My gaming interests are limited to horror, particularly games where the design is minimalist but heavy on atmosphere (I tend to like stuff that gets criticized for being too short or "not a game").

I was hoping to see When a Stranger Calls Back on this list. The first 20-25 minutes are brilliant, in my opinion, especially in the way the audience is trusted to understand that the babysitter persists in lying to the stranger outside the door because she doesn't want to reveal that she's vulnerable (e.g., that the…

After reading the New Yorker piece the day before the Nobel prize in literature was anounced, and being struck by how generous and insightful Bob Dylan's assessment was, in the article, of Cohen's music, I thought how amazing (but admittedly improbable) it would be for Cohen to be awarded that prize.

It reads at first like a sort of satirical satanic send-up of Sweet Valley High-style novels, but about a third of the way through, things start to get dark and genuinely disturbing. The unavoidable implications of rape paralleling the demonic-possession trauma, and the victim-blaming from parents and school faculty,…

I don't see where I called them assholes in that post. I called them arrogant, which could certainly be a signifier of asshole-ishness, and it would've been redundant of me to specify that if I thought it and Asperger's were equivalent. Based on their interviews — the disconnect, lack of eye contact, disregard of…

Fair. I do think Asperger's is overdiagnosed (especially when it's self-diagnosed), and I admit that I was overstating things on my end. The Coens are most likely just a couple of condescending pricks who make incredible movies.

I'm guessing they did their usual routine where Ethan snickered while Joel spoke in a monotone and kept his eyes as dead-looking as possible.

I'm an atheist, but I love books and movies about supernatural spookiness. My fondness for supernatural horror probably contains a small element of fantasy/escapism about an afterlife, the notion of an immortal soul, a deity, the concepts of good and evil, etc., but it's mostly something I find enjoyable on a purely…

I don't see why, in the context of this movie, patriarchal religious fanaticism and literal Satanic evil have to be mutually exclusive. I think it's fine that Eggers wants the film to be about both, that it can work as a condemnation of misogynistic theological dogma as well as a scary movie that takes folktales…

In the miniseries, they should just have Zack, the Green Card Man, be Michael Cerveris playing September, his character from Fringe.

Down an entire beer if you hear Jake or Sadie say "pound cake." Good lord, I hope they left that out of the miniseries.

I admit that I thought the idea of Jake and Sadie as two unusually tall, gangly people swing-dancing their hearts out together, added charm to the characters in the book, so I was disappointed in the casting of the miniseries. I enjoyed the first episode, nonetheless. I'm impressed with the production value — the…

This may not sound very appealing, considering how long King's novel is in and of itself, but in tandem with 11/22/63 I re-read Gerald Posner's book, which King relied on heavily for his research. Especially when Jake is tailing Oswald, the two books dovetail nicely, and I'd read a chapter of one and then a chapter…

I just discovered an interview Tompkins, bless his heart, did with Larry King. At one point, King asks him about his middle initial, and Tompkins looks in the camera and says it's a family name that, unfortunately, stands for "Fascism."

Sweet. iZombie's Johnny Frost in a movie directed by Johnny Dildo.

Much as I hated the stupid Slipknot-looking demon in Sinister (likewise the "Oh, hey, Darth Maul pierced his ears and has male-pattern baldness" demon in Insidious), the home-movie bits genuinely creeped me out. The one with the lawnmower was brilliant. (Somewhat related: the Brazilian birthday-party video in M.…

I remember the topiary animals being one of the creepiest aspects of the book. They only move when you're not looking, Weeping Angel-style, which could have been effective on film if done with the same subtlety.

It's true that he's got about as much range as the average goose, but I'm a fan and genuinely like his voice. Sometimes his vibrato can get out of hand. There's a recording of him singing "My Funny Valentine" on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz show, and it's pretty cringe-inducing. McPartland actually comments on…

He's the most generous, crowd-pleasing performer I've seen (I especially loved his Spinning Songbook tour, complete with onstage cocktail bar for audience members who come up). I saw one of the shows where he was opening for Dylan; Costello was like a big puppy, eager to please, and then Dylan came out and was…

What I've always found interesting about the incident is that it's a case where the honest explanation/defense is an exception to the rule, put forth by someone smart enough to know that such excuses are usually bullshit, which winds up, in effect, rendering the incident indefensible. I'm a fairly politically correct…