Post image for <i>Underworld: Awakening</i>: An Appreciation

Underworld: Awakening: An Appreciation

by Rob on January 27, 2012

I have never liked the term, “guilty pleasure,” because it implies that people should feel a certain degree of shame over liking something that, for whatever reason, they feel that others would judge them harshly for liking. And then of course there is the subset of that attitude–hipsterism, which attempts to justify liking something one [...]

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Post image for Gods, Monsters, and Giants: Fultz’s <i>Seven Princes</i>

Gods, Monsters, and Giants: Fultz’s Seven Princes

by Rob on January 25, 2012

I have always been a fan of big, grand, all-out, non-ironic, epic fantasy–magic, kingdoms at war, heroes, destiny, magic, mythic creatures, Big Bads, gods, villains, and, oh, yes, magic–but in recent years, a great deal of the epic fantasy out there primarily seeks to deconstruct the genre, to act as a commentary on its form, [...]

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Not Just Another Apocalypse: The Fades

January 9, 2012
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Last week, in practically one sitting, I watched the entire first series of the recent British horror drama, The Fades, one of the most bracing, devastating, and truly intelligent examples of its genre I’ve witnessed in a long time. Created and penned by Jack Thorne, probably best known for his work on the original Skins, [...]

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Over the Edge: Shameless and House of Lies

January 6, 2012
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I have been a fan of Showtime’s original series for years. I continue to maintain that the early seasons of Weeds, Dexter, Nurse Jackie, the entire run of United States of Tara, and portions of Queer as Folk are among the finest series to ever make their way to the small screen, mixing equal parts edge, [...]

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“Rise of the Machines”: Andrew P. Mayer’s Hearts of Smoke and Steam

January 5, 2012
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Andrew P. Mayer’s already extremely inventive steampunk superhero saga, The Society of Steam, grows even more so in the second installment, Hearts of Smoke and Steam. Rather than summarizing the plot of the first novel again and potentially spoiling a new reader for its major plot twists and turns, I will simply point you towards my [...]

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Sherlock 2.01: “A Scandal in Belgravia”

January 4, 2012
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In anticipation of watching the series 2 premiere of Sherlock, I rewatched the three episodes of Series 1 last week and was struck all over again by how overwhelmingly delightful the series is, which is a word I otherwise might not have expected to use in order to describe a crime drama that can be quite [...]

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Doctor Who: “The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe”

December 26, 2011
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Note: The following review contains spoilers for all aired episodes of Doctor Who, including the most recent, “The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe.” At the conclusion of David Tennant’s final Doctor Who Christmas special, “The Next Doctor,” Jackson Lake (played by David Morrissey) steps inside the TARDIS and, awestruck with delight, pronounces it “Complete and [...]

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Doctor Who 6.13: “The Wedding of River Song”

December 24, 2011
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Note: The following review contains spoilers for all aired episodes of Doctor Who. The highest compliment I can pay Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who is that it rarely fails to dazzle me, particularly in those episodes where it counts, and what’s more, each time I think it has dazzled me beyond it or any series’ ability to dazzle me [...]

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Doctor Who 6.12: “Closing Time”

December 23, 2011
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Note: The following review contains spoilers for all aired episodes of Doctor Who. Like “The Lodger,” the comedic fifth series episode to which this episode is an unofficial sequel, “Closing Time” has more to it than meets the eye. Both of these Gareth Roberts scripts might initially seem to be mere romps, but they actually have some [...]

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Doctor Who 6.11: “The God Complex”

December 22, 2011
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Note: The following review contains spoilers for all aired episodes of Doctor Who. Being a huge fan of Toby Whithouse (creator of the original Being Human and writer of previous Who episodes, “School Reunion” and “Vampires of Venice”), I had high expectations for “The God Complex,” and his third Who script certainly doesn’t disappoint. “The God Complex” actually represents [...]

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