Philando Castile. Michael Brown. Ezell Ford. Dylan Noble. Tamir Rice. Alton Sterling. Delrawn Small. Sandra Bland. And so many, many more. Say their names. Say it again. Say it in mourning for the loss of a meaningful life full of people who loved and depended on them. Say it in outrage over a broken system … Continue reading
What the Marvel Cinematic Universe Should Do Better
When I first started writing this post, I began with a story aimed at proving to you how much I like Spider-Man and comics in general, but I don’t want to take up too much blog space trying to establish my fanboyness, so I won’t. Just trust me. I like superhero comics, and I absolutely … Continue reading
Unqualified PhD Advice Part 2: Now Even More Unsolicited!
I was pleasantly surprised to receive some really positive feedback on my last post on PhD/grad school advice. So, in the true spirit of Hollywood, I thought I’d follow up my very modest success with an ill-conceived sequel! I should note that these are all just personal reflections. I have not talked these through with … Continue reading
Into the Badlands: Where a Chinese Man is Finally Free to Be Just Another Man
AMC’s new show Into the Badlands premiered this past Sunday and man, what an opening! I’ve written before about how I’ve seen the Chinese martial arts cinema aesthetics travel to Hollywood, particularly through the success of The Matrix, and it’s very exciting to see it coming to the small screen too! I’ve also written about Inseparable, … Continue reading
Unsolicited and Unqualified PhD Advice from an Almost-Graduate
So I finished my dissertation a few weeks into the fall semester and all I need to do now is wait for commencement. Which means it’s time to give some unsolicited and unqualified advice about getting through a Phd program! To be clear, my only qualification for giving any advice on completing a doctoral program … Continue reading
This Started Out as a Post About GamerGate
This started out as a post about GamerGate. (If you haven’t heard about GamerGate, just Google it.) I don’t have anything new to add to the “Which side is right?” or “What is GamerGate really about?” debates. My thoughts go elsewhere… A child points to a green bowl and says it’s red. He’s adamant about … Continue reading
Some Thoughts on Recent Events and the Need for Change
Ferguson. Mike Brown. Sexism. James Foley. Rape culture. Ezell Ford. Anita Sarkeesian. John Crawford. Fraternities. Steven Sotloff. Racism. Zoe Quinn. Misogyny. ISIS. Ray Rice. GamerGate. I think there’s a connection between every word and name on that list. It’s tempting to treat them as though they have to do with largely disparate issues like racism, … Continue reading
Neglecting the Whole
I’m not even going to pretend what I have to say here is in any way groundbreaking, or a must-read, or that what I say in the next few paragraphs will blow your mind. My heart and soul hurt, and I just need to write something. Maybe it will help. And yes, these feelings are … Continue reading
An Appeal to Chinese Martial Arts Cinema
So I finally watched Yuen Woo Ping’s True Legend (2010) last night and had a thought. Well, I had many thoughts, most of them negative, but one main thought. Martial arts cinema – especially from Mainland China – seems to be adapting to the requirements of a globalized cinema audience in all the wrong ways … Continue reading
A Few Thoughts on Storytelling in Chinese Cinema
Just a quick post to briefly share/develop some thoughts on the current state of entertainment cinema in the People’s Republic of China. This is a result of my own ongoing research interests in the mainstream film industry of Mainland China as well as what I’ve read in some articles recently. One of the things … Continue reading
