There is a question that has followed Harry Potter fans around for nearly thirty years now, surviving playground arguments, Pottermore quizzes, and at least a dozen personality tests designed to help you figure out whether you belong with the brave ones, the loyal ones, the clever ones, or the ambitious ones. The question is deceptively … Continue reading Hogwarts Houses: Stereotypes, Unity, and Personal Growth
Movies I’ve Seen
Surviving the Night: The Friday the 13th Saga
There is a specific kind of commitment required to watch all twelve Friday the 13th films. It is not the same commitment demanded by, say, reading Tolstoy or learning a second language. It is more the commitment of a person who has looked at the weekend stretching out before them, sighed contentedly, and decided that … Continue reading Surviving the Night: The Friday the 13th Saga
12 Characters I Hate From Movies I Love
Let me be clear about something right off the bat: I have excellent taste in movies. I do. I'm not going to sit here and pretend otherwise. But even the most beloved films — the ones you'd fight someone over at a dinner party, the ones you can quote in your sleep, the ones that … Continue reading 12 Characters I Hate From Movies I Love
The Worst 21 – Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel 2009 Directed by Betty Thomas Welcome back to Movie Monday. Before we go any further, the standard disclaimer applies: everything that follows is my own opinion, shaped entirely by my own experience with this film, and none of it is meant as a criticism of anyone who watched The … Continue reading The Worst 21 – Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel
From Pencils to Pixels: How Technology Shaped the Art of Disney Animation
There's a moment in The Little Mermaid — right around the time Ariel is swimming through her collection of human treasures, the light filtering down through the ocean water in shimmering, layered waves — where I completely forgot I was watching a cartoon. I was a kid who had grown up on the Disney classics … Continue reading From Pencils to Pixels: How Technology Shaped the Art of Disney Animation
The Character Couch – Travis Bickle
Welcome back to The Character Couch, where we put on our amateur psychology hats and spend some quality time with characters who probably could have used a real therapist at some point along the way. Today's subject arrived at the office alone, at night, and spent the first ten minutes of our session staring at … Continue reading The Character Couch – Travis Bickle
From Nakatomi to Nowhere: How Die Hard Forgot It Had a Heart
Let me be upfront about something before we dive in: I love Die Hard. I have gone on record — multiple times, including as recently as this past December — arguing passionately, even aggressively, that Die Hard is a Christmas movie. And one of the central pillars of that argument is that the movie is, … Continue reading From Nakatomi to Nowhere: How Die Hard Forgot It Had a Heart
The Worst 21 – Mr. Nanny
Mr. Nanny 1993 Directed by Michael Gottlieb Welcome back to Movie Monday. And before we get into anything else, the standard disclaimer applies: everything that follows is my own opinion, shaped entirely by my own experience with this film, and none of it is meant as a criticism of anyone who watched Mr. Nanny and … Continue reading The Worst 21 – Mr. Nanny
New Members, Old Grudges: The Characters Who Changed the Avengers Forever
There's a moment in Avengers: Age of Ultron that I think about more than I probably should. The Avengers are at a party. Thor's hammer is sitting on a coffee table. One by one, Earth's mightiest heroes step up to try to lift it, and one by one they fail — with varying degrees of … Continue reading New Members, Old Grudges: The Characters Who Changed the Avengers Forever
The Character Couch – Hannibal Lecter
Welcome back to The Character Couch! Today's patient — and I use that word with the full awareness that he would correct my pronunciation of something, offer me a glass of wine I definitely should not drink, and then evaluate my bone structure with the quiet, professional interest of a man deciding whether I'd pair … Continue reading The Character Couch – Hannibal Lecter
The Confusing Middle 