I do not consider this review to have any major spoilers. Nothing I discuss in depth happens after the first 20 or so minutes of the film. These details are also not a surprise to anyone who has a passing…
What is it that has kept us coming back to Shakespeare again and again for centuries? Is it the masterful wordplay? The colorful characters? The layers of meaning and themes interwoven throughout? The structure that binds each play together? Alan…
I watched Django Unchained for a second time today and actually like it even more. There is so much going on in the background and the art design of the film that is so easy to miss if you only…
Speed Grapher is a very strange anime from GONZO. Originally released in 2005, the 24 episode series earned mixed reviews from fans and critics. Oddly enough, the English dubs are considered better than the original Japanese audio because of the…
American Dad!, one of the best animated series you’re probably not watching, has a formula that has served itself well since Season 2. The writers set up a scenario that’s a spin on classic sitcom tropes. Then, in the final…
The Place Beyond the Pines is a linear anthology film telling three distinct chapters in a much looser story about fathers, sons, and personal responsibility. In the first story, professional motorcycle stuntman Luke discovers he has an infant son with…
So far during Spring Into Suspense, we’ve focused a lot on horror, thrillers, and crime dramas. Naturally, these are not the only genres that benefit from suspense. Even comedies can riff on the uncertainty of what will happen next, though…
Trance is the intimate, quiet, and reality-driven companion film to 2010′s Inception. An art auctioneer in London gets pulled into organized crime when he helps steal Goya’s Witches in the Air. He loses all memory of the theft after being…
In the past week, I’ve encountered no fewer than 10 references, send-ups, or blatant rip-offs of Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery.” These range from the turning point in a new AAA video game sequel to one panel gags in…
When it comes to Spring Into Suspense, we’ve covered everything from orchestral scoring to spiraling structures in video games, books, theater, comics, and film. Yet there is an entirely different school of suspense that has become synonymous with horror films.…
End of Watch is a documentary-style crime thriller about a tight group of LAPD officers fighting against gang violence. Mexican drug cartels have moved into the neighborhood and violent crime is on the rise. The two main officers, Taylor and…
Broodhollow is a new webcomic by Kris Straub. He is best known for his long-running sci-fi webcomic Starslip and the gag a day comic Chainsawsuit. He’s also a regular guest in the expanded Penny Arcade universe, guesting on various PATV…
I’m well aware of the love it or hate it reaction to ambiguous, exploration-driven indie games. For every rave about a Journey, there’s an equally passionate pan. The pros and cons are sometimes even the same on both sides of…
The trick to creating a successful dystopian novel is to convince the reader that the wild alternate future could occur. Margaret Atwood has done it three times now with the first two books in her Oryx and Crake trilogy and…