I mean, yes, obviously I was going to do Die Hard. Because we must obey the ancient forms and customs, here I will nod toward the perennial “Is Die Hard a Christmas Movie” debate, which for 99% of people is in jest because it’s fun to argue about silly and inconsequential things, … | Continue reading
NOTE: Some spoilers. Previous to seeing Godzilla Minus One last week, the only Godzilla movies I had seen consisted of the 2014 version, Godzilla, the 2019 Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Godzilla vs. Kong from 2021. So my idea of Godzilla as an entity was this very specific … | Continue reading
To begin, yes, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Christmas film; “Christmas” is right there in the title. It is also, of course, a Halloween film. The film explicitly ties both of these holidays together, using the contrast between the dark, gothy Halloween and the bright, fest … | Continue reading
For the avoidance of doubt, there was a real Eddie Mannix, the movie studio executive and “fixer” that Josh Brolin plays in Hail, Caesar! (the exclamation mark is part of the title, it’s not me being outlandishly excited, I promise). The real Eddie Mannix was Louie B. Mayer and M … | Continue reading
First off, I have very recently written a whole other essay on Speed Racer for Uncanny Magazine, and don’t wish to rehash what I said there, so allow me to commend that article to you for your perusal. It’s worth the click. With that said, let me say that one of the reasons I com … | Continue reading
The most implausible thing about Crazy Rich Asians is not anything involving the ridiculous sums of money and privilege on display in the film. It’s that, in the globally-connected 2018 of this movie, the very savvy NYU economics professor Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), has neither h … | Continue reading
The 13th Warrior was not just a flop when it came out in 1999. It was the flop — budgeted at an estimated $160 million for production and marketing, it made just $61 million worldwide, becoming the biggest cinematic money loser of its calendar year. After some dire test screening … | Continue reading
I was asked in email yesterday how it’s been now that I’ve been away from the former Twitter for a whole month. My first response to this was mildly nitpicky — it’s not been a full month yet, as I ditched the site on November 16, and it’s only December 12 now. So it’s more […] | Continue reading
I adore Tootsie, which I think is one of the greatest movie comedies of all time. It has the sort of snap and crackle to its dialogue that generations of comedy writers would give an important body part to be able to produce, and a cast that absolutely knows how to deliver it. It … | Continue reading
Krissy asked me what I was planning to do with my day today, and I mentioned I was going to do another installment of the December Comfort Watches. When she asked which movie I was going to choose, I said “I don’t know, what do you suggest?” She said, “Well, it’s a kinda new, but … | Continue reading
I wasn’t expecting a lot out of Bolt when we went to go see it in the theater. The family had gone to Los Angeles for Thanksgiving in 2008, the year Bolt came out, because I was a guest of honor at Loscon, a science fiction convention that took place conveniently near the airport … | Continue reading
The Godfather is so ubiquitous in American and cinematic culture that to recap or essay it here seems superfluous. Who amongst us does not know this fabled story of the Corleone family, and the ascendence (or if you prefer, descent) of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) from war hero t … | Continue reading
My friend and I were grabbing lunch in Columbus recently, and she asked me what I was in the mood for. I told her seafood, and she said she heard of this place she wanted to try called “Colo”. I was totally down, so off we went to this mysterious seafood place. There are two […] | Continue reading
It’s the early 90s and you are Kenneth Branagh, and life, it has to be said, is pretty sweet. You are acknowledged as the foremost Shakespearean wunderkind of your generation, thanks to your 1989 version of Henry V that nabbed you Best Actor and Best Director Oscar nods before yo … | Continue reading
Down With Love is indisputably the best film of its genre, its genre being “Loving 21st-Century Tributes to Mid-Century Romantic Farces Mostly Starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day.” This is a very specific genre, for a very specific audience, one that, as it turns out, did not real … | Continue reading
For decades now, Clint Eastwood has had what appears to be the best production deal in Hollywood, in which Warner Bros. apparently lets him make any damn movie he wants, so long as he brings it in for a price, and, every third movie or so, deigns to appear in whatever he’s making … | Continue reading
