In the early 80's, thanks to the success of Halloween and Friday the 13th, a slew of slasher movies was released. There was even a documentary about the glut of imitators that flooded the theaters/video stores for a few years.
There was a smaller trend (smaller in several ...
Little Rubber Puppet Monsters
Banes at 12:00AM, Sept. 30, 2021Crime, Law and Fiction based on the Four Directions
Banes at 12:00AM, Sept. 23, 2021
Malcolm Gladwell was in an interview, and expressed a theory, or mini-theory. He talked about the show Law and Order and how it works, with almost every episode a comforting victory of the system.
From there, he theorized four types of fictional approaches, calling them the Western, the Eastern, the ...
A Cat Comic Jam and Goodbye to Norm Macdonald
Banes at 12:00AM, Sept. 16, 2021
Lite Bites Cat Jam
Hey folks, Genejoke here. Hopefully many of you have noticed that the community project Lite Bites is up and running and updating regularly. If anyone isn't aware Lite Bites is a project a run with a mixture of short stories, reviews and other oddities.
https ...
Things You Wish They Taught in School
Banes at 12:00AM, Sept. 9, 2021
I've had the conversation multiple times - maybe based on something I read in the past - that the
business of taking care of your money, your credit, taxes and expenses is something that was never touched on when I went to school.
Well, these have been proclamations rather than conversations ...
Through A Mirror Darkly
Banes at 12:00AM, Sept. 2, 2021
Star Trek: A Piece of the Action
So this could be considered Part Three of my loose-knit series on science fiction: The Distorted Society.
This is a sci-fi convention where there is an Earth…or another planet, at least somewhat Earth-like, that has some aspect of society that is a ...
Mundane Activities
Banes at 12:00AM, Aug. 26, 2021
A conceit or gimmick on the series ‘24’ was that it took place in real time. One hour on the show was one hour of activities, and the 24-episode season covered the events of a single day.
As entertainment, I loved that show, and appreciated the gimmick of it with ...
Franchise Follies
Banes at 12:00AM, Aug. 19, 2021
It's a strange thing in recent years that following the behind-the-scenes craziness and
mixed-disastrous results of modern franchises is far more interesting and entertaining than anything in the movies and shows themselves.
Now that the fandoms, including those who enjoy the new chapters of beloved franchises, hate them, or ...
More Than Human
Banes at 12:00AM, Aug. 12, 2021
Ideas both big and deep can - and has - been explored in Sci Fi. Some themes that have resonated with me include ‘What it Means to be Human’. This could be said to be the point of ALL fiction in a way I suppose. But to explore humanity through the lens ...
A Dimension Not Only of Sight and Sound but of Mind
Banes at 12:00AM, Aug. 5, 2021
When he created the Twilight Zone, Rod Serling was motivated by the desire to tell more meaningful stories. In his writing career up to then, his work had been heavily censored.
Serling realized that by setting his stories in fantastical situations, in alternate or futuristic versions of Earth, that he ...
Storytelling, Once Removed
Banes at 12:00AM, July 29, 2021
I was fishing for smelts the other day and scooped up an old bottle, with a rolled-up paper inside. It contained the following:
In older literature I think it was common to have a story told by a narrator who was never a part of the action. Someone who may ...