Many reviewers rightfully excoriated the new ABC sit-com Work It. For example, there’s Alan Sepinwall, James Poniewozik, Maureen Ryan, Todd VanDerWerff, and Alyssa Rosenberg, to name a few. Most of the focus was on how the show views women (insultingly), and I didn’t see much about the racism of the pilot (lead character Angel Ortiz [...]
Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)
For some time, I’ve been meaning to write a piece on “problem” movies, films that deal with social ills, such as racism or poverty. I was inspired to do so by much of the discussion this past summer of the movie The Help. Some of the criticism I read of the movie seemed less reflective [...]
Dead of Night (1945)
One sub-category of scary movie is the horror anthology. Representative films include Black Sabbath (1963), Creepshow (1982) and Tales from the Hood (1995). Instead of telling one long story, as a novel does, you get several tales, like a collection of short stories. The more ambitious of these movies have an overarching story that ties [...]
Carnival of Souls (1962)
My biggest regret about Carnival of Souls (1962) is that I didn’t see it earlier in life. In some ways, it is a schlocky low-budget horror movie. In other ways, it’s like an art film. Its plot is simple: The automobile that a young woman is riding in plunges into a river and she is [...]
The Innocents (1961)
Back in the Eighties, there was a great film festival in Los Angeles called Filmex. As part of the festival, they would hold a 50-hour movie marathon, starting on Friday evening and ending on Sunday. It was organized by genre, such as Westerns or Science Fiction. You could sit in a theater, day and night, [...]
At the Heart of Darkness
I think I first became interested in the horror genre early on. I can recall becoming fascinated with Edgar Allan Poe by 5th grade, especially “The Tell-Tale Heart.” I was a fan of the books of children’s author Scott Corbett and he had some scary books for young people, such as Here Lies the Body [...]
When Did the Shift in Horror Come?
This month, I was hoping to blog a little about horror movies. My favorite holiday of the year comes at the end of this month, and it just seems timely. Then I saw this NPR interview with Jason Zinoman, the author of the new book Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, [...]
“Don’t it always seem to go…”
From a young age, I have been a consumer of old pop culture. As a kid, I loved reading Walter R. Brooks’ Freddy the Pig series (This blog post covers other old works of fiction I enjoyed). Thanks to Dr. Demento’s radio show, I knew about Spike Jones and Noel Coward. As a voracious fan [...]
Don’t worry; he’s one of the good ones.
You’re probably already aware that this year marks the beginning of the Civil War’s 150th anniversary. Americans are going to be hearing a lot about this over the next four years. The Civil War, the Antebellum South, the Reconstruction Era, and the continuing struggle with the legacy of the Confederacy continue to reverberate through popular [...]
Forever to Behold: Access to Pop Culture in the Digital Age
As I mentioned last time, I am finally delivering a long-promised post on the topic of the future availability of content. I’ll acknowledge up front that I am likely a voice crying in the wilderness. Most people like to consume mainstream content. They like movies with big names, they want music from the pop charts, [...]