Raritania

I recall being, if not pleasantly surprised, then at least intrigued by Josh Trank's Fantastic Four when I first saw it. There were asp...

In writing my history of the military techno-thriller I was concerned principally with the main line of the genre--its early flickerings dat...

Watching The Pretender it seemed that pretty much nothing about the show made sense--not that I expected much from a network TV show at tha...

According to the data set over at Box Office Mojo in 1996 Independence Day opened with a then-record $96 million July 4 extended weekend (f...

Watching TV these days one gets the impression that all Americans are adroit users of chopsticks. Suspecting this to be, to put it mildly, a...

I remember being introduced to the concept of NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) when watching Welcome to the NHK . Later I ...

Remember when basic cable's scripted TV offerings seemed a fairly major part of pop culture? The Disney Channel had shows like  That...

I have, from time to time, remarked the hints of a belated interest in '90s nostalgia (in the feature film version of Baywatch , or the ...

Recently considering how the image of luxurious, glamorous living film and TV offer has changed I happened to mention the scale of the house...

A prominent theme of discussion of the Bond novels and films--the more critical kind that rises above a poptimist denigration of earlier wor...

Over the years I have time and again been struck by how single episodes of shows like the original Star Trek or The Twilight Zone have lin...

Researching the second edition of Star Wars in Context I found myself delving into some of Lucas' well-known inspirations--like Bruno B...

I remember when the El Rey network began airing Flatland I was surprised to not have encountered the show before. Back in those years when ...

Some years ago I offered my thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises- -which were less than complimentary. But I had received its two predecessors ...

One phrase that has long annoyed me (yes, I know there are a lot of them) is "It's a reflection of our times"--or in regard to...