‘Joker’ Has Redefined Good Cinema
Is Todd Phillips’ Joker a good movie? At this point, it doesn’t really matter. I wasn’t intending to see Joker, because neither psychological dramas nor superhero movies hold much interest for me. But as it became a cultural phenomenon, I was curious what all the hype was about. What all the controversy was about. Surely one film couldn’t be all that everyone was claiming it … Continue reading ‘Joker’ Has Redefined Good Cinema
Get Off Your High Horse, the Book Is Not Always Better Than the Movie
It is common knowledge among book readers that the movie version will almost always be inferior to the book it’s based off of. It’s a popular refrain by moviegoers, dinner guests and librarians everywhere. And to some degree this belief is well justified. There are a lot of bad or utterly forgettable book adaptations out there that deserve to be purged from popular memory. Hollywood … Continue reading Get Off Your High Horse, the Book Is Not Always Better Than the Movie
What Does Your Favorite Classic Monster Say About You?
You see them lurking in the shadows. You hear their howls on the wind. You feel them brush past, prickling awareness on your skin. As vegetation begins to rot and a chill invades the air, they sneak back into our collective consciousness en masse, awaiting their rightful place as the kings and queens of Halloween. Monsters. If there’s one thing we can learn from their … Continue reading What Does Your Favorite Classic Monster Say About You?
How to Spark Your Writing with Mood Boards
As writers, we’ve all been there. Staring at a blank page, an idea humming in the back of your mind. You write a sentence. Read it. Delete it. Rinse and repeat. You know what you want to write. You have ideas and characters and a general idea of the setting or aesthetics. But the words won’t come. The story won’t spark. What do you do? … Continue reading How to Spark Your Writing with Mood Boards
My Most Anticipated RPGs of 2019 into 2020
From Sims to The Witcher, RPGs (Role Playing Games) have an extensive definition of what it means to play in someone else’s virtual shoes. In RPGs, players take on a character to experience an immersive world, whether turn-based or action-packed. Of course, there’s a time and a place for shooters and arcade games, but there’s something about RPGs and their immersive experience that keeps me … Continue reading My Most Anticipated RPGs of 2019 into 2020
The 5-Paragraph Essay Will Be Your Best Friend in College
There’s a rampant hatred of the five-paragraph essay among academics and writing instructors, and I’ve heard many a teacher express the desire to do away with it completely. The arguments for its destruction usually revolve around students’ stunted writing abilities, especially in terms of writing for a specific audience, but every criticism I’ve found is a criticism of general writing instruction rather than the specific … Continue reading The 5-Paragraph Essay Will Be Your Best Friend in College
How to Critique Creative Writing: A Comprehensive Guide for Readers
One of the biggest problems facing young writers is a lack of solid constructive criticism. Bad books get self-published because friends and family didn’t want to be mean. People delude themselves that they’re good writers because no one has ever told them otherwise. And it’s hard, giving negative feedback. But it’s necessary. It’s so, so necessary. Even if you know nothing about the formalities of … Continue reading How to Critique Creative Writing: A Comprehensive Guide for Readers
