Hannibal is one of the best television shows – network, cable, or otherwise – of the last 10 years. It’s certainly the most beautifully shot, and yes, that’s counting True Detective. In fact, standing Hannibal next to True Detective seems to be an unfair comparison in multiple ways, not the least of which being Hannibal‘s […]
Bobby Roberts
Bobby Roberts is one of the Portland Mercury's calendar editors, as well as one of its film and pop-culture critics. His past career choices included joining corporate broadcast radio just in time for its death, and leaving the world of independent podcasting just before it blew up, but luckily for him there is nothing more stable in the 21st century than a career in alternative print media.
Posted inMovies & TV
10 Minutes to 10 Years: The Lasting Effects of Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead
There’s a narrative about Zack Snyder now. On some level, that’s a sign of acceptance; People are comfortable enough with his presence in pop culture that they talk about him as if he were just another character in the reality TV show of their lives. “He’s the slo-mo guy!”“He’s the creepy sex guy.”“Is he the […]
Posted inHealth
This Might Be Why Your Kid is Home Sick All the Damn Time
Okay, the fluoride debacle was one thing. So far as rejection of science goes, it could be worse. Like, say, leading the country in not vaccinating your children. Oh, wait. Mother Jones This post over at Mother Jones highlights how and why American children aren’t being vaccinated. Of course, there’s large elements of Jenny McCarthyism […]
Posted inMovies & TV
You Guys Do Remember that RoboCop Has Almost Always Sucked, Right?
I understand the skepticism many feel when it comes to the remake of RoboCop, releasing February 12th. The 1987 original has gained legendary status in the years since its release; a black comedy, blending satire and violence to mock American excess and naked capitalism while telling the story of a man fighting to regain a […]
Posted inGeek
I Don’t Get Why You’re Worried About the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
One of fallacies most often regurgitated onto the bib of the internet concerns the “ruining” of things from your childhood. I remember when the concept first got its shine, in the talkback of an AintItCool.com story in the late ‘90s. Except then, “ruining” was replaced with a less-kind word that also begins with the letter […]
Posted inMovies & TV
This is Why The Iron Giant Isn’t the Best Superman Movie Ever
Warner Bros. dumped The Iron Giant into the crowded film landscape of 1999 with terrible promotion and minimal confidence, letting it wander off to be ignored like a neglected ginger in a mall. Brad Bird’s Cold War-era story about Hogarth, an adventurous boy with an unfortunate name who discovers a robot in his backyard and […]
Posted inVideo Games
This is Why I Don’t Play Cards Against Humanity with You.
Sorry, but I don’t want to play Cards Against Humanity with you. It’s not that I’m grumpy. Or humorless. Or that I dislike the concept of “enjoying myself.” It’s that I like my games to be games, and to me, Cards Against Humanity is less a game, and more a shapeless exercise in hackwork comedy […]
Posted inTech
Net Neutrality Takes a Punch in the Mouth
Earlier this morning, a federal appeals court struck down the FCC’s rules for Net Neutrality, enacted back in 2010. The rules were intended to prevent a future where media companies and telecoms (like Verizon, the company appealing the FCC’s rules) take the business model of cable television and apply it to your internet, with all […]
Posted inGeek
Marvel and Netflix: Takin’ it to the Streets
Before we go any further with the actual details, let me get this out of the way. Back in MAY, I called this. ME. You? You were all surprised like “What? How could this be? Four new Marvel shows? Aren’t they having problems with just the one?” Meanwhile visionaries like myself were riding public transit […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Sing it with Me: The LAST YOOOONICOOOOOORN!
I don’t really remember much about The Last Unicorn. I remember that the guy from TRON was a fair haired prince, and Alan Arkin was a dorky wizard, and Robert Klein was a smartassed butterfly. I remember the orange-hued, wood-paneled soft-rock theme song by the band America; more accurately, I remember the part I put […]
Posted inComic Books
Dark Horse Comics Reboots ALIEN Universe (and Predators, too)
Part of the reason PROMETHEUS disappointed so many was due to the richness of the universe it was playing in. ALIEN is considered one of the best horror movies ever made due to its design, its atmosphere, the shudder-inducing nastiness of its titular fanged penis-monster. And PROMETHEUS just took a lot of the potential for […]
Posted inMusic
Dinosaurs with Guns
The Resurrection of the Geto Boys
The resurrection of the trigger-happy, motherfucking Geto Boys.