review
Reviews of the top geek movies, tv, and books in the industry.
The Best Anime You've Never Heard Of Part II
It all starts with a simple desire to kill. A desire for revenge so strong that you're willing to damn your own soul to hell forever upon your own death. Upon the stroke of midnight you visit a phantom website which will allow you to put in the name of the person you want revenge against. You can take the offer but will be warned that upon your own death you will be cast into hell in order to live out the rest of eternity under constant torture and pain. Whether that's a fair trade is entirely up to you but once you pull the string around the straw doll's neck, that's it. No going back. That's how you summon Ai Enma, also known as Jigoku Shoujo (Hell Girl).
By L.B. Bryant9 years ago in Geeks
It's Just a Two-Man Con
"Fiction allows us to slide into these other heads, these other places, and look out through other eyes. And then in the tale we stop before we die, or we die vicariously and unharmed, and in the world beyond the tale we turn the page or close the book, and we resume our lives."
By Sydney Erickson9 years ago in Geeks
Motherhood and the Other
The association of family in the horror film is as old as the genre itself. Even as far back as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, themes of family are present (Cesaré is a creation of Caligari, so in essence, Cesaré is his son). American horror films followed this trend in Frankenstein (such as the conflict between the monster and Fritz, similar to sibling rivalry for the affections of the father, in this case, Henry), eventually recognizing the family in a literal sense with the sequels (Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein). In his book, The Horror Film, Peter Hutchings discusses the concept of family horror and has this to say on the subject:
By Percival Constantine9 years ago in Geeks
Marvel's Glorification of Bad Dads
In Guardian's of the Galaxy Vol 2, Peter Quill has the opportunity to finally meet his biological father, a god aptly named Ego who has plans to take over the entire galaxy and destroy all other life forms until only he remains. To put it simply, he is a bad dude. And at the end of the movie, Yondu, the blue alien who kept Quill instead of taking him to his biological father, helps save the day, essentially becoming a guardian of the galaxy. There is then a number of touching moments where Quill talks about how in the end, he was a great dude and was, in reality, his father because he raised him.
By J.C. Marie9 years ago in Geeks
King Charles III Review
"What if?" It is that question that lies at the heart of all storytelling. No matter the medium, no matter what the genre, it all comes back to that same basic question. King Charles III is no exception to that rule. Indeed it is a prime example of it being a self-described "future history play" in the words of its writer Mike Bartlett. Adapted from his 2014 stage play for the BBC and shown here in the United States on PBS' Great Performances strand last weekend, the TV film adaptation is an interesting piece of work to say the least.
By Matthew Kresal9 years ago in Geeks
Review - Baywatch
Back in the '90s, before the internet beamed its world of smut into our homes, hormonal teenage boys had to make do with the Saturday teatime tradition of Baywatch to get their fill of female flesh. In anticipation of the obligatory slo-mo sequence of Pamela Anderson's cleavage bouncing in her red swimsuit like two bald midgets running a sack race, a lot of VCR pause buttons were worn out. But also fast forward buttons, as in between such mammary moments the show was the very definition of tedium. The new generation of sweaty palmed tykes who visit the cinema to check out this big screen cash-in will be wishing they could access a fast-forward button too, as Baywatch the movie is so unremittingly awful it may well turn its young male audience off boobs for life. Caution: may contain spoilers.
By Eric Hillis9 years ago in Geeks
Review - Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge
As any Hollywood exec will attest, Joe Public is a tricky blighter to predict. Blockbusters with historical settings generally have as much mass box office appeal as Latvian character dramas, and those set on the high seas have historically sunk without a trace (see Roman Polanski's Pirates and Renny Harlin's Cutthroat Island; nobody else has). In 2003 however Disney found the box office treasure so many others had failed to locate when Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl proved an unexpected global hit. Everything suggested it would flop heavily - its premise seemed designed to alienate a modern audience; its biggest star was Johnny Depp, whose best years seemed long behind him at that point; and to the amusement of many observers it was a cinematic adaptation of a Disneyland attraction (see also Tomorrowland; nobody else has) - but audiences embraced it wholeheartedly, and now, 14 years later, we have a fourth sequel, Salazar's Revenge (released in the US under the far more appealing title, Dead Men Tell No Tales). Caution: May contain spoilers!
By Eric Hillis9 years ago in Geeks
