atomictown - get a half-life
Atomictown: The Critic of Pure Reason
Published Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012

Have I ruined contemporary films lately by mentioning how they're all shot in blue/orange contrast?

Published Friday, Feb. 10, 2012

It takes special skills to make fun of something even as you pay tribute to it. Sure, anyone can make a sandwich. Let's see you make one that mocks the entire notion of putting meat between sliced bread.

Published Sunday, Feb. 05, 2012

Prediction: I would have enjoyed high school more if I'd had superpowers.

Published Thursday, Feb. 02, 2012

The Grey reminded me how much I love wilderness survival movies.

Published Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012

For reasons that boil down to we should all just give up, we have accepted the presence of marketers in our everyday life.

Published Friday, Jan. 27, 2012

Japan has a reputation for weirdness. It's to the point where you can say anything about the place and someone will believe you.

Published Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012

Even a volleyball-playing Tom Cruise can't disprove the fact there's nothing cooler than an American fighter pilot.

Published Friday, Jan. 20, 2012

Expectations are a bummer. I'm about to talk up a pretty good movie, raising your expectations for its actual goodness.

Published Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012

Sometimes, all it takes to kick a movie up a notch is to change the setting.

Published Friday, Jan. 13, 2012

In general, messages in movies are not a good idea.

Published Sunday, Jan. 08, 2012

It's not really fair how obvious some mistakes look in retrospect.

Published Sunday, Jan. 08, 2012

It hasn't been a good year for alien movies.

Published Sunday, Jan. 01, 2012

What's the most boring thing in the world?

Published Friday, Dec. 23, 2011

I spent much of my teens and early 20s combing video stores, which I hear still exist, for the weirdest little horror movies I could hunt down.

Published Friday, Dec. 23, 2011

The existence of genres and subgenres is a pretty fascinating thing.

Published Monday, Dec. 19, 2011

When presented with a range of unfamiliar food, the safest bet for delicious will be snagging whatever's stuffed with something else.

Published Friday, Dec. 09, 2011

I have been derelict in my duties.

Published Sunday, Dec. 04, 2011

Some people are so talented you can't help but want to steal their hearts and livers, boil them into heart-liver stew, and drink it down to make that talent your own.

Published Friday, Dec. 02, 2011

Canadians can be sneaky. Contrary to stereotype, you can't spot one just by listening for telltale "ehs" or strange insults about water-sprayers.

Published Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011

As George Clooney says in The Descendants...wait, I can't quote that at all.

Published Friday, Nov. 25, 2011

Aside from all the horror, dread and interminable teary goodbyes from family and loved ones, knowing the exact minute the world will end would be pretty great.

Published Monday, Nov. 21, 2011

I thought I was done with the Twilight series. As usual, I was wrong, because it was either that or those damn dancing penguins.

Published Friday, Nov. 18, 2011

It is common knowledge that the original movie is always superior to the remake. For confirmation, look no further than the two Day of the Deads or the nine-month sentence you got on that second DUI.

Published Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011

Sometimes I feel bad about today's modern killer.

Published Sunday, Nov. 06, 2011

You can tell Tower Heist understands we're a smart and savvy audience by the way its title is exactly what the movie is.

Published Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011

Time is a lot like water: abundant, necessary for life, and sold to you in bottles by the Coca-Cola company, which has convinced you it is cleaner and tastier than the time that comes out of the tap.

Published Friday, Oct. 28, 2011

Dying is typically the best move a person can make.

Published Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011

The first Paranormal Activity was shot for $15,000 by writer/director Oren Peli. Worldwide, it grossed about $193 million.

Published Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011

The Thing is a movie I will happily interrupt my life for.

Published Friday, Oct. 14, 2011

People are constantly surprised that no one has ever tried to be a superhero in real life, but you have to realize superheroes don't get paid.

Published Monday, Oct. 10, 2011

What would you pay more to see: two dudes beating the tar out of each other, or two androids knocking the motor oil out of each other?

Published Friday, Oct. 07, 2011

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. A once-great empire lies crippled by poor financial decisions and the abandonment of the core values that led it to prominence. Idealism is all but dead as costs soar while resources dwindle.

Published Monday, Oct. 03, 2011

Is there anything better than going to the theater and being wildly surprised by what you just saw?

Published Friday, Sep. 30, 2011

Good art helps us make sense of the stuff that doesn't.

Published Sunday, Sep. 25, 2011

Did you know that in addition to being a sci-fi/fantasy nerd, I'm also a baseball nerd?

Published Monday, Sep. 19, 2011

Pro tip: movie characters do not make for great role models.

Published Friday, Sep. 16, 2011

People complain about formulas for being rote and boring, but I say they're a good thing. If we didn't have the quadratic formula, how the hell would we solve whatever it is that thing solves? We'd still be hitting each other with sticks here.

Published Sunday, Sep. 11, 2011

I would have to say the creepiest thing about viruses is some people don't consider them to technically be alive.

Published Monday, Sep. 05, 2011

Recently, a NASA spokesman went on record stating that Apollo 18, the new sci-fi horror flick about astronauts dying on the moon, is not, in fact, a documentary.

Published Sunday, Aug. 28, 2011

Before we consider cutting library funding in this time of fiscal crisis, we should step back, as a nation, and remember that without them, we'll be helpless in the face of any timeless horrors that roll into town.

Published Monday, Aug. 22, 2011

As much as I like movies made in and about the '70s, I think I'd have hated to live then. I mean, just think about how sweet we got it now. I don't think they even had texting in the '70s. Meanwhile, we get all the Transformers sequels we can watch, which for the 9 percent of us without a job adds up to a heck of a lot of Transformers

Published Monday, Aug. 22, 2011

Despite being a wasteland so terrible people were inventing time machines just to get out of the place, the '80s were a pretty cool time for B-movie genres.

Published Friday, Aug. 19, 2011

Movies about technology are kind of screwed at this point. The car phones and green text of 20 years ago already looks as ancient as the prototype for the club. The technology in sci-fi movies like Sunshine and Minority Report is essentially what Apple plans to release in 2012.

Published Friday, Aug. 19, 2011

Basing a goofy crime comedy on a real-life case full of horrific violence: great idea or greatest idea?

Published Friday, Aug. 12, 2011

Whenever I need to cool off and blow off some stress, I go for a nice, relaxing walk down the middle of the highway.

Published Sunday, Aug. 07, 2011

Some movies, much like some children, are destined to fail.

Published Friday, Aug. 05, 2011

Subcultures are a fascinating thing.

Published Sunday, Jul. 31, 2011

These days, pop culture is so mashed-up it feels weird when the vampire novel doesn't have sexy werewolves in it.

Published Monday, Jul. 25, 2011

I've done some science on this, and it turns out Captain America is the greatest name in the history of names.

Published Sunday, Jul. 17, 2011

Hey guys, have you heard about this whole Harry Potter thing?




Submit your own events
Find a Job