There’s a recent New York Times article I came across that laments how the rise of the superhero genre has conflated actor-stardom with character-stardom. The article itself doesn’t really chase down the points too well, but the central gist (as far as I can see) is that in the recent slate of films, characters have… Continue reading Superhero Stardom (A Response)
The Elusiveness of Fun
What is fun? No, not what’s fun to do, what does “fun” mean? Johan Huizinga, a Dutch guy that wrote a lot about play and what play means, said in his Homo Ludens that “this last-named element, the fun of playing, resists all analysis, all logical interpretation.” He goes on to lament that there’s, to… Continue reading The Elusiveness of Fun
A (Civil) War of Flaws
Civil War came out. This post it about that. Yes, that’s all the intro I’m giving. Marvel’s done a fantastic job of giving their characters major flaws. Look at the original (cinematic) Avengers: Iron Man’s selfish, Captain America’s noble to a fault, Thor’s proud, The Hulk’s, er, angry, Black Widow doesn’t trust anyone, and Hawkeye’s… Continue reading A (Civil) War of Flaws
Order, and Narrative Thereof
I’m one of those people who will respect you less if you pick an album to play, and then play it on shuffle. See, there’s a deliberate rhyme and reason for the order of songs on an album. U2’s War needs “Surrender” to be its penultimate song. After an album about war, violence, and fighting… Continue reading Order, and Narrative Thereof
Kid Stuff
You ever go back and check out a story you liked as a kid? Sometimes this means realizing how insufferable some cartoons were, but other times you end up rereading Prisoner of Azkaban and realize that holy crap that’s a special book. Which brings up an important thing about children’s stories. Namely, what is a… Continue reading Kid Stuff
Where Josh Explains Why You Should Fund His Movie
There are five days left for my movie’s Kickstarter. So that means it’s time for me to go on a spiel about why you should fund The Conduits. ‘cuz I’m really proud of this story and want you to be able to see it when it’s done without all that festival hoopla (and just for… Continue reading Where Josh Explains Why You Should Fund His Movie
Something Something Diversity Something Star Wars
There’s a new Star Wars trailer out, this time for Rogue One! Now, when they announced it to be about a ragtag band of Rebels stealing the Death Star plans; that got me excited. I’m all about ragtag teams pulling off heists. But then they announced the cast. We’ve got Felicity Jones starring and, in… Continue reading Something Something Diversity Something Star Wars
Josh Kinda Just Wants To Talk More About Star Wars
The Force Awakens’ planet-obliterating Starkiller Base is powered by absorbing its system’s sun and firing it as a weapon. This mechanic allows fighter pilot Poe Dameron to utter the phrase “but as long as there’s light, we got a chance” without it feeling remotely hollow or contrived. It reflects, as well, the standoff going off… Continue reading Josh Kinda Just Wants To Talk More About Star Wars
Four Years
I’ve had this blog for about four years now. Four years. And I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve missed my self-imposed midnight EST deadline. Why? I’ve been hard at work on my movie, The Conduits, and today marked us being half done with shooting. Which is good. In the meantime you should… Continue reading Four Years
Fear of The Unknown
One of the wonderful agonies I found when I started watching Lost years and years ago was the show’s tendency to show a character’s reaction to a revelation/object/monster rather than the revelation/object/monster itself. It became characteristic of the show, and something emblematic of Abrams’ style. Granted, J.J. Abrams had little involvement with Lost past the pilot,… Continue reading Fear of The Unknown
Essays, Not Rants! 