Pacing
Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The Twelve Days To The Attack
Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The Twelve Days To The Attack by Steve Twomey I really wasn’t expecting much of this read; I grabbed it while I was at Pearl Harbor because how could I not get a book while I was there?
By Matthew J. Frommabout 23 hours ago in Critique
Standing While Falling. Top Story - January 2026.
Quotation from Friedrich Nietzsche "He who wrestles long with monsters should beware lest he himself become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. Man is not destroyed by suffering, but by the meaning he makes of it."
By LUCCIAN LAYTH2 days ago in Critique
The Lost City of Z
The Lost City of Z by David Grann Growing up I thought I wanted to be an archaeologist. Now that I’m a ripe 32, I realize what I really wanted to be was an adventurer–someone who dug deep into the dark and emerged with treasures unseen for millennia.
By Matthew J. Fromm3 days ago in Critique
The Blade Itself
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie Every once in a while, I pick up a book that reminds me fundamentally why I enjoy reading—a book that turns my brain off and sweeps me away to some far flung world that I can sit at any quiet moment and. . . disappear into.
By Matthew J. Fromm6 days ago in Critique
The Butcher of the Forest
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed I loved Becky Chambers’s A Psalm for the Wild-Built. It was a nice warm hug of a book that explored finding meaning in life, our relationship with nature, and how to come to terms with not knowing where a path may lead. I gave it an 89/100.
By Matthew J. Fromm7 days ago in Critique
The Sequel Stumbles (But does not Falter)
Jon M. Chu's conclusion to his ambitious two-part adaptation of the Broadway phenomenon arrives with considerable fanfare but delivers decidedly mixed results. Released on November 21, 2025, "Wicked: For Good" runs 2 hours and 17 minutes and picks up immediately where its predecessor left off, following Elphaba's exile and Glinda's ascension to Ozian celebrity. While the film has proven commercially successful—opening to $150 million domestically and setting a record for Broadway adaptations—the critical consensus suggests a marked decline from the original's magic.
By Parsley Rose 2 months ago in Critique
Limon Dance Company. Animal Farm.
The Limon Dance Company (with a ' over the O) at the Joyce had two performances within an hour and twenty minutes. The first, "The Emperor Jones" was a ballet intertwined with modern dance. The performance was innovative that kept coming at the audience.
By Robert M Massimi. ( Broadway Bob).3 months ago in Critique
Truth Demands Proof
I saw a post on Facebook where a man shared a letter he had sent to his elected officials calling for the impeachment of the sitting president. He claimed that the offenses were “so obvious” and “so well documented” that he did not even need to include them. That single assumption captured everything wrong with modern political thinking. When someone says “the reasons are obvious,” what they often mean is that they cannot defend them. Emotional conviction replaces evidence. The appearance of certainty replaces truth itself.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast3 months ago in Critique
Finally Sat Down to Watch Midsommar (2019)
Ari Aster's 2019 film Midsommar represents an ambitious and polarizing entry in contemporary horror cinema. Following his acclaimed debut *Hereditary*, Aster crafts a folk horror experience that deliberately inverts the genre's visual conventions while exploring the dissolution of a toxic relationship against the backdrop of a Swedish pagan festival. The result is a film that is simultaneously beautiful and disturbing, meditative and visceral, earning both ardent admirers and vocal detractors.
By Parsley Rose 3 months ago in Critique
Returning to Vocal and Writing
Wow. It's been a wild ride the past five years. From telemarketing in 2021, to a failed craft business in 2022, to Vanlifing in 2023, to wasting tons of money in 2024, to hiding in my four walls in 2025. Bizarre, absolutely bizarre. I have horror stories and comical stories. I have romantic stories and tragic stories. But most of all, I have my own emotional journey story and that begins with coming back to the world wide web to continue my writing career. And that begins with the two websites that have prompted me to call myself a professional writer: Vocal.media and allpoetry.com.
By Shanon Angermeyer Norman4 months ago in Critique
Vanessa Kirby Breaks Bad in "Night Always Comes"
In a cinematic moment where thrillers are often dressed in glossy action tropes, Night Always Comes strikes a rawer note, placing Vanessa Kirby at the heart of a story as much about America’s crumbling safety nets as about a woman’s descent into crime.
By Sara Yahia5 months ago in Critique
