Robespierre’s Radical Liberalism: Reflections on Ruth Scurr’s Fatal Purity
Having recently finished Ruth Scurr’s biography on Robespierre, Fatal Purity, I have had my world turned upside down on the actions of Robespierre and the course of the French Revolution. Don’t get me...
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Writing Stealthcon 101: Plots That Don’t Preach
So here we are at the third blog addressing how to write political-themed fiction without preaching to your audience. How to stealthcon, in essence: slip inside the reader’s mind with a great story and...
View ArticleThe Greatest Conservative Films: Unforgiven (1992)
“We all have it comin’, kid.” Back to Clint Eastwood, folks! And there’ll be more from him to come. Here, it’s a legendary gem he not only starred in, but directed—the grand deconstruction of the...
View ArticleThe Greatest Conservative Films: Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice ULTIMATE...
“Be their hero, Clark. Be their monument—be their angel—be anything they need you to be! Or be none of it. You don’t owe this world a thing. You never did.” (Bear with me for a bit, folks—this...
View Article‘Scott Pilgrim Vs The World’ Vs Terrance Denby and Sidequest
For a decade, I and my fellow travelers worked within my country’s political system, trying to effect change. Then, one fateful day- October 19th, 2015- the 42nd Canadian federal election came to an...
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New Humor Essay: Back in the Saddle
There comes a time in most men’s lives when treatment for erectile dysfunction goes from being some other poor bastard’s problem to something that must be seriously considered. Performance has become...
View ArticleFrankenstein’s Monster, Mr. Hyde, and the Horrors of Science
For the past month, I have been diving into some of the Golden Age Horror films from the 1930s. Like most people, these are movies that have always been in the background of my cultural knowledge, but...
View ArticleFrom the Big Bang to Sinatra’s ‘Night and Day’
From the unknown, let’s call it the eternal, a place outside of time and space, comes ignition and a monstrous flash of energy. This creative power unleashes the universe and births the stars. The Big...
View ArticleMaking Gotham Great Again, Part 3: Ronald Reagan and the Republican...
One of the most innovative aspects of The Dark Knight Returns is that Miller very clearly places Gotham City in the real world of 1980s America, and not a hyper exaggerated comic book universe. Ronald...
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The New Devil’s Dictionary: A Quick Look at the Lexicon of the Left
Beginning in 1881, and extending up through 1906, the American newspaper writer and noted cynic Ambrose Bierce compiled what he called The Devil’s Dictionary. It contained wry and sometimes humorous,...
View ArticleDisney Learns: Live by the Woke, Die by the Woke
I have to admit, I’ve been pretty ambivalent about the slew of live-action Disney remakes that the company has been producing over the past few years. It’s not that I hate them, I just don’t find them...
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What Frankenstein’s Monster and the Joker Have in Common
So I finally got around to seeking Joker. I can safely say that, despite many media warnings to the contrary, nothing catastrophic happened. Nothing blew up, the sun didn’t turn as black as sackcloth,...
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Why Melville Still Matters
Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Museum is celebrating the bicentennial of Herman Melville’s birthday by offering a variety of programs and classes about the famous writer’s work. Part of the celebration...
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Moby Dick: Allegory of the First Order
Why Howard Butcher, you old subversive, you, teaching Moby Dick or, The Whale – a scriptural allegory that makes C.S. Lewis and John Bunyan read like Joel Osteen – to our impressionable youth....
View ArticleHow to Make Your Characters Sound Puerile
I subscribe to a service that, for a monthly fee, provides playwrights with an extensive list of playwriting opportunities throughout the country (and sometimes the world). In addition to the monthly...
View ArticleWhy A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life are the Same Story
Every December, I make it a point to watch Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life and Clive Donner’s version of A Christmas Carol. In my opinion, they are the two greatest Christmas movies ever made. But...
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Why Disney shouldn’t remake Home Alone and how you can make it more relevant...
Disney owns the entertainment multiverse. If they haven’t already popped out some animated or kids show about some age old story, they will at some point. Yet the big trend in the entertainment...
View ArticleWhy I Choose Star Wars Over “Real” Life
Recently I had to choose which movie I was going to see. There was a variety of choices—war, a sex scandal, a generic action movie. Let me tell you what I seek from art: an experience of the ideal, a...
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Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Fantasies
I like Quentin Tarantino. His films, often laced with profanity and brutal violence, have witty dialogue, interesting characters, and can make mundane events such as dinner at a diner endlessly...
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Django Unchained ’s Bleak Racial Vision
In an interview years before he made Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino said: [I want] to do movies that deal with America’s horrible past with slavery and stuff but do them like Spaghetti Westerns,...
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