Reel Big Fish is my favorite product of the “third wave of ska” from the mid-1990s. Their brand of ska-punk features melodic, flashy tunes paired with lyrics often described as “sarcastic” and “bitter.” Their music could easily have degenerated into braindead party jams, but lead songwriter and frontman Aaron Barrett keeps it funny, emotionally grounded,…
This is an entry in the Pokemon Movies Retrospective Movie #5: Pokemon Heroes – Latios & Latias “If the Soul Dew should be used for evil, its power will be tainted, and the Soul Dew will disappear along with the island.” – Legend of the Soul Dew (Japanese Dub) Pokemon Heroes – Latios & Latias, 「水の都の護神 ラティアスとラティオス」(lit.…
5. Dawn of the Dead (George Romero, 1978) “When there’s no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth.” Back before the zombie genre exploded in poularity circa 2004 (with the release of 28 Days Later, Shawn of the Dead, and Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake), George Romero was the undisputed king of the…
Sigh. Some of our four loyal readers may be all Oscar‘d-out, but after that atrocity exhibition of a telecast last night, I just can’t sit idly by while it goes largely accepted. As I’ve chronicled, I love (the idea of) the Oscars, which is why it irritates me so much that we can’t get the…
It’s almost unreal how good animated movies have been the past ten years. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that some individual years have had a better slate of animated movies than entire previous decades have. It’s almost an embarrassment of riches. So where have these films come from? A variety of places. Some…
I’m a bigger fan of the Academy Awards than anyone else I know. That’s not all on my end—I don’t view the Oscars as some flawless representation of entertainment or anything. No, I make that statement in part because the Oscars—coming up this Sunday night—are one of the easiest punchlines in the world. No one, it…
Some time around 2004, my family got iTunes for the first time. This was kind of a big deal because I never Limewired music. This was the moment that the world of music blew up for me. Suddenly, all I had to do was type in the name of an artist or a song and…
So I’ve spent the last ten minutes staring at a blank screen trying to decide what I could possibly contribute to anyone’s life by writing about the eight Harry Potter movies. This is the highest-grossing series of all time based on the best-selling book series of all time, an iconic pop culture franchise of ultra-scrutinized…
This is an entry in the Pokemon Movies Retrospective Movie #4: Celebi – Voice of the Forest “Yes, the Guardian Deity of the Forest is said to have the power to time travel. If you don’t want to be dragged into a different era, be sure not to move when you hear the ‘Voice of the…
Mount and Blade, a computer game series by Turkish developers TaleWorlds, has some of the coolest game mechanics of any game ever. It has an unparalleled sense of scope: From tiny battles with raiders to eternal glory as king of an empire, the Mount and Blade series lets you live a medieval rags-to-riches story. You…