When I was a kid, Wolverine wasn't a "comic book" character. I didn't qualify my heroes with the medium they came from. For me, they lived alongside the characters up on the big screen, on prime time, and even in those crazy books that didn't have drawings in them. At that time, most people didn't… Continue reading Logan
We've seen a much better version of this movie before... decades ago. Chris Pratt stars as our raptor-training hero. He's a dino expert with a heart of gold and a cocksure attitude. At the best of times times, he actually felt like an amalgamation of Malcolm and Grant from Jurassic Park. He's joined on the island by Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent… Continue reading Jurassic Park, Michael Bay Edition
I love this so much. Let's start there. Spoiler-free review. The storytelling on display in Stranger Things is so entrenched in who I am as an adult that there was no way for this not to feel personal. At a time where pop-culture references get tacked on to token pseudo-geeks, the dialogue between the friends in Stranger Things felt like an honest necessary… Continue reading Stranger Things, Perfect Things: More Than Just Nostalgia
This. Is. Perfect. Even though these are the first 8 minutes of the series, I felt like it was seasons into the show—I identified with the characters that much and that quickly. It feels like a mashup of Goonies, X-Files, and even a little Twin Peaks. The score is fantastic. It's loud and obvious and… Continue reading The First Eight Minutes of Stranger Things
All too often, the book a film is based on becomes the default watermark for the story being told. And why shouldn’t it be? After all, it existed first, doesn’t that inherently make it the ideal form of the story? Some would say that the more you stray from the source material, the less successful your… Continue reading The Martian: Elevating the Source Material
How I started to hate my favorite game of the year. Before I get into this, let me start by saying that this game is incredible. Regardless of what I say, you should absolutely play this game. There are simply no other studios making expansive, living, breathing worlds like Bethesda. Fallout 3 is one of… Continue reading Skyrim
Players: 1 to 8 Time: 60 to 120 Minutes Cost: 40.00 Rating: 4/5 Stars The day is July 4th, 2015 and six figures huddle around a map of London, ignoring the crackle of fireworks outside. There was a murderer on the loose and no time to waste. After all, what better way to celebrate Independence Day than to best England's most famous detective at… Continue reading Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective
I missed this one when it was in theaters despite really digging the teaser (linked below). I love coming of age stories, and a coming of age flick for 30-something's sounded fresh and inventive - even if you didn't find Naomi Watts awkwardly dancing to hip-hop funny. https://www.youtube.com/embed/NRUcm9Qw9io The film stars Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts as a Josh… Continue reading While We’re Young
Board game weekends are actually a pretty common thing for me these days. When my friends get together, we usually try to keep our numbers low so that we can play just about everything. This weekend though, I left Orange County to meet up with seven friends I haven't seen in a very long time. The… Continue reading Board Game Weekend
The video for the new Puscifer single Grand Canyon was released today and it's beautiful. At six minutes long, it's in no hurry to end, but every time it does, it feels too soon. This is why repeat buttons were invented.
I listen to Sol Invictus for the 100th time and reminisce about listening to Faith No More for the first time.
Richard Barrick 