On HU
Featured Archive Post: Kailyn Kent on service in the Grand Budapest Hotel.
Me on the tragic vision of Red Dawn.
Chris Gavaler retells Superman’s origin story in the style of road signs.
Chris Gavaler and I provide dueling 20 key superhero texts.
I restarted my Patreon, so if you like my writing and have spare pennies consider contributing.
Utilitarians Everywhere
At Quartz I wrote about
—the documentary Yarn and the feminism of fiber art.
—the fact that the main victims of gun violence: men.
At the Guardian I wrote about why the Shallows is better than the Birds. (film snob twitter was really upset at this one.)
At the Chicago Reader I wrote about Brian Wilson and how idiosyncratic genius is coded as white.
At Playboy I wrote about how Terminator 2 is the best sequel ever.
At Splice Today I wrote about:
—why I wrote about the Hammer vampire films.
—Neil Degrasse Tyson, Trump, and the allure of technocracy.
Other Links
Suki Kim on the racist reaction to her reported book on North Korea (which was sold as a memoir.)
Saving Country Music on the blackballing of the Dixie Chicks.
Noah Gittell on LBJ’s pop culture moment.
David Perry on a Clinton ad full of disability stereotypes.
Apparently no comments at Playboy. So: reading about T2, I agree and disagree. I think your points are valid, but they also apply to what is truly the best sequel, Aliens. Hybrid sequel, female victim turns badass, Hollywood child… similarities are there. So why do you discount Aliens? Shouldn’t it at least get honorable mention?
I don’t think Aliens is nearly as clever/thoughtful about incorporating echoes and reworkings of the original. Aliens is great, but it’s really a different movie from the first, rather than a reimagining or reworking.