Monthly Archives - February 2024

First Impressions – FX’s Shogun

In 1942 James Clavell became a prisoner of war of the Japanese Empire.  He was eventually transferred to the infamous Changi prisoner-of-war camp where he would remain until his liberation.“Changi became my university instead of my prison. Among the inmates, there were experts in all walks of life—the high and the low roads. I studied and absorbed everything I could from physics to counterfeiting, but most of all I learned the art of surviving, the most important course of all.”-James...

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Disney Deathwatch: The Executions Are Underway

Sean Baily is out as the president of Disney Live Action. I knew someone was going to have to answer for last year's carpet bombing of the theaters.  I’m honestly surprised it was Sean Bailey.  He really wasn’t responsible for the disasters that Disney has produced.  Although, it’s true that he didn’t stop them either.   Alan Bergman bears a great deal of the blame although Dana Walden bears much more. David Greenbaum at Fox Searchlight has been promoted to the newly created...

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The Dark Herald Does Not Recommend Netflix’s Avatar The Last Airbender

So much wrong in one posterThere is a time in your life when children’s television programming reenters your life.  Or at least it did if you were Generation X.  I have no memories at all of my parents sitting down with me in front of Saturday morning TV.  When the subject comes up I’ve rarely run into someone in my age group that has. Admittedly there wasn’t too much available when I was a kid that needed monitoring. Although, there...

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Jodorowsky’s Dune

Question: What is the most influential movie you've never seen?Answer: Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune.This film's art designs have inspired just about every movie that isn't trying to imitate Star Wars or Star Trek, it clearly inspired ship, set, and costume projects as diverse as Alien, The Black Hole, Babylon 5, and Farscape. Arguably the revived version of Battlestar Galactica as well. Its influence is strongly felt in Warhammer 40K and Starcraft. Yet, not a single person has ever seen this film.Because it...

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Trailer Drop Thursday 2/23/24

I know what you're thinking. This is super low effort, oh Herald of the Dark.And you're right it totally is. I'm glad you're paying attention.FIRST Borderlands Greasy as a vat of whale blubber Randy Pitchford has finally gotten his dream. Borderlands is now a movie and I got to say the casting is kind of weird. Cate Blanchett as Lilith: I'm a gigantic fan of Cate the Great, that said, she's 54 and that's assuming her age isn't being shall we say suppressed. I love her...

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Atlantean Bull Dancers

I’m a long-time fan of Stephen Lawhead’s Pendragon Cycle.  It’s a retelling of the King Arthur stories but told from both a historical and Christian perspective.  It stretches from the final days of the Roman Empire in Albion to the Battle of Britain. The very first book in the series is to my mind the strongest: Taliesin.The book is told from two perspectives. The first follows the life of Prince Taliesin, the greatest Celtic bard in the history of Britain. His father...

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Helldivers II – First Impressions

I had intended to post a full review of Helldivers II this week, but that is not going to happen.I have to say that I am somewhat disappointed. I was under the impression that Helldivers II was going to be a non-competitive, third-person co-op shooter. One that had strong overtones of Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers. Except this one was actually funny and wasn't trying to be a secretly brilliant film that you have to have an IQ that falls in a very specific...

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No Christian White Trash Allowed, Says Disney REPOST

(2/19/24) Some of my newer readers maybe wondering why I haven't posted anything on Elon Musk's Tweet. The one where he talks about ABC's "secret Inclusion standards" sheet and how horrible it is.The reason I haven't posted anything is that I already did nearly three years ago:REPOSTApril 15, 2021Disney knows what it wants and what it wants isn't you.After a year of doing nothing but studying all the stuff that Twitter and Tumblr users are gaga about, Disney's ABC has boldly...

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The Iron Vault of Tax Write-Offs: Tim Burton’s Hansel and Gretel

Twitter was blowing up in Twitter rage this week because Coyote vs. Acme's temporary reprieve had run out. Gentle reminder: This movie was about a lawsuit that Wile Coyote launches against ACME, the company whose product line has failed him at every turn. I'll be honest, it sounded to me like the premise for an ultra low budget 1980s Looney Tunes clip show. The kind where there is five minutes of cheap new material inter-spliced with clips from Termite Terrace's golden age...

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The Rabid Puppies at Ten Years

I indeed and truly thought I was never going to have anything else to say about the Hugo Awards ever again.I mean what was there to say that hasn’t been said already?  There was a time that the Hugo Awards indicated, well I’m leery about calling it excellence because there were too many genuine classics in the field that never got an award.  Classic example.  The powers that be at the Hugos had been criticized for never giving J.R.R. Tolkien a...

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