Are you ready to dive into the very nature of reality? Lida Sideris is, for her latest novel, Murderous Means. Come along and find out what she knows. LIDA SIDERIS: What is real and what isn’t? I write fiction, but while I’m immersed in writing, the world inside the pages becomes … | Continue reading
There are only a handful of movies that I’ve seen at the theater by myself, and fewer that I knew next to nothing about before seeing it. When it comes to Saltburn, I am glad that both of these were the case. And I want the same for you, at least as far as not knowing […] | Continue reading
Here’s a kind of fun personal fact about me and While You Were Sleeping: I was a working film critic when this came out in 1995, and I remember giving it a B minus; I thought it was a cute little romantic comedy but that there was really not much more to it than that. […] | Continue reading
The first thing to know about this film is that the protagonist, the 22-year-old Scott Pilgrim, starts off the film as an actual and verifiably shitty person. Does he know it? Really, not at all, partly because he’s 22 and that’s not a quality age for self-introspection, despite … | Continue reading
I’ve loved The Emperor’s New Groove since the first time I saw it, because of all the Disney animated movies that have ever come out, it’s probably the one closest to my own comedic and storytelling sensibilities (although others come close, and, no surprise, some of them will sh … | Continue reading
I don’t know about the rest of you, but with the advent of the holiday season, and the fact by the second week of December everyone collectively decides, well, that’s all the work that needs to be done this year, I spend a lot of my time this month camped out on my couch, watchin … | Continue reading
Author Aaron Sofaer needed to do some worldbuilding for the novel Quill & Still, and in this case, there was no point in doing it halfway. Come along as Sofaer goes into detail about what it takes to make a kingdom from scratch — and that has also existed for a millennium. AARON … | Continue reading
For the last four days, the Whatever Gift Guide 2023 has been about helping you find the perfect gifts for friends and loved ones. But today I’d like to remind folks that the season is also about helping those in need. So this final day is for charities. If you’re looking for a p … | Continue reading
As children, we often dream of being a special one, even The Chosen One — but as a practical matter, how would being that special actually be? Especially if life threw you some curveballs on the way to Chosenhood? It’s a thought Felicia Day has considered, in her life, and in her … | Continue reading
For the first three days of the Whatever Gift Guide 2023, We’ve had authors and creators tell you about their work. Today is different: Today is Fan Favorites day, in which fans, admirers and satisfied customers share with you a few of their favorite things — and you can share so … | Continue reading
The Whatever Holiday Gift Guide 2023 continues, and today we move away from books and focus on other gifts and crafts — which you can take to mean just about any other sort of thing a creative person might make: Music, art, knitting, jewelry, artisan foodstuffs and so on. These c … | Continue reading
Hey, feel like you could use a few minutes of relentless industrial droning? Well, then, have I got a track for you! It started off much more chipper and in a different key entirely, but little by little it ended up here. I guess I’m in that kind of mood musically, as November gr … | Continue reading
Fayetteville may not have been on your radar as a hotbed of fae activity, but as Paige E. Ewing is here to tell you, it’s the place to be for her novel, Explosive Chemistry. PAIGE E. EWING: When Solifu, the impossibly ancient Egyptian mystic, held her tiny spider-kin daughter in … | Continue reading
Today is Day Two of the Whatever Holiday Gift Guide 2023, and today the focus is on Non-Traditionally Published Books: Self-published works, electronically-exclusive books, books from micro presses, books released outside the usual environs of the publishing world, and so on. Hey … | Continue reading
Welcome to the first day of the Whatever Shopping Guide 2023 — Our way of helping you folks learn about cool creative gifts for the holidays, straight from the folks who have created them. Today’s featured products are traditionally published books (including graphic novels and a … | Continue reading
I deejayed a dance at a Star Trek-themed convention over the weekend. I set up my DJ stuff on the main stage of the convention, which, naturally enough, had a starship bridge on it. Krissy came up and sat in the captain’s chair, and, may I say, it was a natural fit for her. I […] | Continue reading
