The Babysitter (2017)

Joseph McGinty Nichol, known professionally at McG, has created some true duds throughout his career. From the 2000 reboot of Charlie's Angels, to the critically panned Terminator Salvation, and the atrocious Netflix disaster Tall Girl, he seems to have made his indent in the world of bad cinema. That does not even get into his...

Under the Mistletoe: On Death and Rebirth

Of all the twelve round Odin’s throne, Balder, the Beautiful, alone, The Sun-god, good, and pure, and bright, Was loved by all, as all love light.Valhalla (J.C. Jones) as cited in Myths of the Norsemen (H.A. Guerber) Do you know the story of the man who died for our sins? The son of the Great...

Comparative Mythology: The Weeper

She comes in many names and many forms. Sometimes, she is cast out by angels or cursed by the devil. She is a stranger on a lonely road. A mother clutching a lifeless infant. The subject of village scorn. The whispers of shameful gossip. The woman who carries death upon her shaking lace-webbed shoulders. She...

Adaptations That Were Better Than Their Source Material

Adaptation is a slippery slope to climb. Taking someone else's voice, someone else's idea, and transcribing it into another medium may seem easy -- "The book is RIGHT THERE!" -- but understanding another artist's intentions in their work is daunting, no matter how experienced of a writer is put to the task. This is one of the...

Therapy Journal 08/29/19

Who am I? Who am I?   I AM Pages of journals torn out and re-used. I AM Old Christmas cards stacked in a shoebox. I am pink one day, and blue the next. I am red, and yellow, and orange, and gold, all swirling in a cosmic concoction of chaos. I am the one...

What the Heck is Umbrella Academy?

*This piece was a companion article to a video blog, which you can check out here. The Umbrella Academy is a new series on Netflix, adapted from the Dark Horse comic books by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá.  Yes, that Gerard Way. Towards the end of their glorious emo reign, the M.C.R. frontman began to...

On “Edgy” Fairy Tales

“Was this, I wondered, what it felt like to be a grown-up? Did you always feel the weight of things on you, your cares pressing you down like a burden you could never shake? No wonder Peter could fly. He had no worries to weight him to the earth.”  It's a tried and true trope....

2018 was a dumpster fire. Let’s make this year better.

Normally, I do a reading wrap-up and TBR list as part of the transition into the new year. However, recent circumstances have forced me to step back from my ambitions and take a break. I'm not setting too many concrete goals this year, short of health and wellness. Instead, I will be taking 2019 one...

2018 Wrap-Up and TBR

Every year, I make a TBR list, and subsequently do a terrible job of completing it. In three weeks, I finish school. My time frees up, and I have quite a few plans for this year. One of them is to read all the books I've been putting off for the last three years. But...