Since my household recently purchased a complete box set of the James Bond films, we’ve begun a total re-watch of the entire series. So, I’ll be giving my thoughts on each film in turn. First some background: I’m a long-time fan of the Bond films. I’ve seen all of them (except Quantum of Solace) at … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Dr. No’
Movies
Aquaman and Causation at The Everyman
That review I fisked last week sparked some thoughts in my mind about Progressivism and causation. The resulting essay appears today at The Everyman First it must be noted that Aquaman is a very successful film. As of this writing, it’s made 265 million dollars in the US and close to a billion worldwide (according to boxofficemojo.com)—and it’s … Continue reading Aquaman and Causation at The Everyman
An Aqua-Fisk
Last weekend I got out to see Aquaman. It was incredibly stupid and absolutely ridiculous in a lot of ways, but I enjoyed it a lot. Certainly, I much prefer over-the-top dumb-fun like this to self-consciously grim garbage like Man of Steel. Then I happened across this review which I thought was so off-point that … Continue reading An Aqua-Fisk
TCM Remembers 2018
It's that time of year again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ewT7_NrGwM
Sticking up for ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’
So, a few days back, someone posted an attack on It's a Wonderful Life in the 'Boston Herald,' criticizing it, not only as a bad film, but as promoting socialism. It was a very poorly done piece, of the "make a bold claim, then support it with a sarcastic comment" variety, but since the point of view … Continue reading Sticking up for ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’
It’s a Wonderful Life at Catholic Match
If anyone were to ask what I think the best movie ever made is (understanding there's objectively no such thing), I would probably say It's a Wonderful Life. I might do a piece going into why I think this, but in the meantime I get to give some idea of why in today's piece on Catholic Match. I … Continue reading It’s a Wonderful Life at Catholic Match
Yes, Virginia, ‘Die Hard’ is a Christmas Movie
My latest piece is up at The Federalist, and it's all about the Christmas classic Die Hard and what makes it a Christmas movie. Since the question hinges on there being a difference between a Christmas movie proper and a movie set around Christmas, it seems that a Christmas movie proper is a film that has some … Continue reading Yes, Virginia, ‘Die Hard’ is a Christmas Movie
A Matt Walsh Fisk On Superheroes
At present the distinction [between highbrow and lowbrow books] is certainly used to allow us the satisfaction of despising certain authors and readers without imposing on us the labour of showing that they are bad. — C. S. Lewis, High and Low Brows. Matt Walsh is one of my favorite commentators. There are few people who … Continue reading A Matt Walsh Fisk On Superheroes
Presenting my ‘Must See’ List for 2019
A whole lot of trailers dropped this week, but for my part, I only really cared about two. First, obviously, is Avengers: Endgame https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA6hldpSTF8 Yeah, this looks pretty fantastic. They're not showing much yet; this trailer is mostly about letting the audience know that yes, the Avengers are going to keep fighting. Love the logo reassembling at … Continue reading Presenting my ‘Must See’ List for 2019
Trivia Break: Queen of the Monsters
I'd like to introduce you to actress Mie Hama. She's a rather interesting person: born during World War II to blue collar parents, her home was destroyed in a bombing raid and she grew up poor. By the age of sixteen, she was working as a fare collector on the bus, and it was there … Continue reading Trivia Break: Queen of the Monsters
Serpent's Den 