I like to follow the rules.

I grew up in a world where green means “Go” and red means “Stop” (while yellow sometimes means “Drive As Fast As You Can”). Usually if there is a rule written somewhere, I probably abide by it. The benefit of following rules is that ...

“Well, are they?”

Gary Numan (and Tubeway Army) posed that question in 1979. These days it has more relevance that ever before.

“It's cold outside, and the paint's peeling offa my walls.”

As winter approaches in the Southern Hemisphere (winter is coming) my thoughts naturally turn a little ...

Today we'll talk sequel and series character arcs, and focus on the cinematic portrayal of Iron Man

Last Week we talked about character arcs. They're an important element of fiction writing…although a lot of the time, there is no arc! But a strong, unpredictable character arc can ...

We all loved Breaking Bad, right? Or maybe you didn't. Or you didn't see it. But happily, the second season of the prequel series, Better Call Saul, started up last week! So far it's fantastic!

Featuring a lot of the same behind-camera talent and some returning actors ...

-a famous Star Trek episode that was an anvil-on-the-head racism allegory

ALLEGORY
Back in October, I took a little stab, if you will, at separating horror into various categories. Here's the link to that article:

http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2015/oct/07/things-that-go-duck-in-the-night/

What I didn't have ...

Last week marked the loss of two actors who brought my favorite fantasy villains from childhood films to life.

I was only a baby when Jim Henson's musical fantasy film, Labyrinth, was released in theaters. The fact that there were once home videos of me singing along to “(Dance ...

If you've heard me talk for any reasonable amount of time (apologies!), you know I can't maintain much of a conversation before beginning to list movies. What can I say? I love ‘em!

So for this penultimate October Thursday, I thought I’d share my Halloween movie playlist ...

Apparently the difference between “terror” and “horror” was first expressed by writer Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823), who said that Terror is the dread and apprehension about something happening, while Horror is the actual encountering the frightening thing.
Maybe this is what they mean when they talk about “suspense” vs. “horror”. Have ...

Horror…and the baddies and creepies and long-legged beasties of horror…come in many flavours.
These divisions might be incomplete or somewhat meaningless in a way, but hey, I have to approach it somehow…

Reality Bites: Human Creeps, Scary Animals and Nature
-Serial Killers, Jason, Michael Myers, The Strangers, And ...

Change is difficult. Decisions are made out of comfort and convenience because staying the same is safer. Anything that strays off the beaten path has a tendency to seem foreign. It feels like a strange sensation that makes the squishy parts of the brain uncomfortable.

In a way, I am ...