Utilitarian Review 1/21/17

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On Patreon

I wrote about:

Alice Guy-Blaché’s lovely short film Falling Leaves, and sister lovers.

Twin Peaks and the real. (If you want more twin peaks writing, you should contribute!)

Utilitarians Everywhere

At the Reader I wrote about Sinead O’Connor and the anti-fascist potential of grief.

At Playboy I wrote about:

—Trump as bloated elitist, and why the rich can be classless.

—I wrote about The Founder, Ray Kroc, Donald Trump, and how we think assholes are winners.

At Splice Today I wrote about:

—the mediocrity of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.

—The Night Porter and identifying with Nazis.
 
 

Utilitarian Review 1/14/17

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On Patreon

I’m hoping to do a Twin Peaks rewatch, if I get enough support. I discussed the project here.

I wrote about Alice Guy-Blaché’s The Cabbage Fairy, sometimes cited as the first narrative film, and unnatural or natural birth.

A little outline of a longer essay on Guy-Blaché.

Utilitarians Everywhere

At Quartz I wrote about how fascism doesn’t make great art.

At Splice Today I wrote about:

—freelance panic for the holidays.

—Penelope Spheeris’ Decline of Western Civilization and why punk isn’t just for the misogynists.

—how Jacobin should give up the celebrity-obsessed identity politics and focus on class analysis.

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Utilitarian Review 1/7/17

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On Patreon

I wrote about the Howling and moralistic Reaganite werewolves.

Utilitarians Everywhere

At Splice Today I wrote about:

—my favorite nonfiction books of 2016.

—Trinh T. Minh-Ha’s anti-documentary, Reassemblage, about how Westerners look at Senegal.

—musicians hating Donald Trump for the same reasons everyone hates Donald Trump.

—pop culture think pieces, and why you can’t take the politics out of art.

Utiliarian Review 12/31/16

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Patreon

I wrote about Time Bandits and child abuse.

A list of my 30 favorite albums from this year.

A list of my favorite essays I wrote this year.

 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At Quartz I wrote about all the things Princess Leia got to be.

At Playboy I wrote about sci fi alien sex (and Westworld and Passengers.)

At Splice Today I wrote about:

—Dawn Richard’s awesome album Redemption.

—Near Dark and male protagonist dipshits.

—how the judges screwed Laurence Basse on Project Runway.

—how Bowie and Prince didn’t live in a better time.

—how to support free speech you shouldn’t give a fascist a book deal.

At the Chicago Reader I wrote a brief review of hardcore band Udusic.

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Utilitarian Review 12/24/16

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News

Kit Power said my Hammer Dracula book was one of the best nonfiction reads of the year.

Anita McDaniel reviewed my Wonder Woman book at the American Journal of Communications.
 
On Patreon

I published an unpaywalled 4000 word piece on how men are targeted for violence, and why MRAs make things worse.
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At the LA Times I wrote about identity politics and being Jewish at Christmas in the age of Trump.

At Quartz I wrote about

—Rogue One’s underwhelming visuals.

—my top ten bandcamp albums of the year.

At Religion Dispatches I argued that it’s not immoral to believe in miracles.

At Splice Today I wrote

—on Euzhan Palcy’s A Dry White Season and mainstream compromise.

—that both Sanders and Clinton ran decent campaigns.
 

Utilitarian Review 12/17/16

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News

I released a little ebook on American political films. Buy one!
 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At Quartz I wrote about

—the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly as camp antiwar masterpiece.

—Bernie Sanders and picking up Trump’s political correctness talking points.

At the Establishment I wrote about It’s a Wonderful Life as bleak Trump-era paean to white male resentment.

At Splice Today I wrote about

—how the media’s handling of the DNC emails was unethical even if it wasn’t a Russian plot.

—the smug gods of Westworld.

—Clueless as an assimilation fantasy.
 

Utilitarian Review 12/10/16

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On Patreon

I wrote about Trump, Deliverance, and masculine anxiety around the white working class.

 
Utilitarians Everywhere

At Quartz I wrote about post-truth as a post-truth euphemism.

At the Reader I wrote a little blurb on prog band Thank You, Scientist.

At Splice Today I wrote about The Wachowski Sisters’ Bound and gender as (or as not) performance.

At Lithub I argued that critics should compare apples and oranges (and that Lair of the White Worm is better than Old Man and the Sea.