Anthropoid is a fantastically paced, impeccably accurate historical thriller nestled inside a longer, less disciplined film. That central chunk of story, in which Czech special operatives devise and execute a plan to assassinate Nazi butcher Reinhard Heydrich, is one of the tightest and most excruciatingly intense sequences of filmmaking I’ve seen this year. And thanks […]
Ben Coleman
Hello! I am a freelancer for the paper. I cover movies mostly, but sometimes video games, comic books, and whatever else comes up.
Posted inMovies & TV
Anthropoid’s Botched Assassination
A Historical Thriller Gets It Partly Right
A historical thriller gets it partly right.
Posted inMovies & TV
Tonight: Your Chance to See America’s Forgotten Industrial Musicals!
Steve Young spent two decades writing jokes for David Letterman, so it follows that his sense of humor skews somewhere between “dry understatement” and “bizarre Americana.” He’s in town to present The Lost World of Industrial Musicals, his 90-minute tour through the strange, mid-century period when America’s love of musical theater met America’s love of […]
Posted inComic Books
Local Comics Creators Kelly Sue DeConnick and Matt Fraction Discuss Their Latest Joint Ventures
When you’re in the home of the author of a book called Bitch Planet, subtlety isn’t the order of the day. Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro Milkfed Criminal Masterminds, the creative headquarters of comic book rock stars Kelly Sue DeConnick (Bitch Planet, Captain Marvel) and Matt Fraction (Sex Criminals, Hawkeye), […]
Posted inBooks/Magazines/Comics
Kelly Sue DeConnick and Matt Fraction, Milkfed Criminal Masterminds
The Local Comics Creators on Their Latest Joint Ventures
The local comics creators on their latest joint ventures.
Posted inMovies & TV
Dog Food, Broadway, and The Lost World of Industrial Musicals
An Interview with the Self-Described “World’s Expert in Corporate Musical Theater”
An interview with the self-described “world’s expert in corporate musical theater.”
Posted inBooks
With Grunt, Mary Roach Is Your Buddy in the Bar Bathroom of Science
Grunt isn’t a textbook masquerading as creative nonfiction, but a legitimately enjoyable romp through the back alleys of military science. AUTHOR PHOTO BY JEN SISKA I decided to run a little experiment of my own while reading Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War, Mary Roach’s latest monolexically titled popular-science essay collection. I put […]
Posted inBooks
Mary Roach Is Your Buddy in the Bar Bathroom of Science
The Author Explores the Pop Science of War in Grunt
She explores the popular science of war in Grunt.
Posted inBooks
A Hologram for the King: An Old White Guy’s (Surprisingly Interesting) Summer Vacation
Based on Dave Eggers’ 2012 novel, A Hologram for the King is a masterpiece in a genre I didn’t think was capable of producing one—namely, the “white guy experiences life in an exotic country and learns life lessons that mainstream mediocrity was unable to provide” genre. Screenwriter/director Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run, Sense8, and Cloud […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Criminal Is Bad. Watch Face/Off Instead.
Criminal is the answer to a question no one asked: “What if someone took the basic plot of Face/Off and made a dour espionage thriller out of it?” The obvious problem is that Face/Off is not remembered fondly for its plot, as it is a film in which a good man and a bad man […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Local Champion Cartoonists on Best Practices in Beer Bottle Design
Plus, How to Design a Brewery!
Plus, how to design a brewery!
Posted inMovies & TV
Criminal: Like Face/Off, But Worse!
Finally, a Movie in Which Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Costner Swap Bodies
Finally, a movie in which Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Costner swap bodies!