Over at Wired, a lawyer named James Daily has done a quick (to the extent that lawyers do anything quick) analysis of the legal contract drawn up between Bilbo and the dwarves in The Hobbit. It’s a fun read for those interested in the intricacies of law, and manages to avoid turgidity. For the most part, Daily… Read More The Hobbit: An Unexpected Legal Conundrum
Not being a reporter, I have neither the skills nor the resources to discern fact from fiction in the Steubenville Rape Case. I trust that Stacy McCain has the right of the matter, and that the KoolKids from 4Chan (or whatever) are just desperately seeking lulz. So I’d like to talk not about the particulars,… Read More Stupid Teenagers are Stupid
Lileks smacks around the tech scribes, weedy dweebs that they are: I don’t trust any sources that uses “Teens” as a category. What the 19-year old finds interesting is different than what the 13-year-old wants. Half the economy consists of catering to the various differences between 15 and 18. So when we hear that “Teens… Read More Apple is So Not Cool Anymore, It’s Making Handfuls of Money.
Dear sweet merciful God, but I am tired of the periodic Rebellion of the Childless. I never failed to find their screeds juvenile, even before I became a father. Now that I am one, I have less time to care. So I’ll take No One of Any Import’s summation of this year’s Barren-and-Loving-It boomlet as accurate,… Read More Yes, Your Childlessness is a Valid Choice. Have You Considered Shutting Up About It?
I don’t know if there’s any response to that other than laughter. “We needed $5 million. Nobody would do it.” Wait a minute, we said. Let us get this straight: No studio would budget $5 million for a movie with Damon and Douglas? “They said it was too gay. Everybody. This was after ‘Brokeback Mountain,’… Read More Film About Liberace Rejected For Being “Too Gay.”
At Ace, the failure of putting Space Swashbucklers in a Military Bureaucracy: Space travel in fiction has two major tropes in its depiction. I’m calling these the Institutional Phase, and the Commercial Phase. The beginning of space travel — and this is the same for any previous mode of difficult transportation — is the Institutional… Read More One of the Many Reasons Prometheus, and Prequels, don’t work.
Other McCain: …the day before your 18th birthday, you’re strictly off-limits, but the minute you are legally an adult, you’re fair game for the Furry Red Humping Machine. First Cookie Monster becomes a vegetarian, and now this. I never understood the charm of Elmo. He did nothing, served no purpose, that other characters did not already,… Read More I Just Knew Elmo Was Creepy…
At the Atlantic, Siddhartha Mahanta writes about he subtle humanity of Tarantino’s body of work, especially Reservoir Dogs: Rather than just becoming a splatter artist forever worshipping at the altar of camp, Tarantino has long wanted us to know whether his cartoonish killers and tragic heroines prefer crunchy or creamy, how the bad guys wile away the… Read More Why I Can’t Quit Quentin Tarantino
Acculturated shares my careful optimism: Fans of the franchise are certainly skeptical about these new movies after being forced to suffer through Lucas’s bitter meanderings through the universe he inspired. But should they be? While Lucas will remain as a creative consultant, Disney has already shown the ability to produce action packed crowd pleasers for… Read More There is Good in George Lucas…I Can Feel it…
The mind staggers. Kathleen Kennedy, current Co-Chairman of Lucasfilm, will become President of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Additionally she will serve as the brand manager for Star Wars, working directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build, further integrate, and maximize the value of this global franchise. Ms. Kennedy… Read More Star Wars Fans Now Able to Stop Hating George Lucas and Get Back to Hating Disney
Content Blues 