Marie Colvin shows that need we all have, I think, to do the thing that we know we shouldn’t. We shouldn’t imperil ourselves. We shouldn’t tell the stories of those who we ignore, because then we must face our willful ignorance.

The Spectacular Now dir. James Ponsoldt (2013)

A romantic comedy with some edge, something I think has become more prevalent recently. Sadly, we have a dude with an alcohol problem, and a girl who he uses to get over himself. I only cheer for her to tell him to fuck off.

Shazam! dir. Peter Safran (2019)

Not what I expected. The movie leans into family-friendly and focuses on levity, taking its time with building the hero out of the boy. In truth, it’s a frustrating journey, but perhaps that’s what it is to watch children struggle to find their place in the world.

Avengers: Endgame dir. Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (2019)

I’ve only watched it once, but something felt… off. Or I guess, felt too perfect. It was too buttoned up, too many solutions. The part I was most fascinated with was the fallout of the previous movie’s actions, living with that kind of loss. And they touch on it, with some characters driven by it. But the world remains. Maybe that’s how it is? The world will always remain.

Bob’s Burgers – “Brunchsquatch” (2017)

Beefsquatch! Gene is the kid I wish I was, entertaining and outgoing. Also, I’ve never had brunch, but as I understand it the boozy orange juice is the highlight, yeah?

Bob’s Burgers – “The Silence of the Louise” (2017)

Mysteries can be a real hoot. Solving them, finding clues, you know. And mysteries in primetime cartoons are the hootest.

Bob’s Burgers – “Sit Me Baby One More Time”

(2017)

I traveled all around in March and April and ate an embarrassing amount of expensive food for free. And let me tell you, good as it was, it’s never worth the price. Some burgers may be better than others but, at the end of the day, you’re just eating a plop of ground-up cow muscle.

The Simpsons – “Holidays of Future Passed” (2011)

I’ve been doing a ton (ton!) of research on The Simpsons for some upcoming projects. Part of the research is watching every single one of its 650+ episodes. This episode, one of the many that skip ahead to see the family in future times, was pleasant, but didn’t quite hit the jokes-per-minute average that the old episodes achieved. It was interesting to skip ahead and see where they’ve gone.

Star Trek: Discovery – "The Vulcan Hello” (2017)

Oh no. I’m one of those fans who is going to complain about changes, like the klingons’ radical physical and cultural alterations. I understand the old Star Trek is dead, long live Star Trek, but it’s a hurdle just the same. I hope to watch the rest of this series sometime soon and get a better sense of it. As you know, Star Trek is never good right out of the gate.

Luther – Series 5 (2019)

Luther, man, what are you doing? These last couple of series have seen Luther make some real questionable choices, perhaps showing the fallout of all the decisions he’s made in previous series. Like with Shazam! up above, it’s difficult to see characters fuck up so bad and for so long. But, always a but, I understand that sometimes shit happens, and you respond as best as you can.

New Fiction 2019 – April

The Favourite dir. Yorgos Lanthimos (2018)

This was a fun movie about two adversaries jockeying for power and then, holy shit, what, it’s not that at all. But I loved it, it’s the kind of thing I want to read but who has the time, who? You might say it’s my… favorite.

Creed II dir. Steven Caple Jr. (2018)

Another movie of adversaries. Adonis Creed is the same man, out to prove something, and so is his rival as the son of the man who was humiliated by Rocky in Rocky IV. However, this man is far more fucked up, and his emotional arc is the stronger of the two.

If Beale Street Could Talk dir. Barry Jenkins (2018)

The injustice in this movie is the quiet, seething kind. The movie shows people trying to live within the rules and shot down at every opportunity. But their love, their connections to each other, provides the hope that allows them to survive. The movie never crescendos the way one might expect, much like Jenkins’s last movie. It just continues, like the best stories, like life.

A Private War dir. Matthew Heineman (2018)

Journalists of war exhibit a certain bravery to tread into war and tell the story of those who must suffer it. This telling of the life of Marie Colvin shows that need we all have, I think, to do the thing that we know we shouldn’t. We shouldn’t imperil ourselves. We shouldn’t tell the stories of those who we ignore, because then we must face our willful ignorance.

The Spectacular Now dir. James Ponsoldt (2013)

A romantic comedy with some edge, something I think has become more prevalent recently. Sadly, we have a dude with an alcohol problem, and a girl who he uses to get over himself. I only cheer for her to tell him to fuck off.

Shazam! dir. Peter Safran (2019)

Not what I expected. The movie leans into family-friendly and focuses on levity, taking its time with building the hero out of the boy. In truth, it’s a frustrating journey, but perhaps that’s what it is to watch children struggle to find their place in the world.

Avengers: Endgame dir. Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (2019)

I’ve only watched it once, but something felt… off. Or I guess, felt too perfect. It was too buttoned up, too many solutions. The part I was most fascinated with was the fallout of the previous movie’s actions, living with that kind of loss. And they touch on it, with some characters driven by it. But the world remains. Maybe that’s how it is? The world will always remain.

Bob’s Burgers – “Brunchsquatch” (2017)

Beefsquatch! Gene is the kid I wish I was, entertaining and outgoing. Also, I’ve never had brunch, but as I understand it the boozy orange juice is the highlight, yeah?

Bob’s Burgers – “The Silence of the Louise” (2017)

Mysteries can be a real hoot. Solving them, finding clues, you know. And mysteries in primetime cartoons are the hootest.

Bob’s Burgers – “Sit Me Baby One More Time”

(2017)

I traveled all around in March and April and ate an embarrassing amount of expensive food for free. And let me tell you, good as it was, it’s never worth the price. Some burgers may be better than others but, at the end of the day, you’re just eating a plop of ground-up cow muscle.

The Simpsons – “Holidays of Future Passed” (2011)

I’ve been doing a ton (ton!) of research on The Simpsons for some upcoming projects. Part of the research is watching every single one of its 650+ episodes. This episode, one of the many that skip ahead to see the family in future times, was pleasant, but didn’t quite hit the jokes-per-minute average that the old episodes achieved. It was interesting to skip ahead and see where they’ve gone.

Star Trek: Discovery – "The Vulcan Hello” (2017)

Oh no. I’m one of those fans who is going to complain about changes, like the klingons’ radical physical and cultural alterations. I understand the old Star Trek is dead, long live Star Trek, but it’s a hurdle just the same. I hope to watch the rest of this series sometime soon and get a better sense of it. As you know, Star Trek is never good right out of the gate.

Luther – Series 5 (2019)

Luther, man, what are you doing? These last couple of series have seen Luther make some real questionable choices, perhaps showing the fallout of all the decisions he’s made in previous series. Like with Shazam! up above, it’s difficult to see characters fuck up so bad and for so long. But, always a but, I understand that sometimes shit happens, and you respond as best as you can.