Every year as the holiday season begins I run a gift guide for the holidays, and over the years it’s been quite successful: Lots of people have found out about excellent books and crafts and charities and what have you, making for excellent gift-giving opportunities during the ho … | Continue reading
Humble Bundle is an organization that bundles up things like video games and books and other stuff that people like to have, offers them pretty cheaply, in various tiers, and then donates a portion of the proceeds to charitable organizations. A couple of months ago, Tor approache … | Continue reading
When you really want to go outside and run around, but your human is busy, like, staring into that incomprehensible glowing rectangle of hers. Oh! The suffering! Yes, I realize this is the second “dog walk”-themed photo this week. But look at the pathos here! I couldn’t resist. H … | Continue reading
Some writers have a “thing” – a niche, a trick, or a trope that they make their own. And then some other writers… wander. In this Big Idea for Being Michael Swanwick, a non-fiction exploration into the life and works of the multiple-award-winning author, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro explai … | Continue reading
Let’s address that first thing first: Yes, I am currently writing a novel! Also, that novel will not be out in 2024. The reason is actually pretty simple: The date in 2024 that Tor had available for my book to come out was the first Tuesday in November. Which, if you check your c … | Continue reading
How is the ocean like space? Naomi Kritzer knows, and in her new novel, Liberty’s Daughter, she uses those similarities to the advantage of her tale – and for the adventure her protagonist finds herself on. NAOMI KRITZER: Liberty’s Daughter takes place on a seastead – a collectio … | Continue reading
Someone is excited about the possibility of a long walk at the local nature preserve! Can you guess who it is? The answer may surprise you! — JS | Continue reading
Do you like puzzles? M V Melcer has puzzles for you – in space, no less – and a reason for the protagonist in Refractions to go literally lightyears from home to figure them out. MV MELCER: I’ve always been drawn to puzzles, to books that keep you guessing what’s really going on, … | Continue reading
I had traveling to do today, which kept me from updating earlier. To make up for it, please accept this really lovely traditional song, sung by boygenius, who are accompanied by Ye Vagabonds, in honor of Sinead O’Connor. It’s a stunner. Good night, and joy be with you all. — JS | Continue reading
Elon Musk, the most unfathomably insecure and pathetic billionaire the world has ever seen, has gone mask-off antisemite, and that means that while I had already reduced my participation on the former Twitter, now I’m off it entirely. I’m keeping the account so that no one can sw … | Continue reading
When history and myth provide you a tale that is… unsatisfying, what is one to do? If one is Marie Brennan, and the story is The Waking of Angantyr, the answer is: reimagine. MARIE BRENNAN: I wanted the story I was promised. When I was a senior in college and working on my thesis … | Continue reading
Usually in the second week of October I make mention that I use WordPress and that I find it extremely simple to use, easy to manage and is a thing that I can endorse for anyone who is looking to have their own space here on the Internet. However, this October I was traveling all … | Continue reading
We sometimes say that someone with a talent has been “blessed,” but what happens when blessings are more real and concrete than just a note of admiration for skills? Sharon Shinn has been thinking about blessing for the world in which her new novel Whispering Wood exists, and is … | Continue reading
Last year, the band Bad Omens came out with an album called The Death of Peace of Mind, and I didn’t discover it until recently. Ever since I found it, I’ve been pretty hooked on them. I thought no song could top the one that the album is named for, “THE DEATH OF PEACE OF […] | Continue reading
In today’s Big Idea, Cory Doctorow talks about his new novel The Lost Cause, but he also talks about why so many of science fiction writers work in the genre at all. Both topics are, unsurprisingly, fascinating. CORY DOCTOROW: Danger is scary, but helplessness is scarier. For the … | Continue reading
I found this rose on the hallway floor of my hotel in Austin, Texas, this weekend, clearly the residue of a wedding that had been at the hotel at the same time I was there. Naturally I had to take a picture of it before disposing it. I hope it is not a metaphor for […] | Continue reading