Note: In order to finish the Rewatch Project on time for the new Davies specials, along with having enough time to write the other columns I want to do this month, I’m not going to do a column for every season anymore, but instead two more columns on the Capaldi and Whittaker eras respectively. Don’t worry, I’ll still write about the vast majority of Capaldi episodes and the Whittaker era will have a different subject-based approach. But it’s just more efficient!
* * *<...
2023-11-10 17:27:53 +0000 UTC
View Post
We now hit the era of Doctor Who where my memory starts to get a little fuzzier. Yes, even though we are still in the biggest days of the fervent fandom, there’s just a ton of triple backflips with the narratives, which makes it a bit harder to remember what gets revealed when and how. And perhaps even because of this, this season is where another piece of conventional wisdom gets bandied about, which is: “this is where Moffat starts going downhill.” But I argue this i...
2023-11-07 15:37:48 +0000 UTC
View Post
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love Rom Coms.
I know if I use that term your mind might drift to the more famous entries of 80’s and 90’s heyday. Films like When Harry Met Sally, Pretty Woman, or Clueless. Films that likely reinforce a kind of singular notion of what the genre is. But the thing that’s sometimes missing in the discussion is how fundamental romantic comedies have been to pretty much the entire history of storytelling. It goe...
2023-11-03 18:54:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
I spend every October feeling like I’m getting in the way.
That may sound odd, but it’s just that I have a lot of friends who are both massive Halloween fans and even more massive horror fans. And I’m not just talking about your average aficionados, but folks who have a seeming encyclopedic knowledge of it. Folks whose ranks include famous authors, horror programers, hardened collectors, and even scores of devoted newbies who have already completely lapped my own awareness of the ...
2023-10-26 22:34:56 +0000 UTC
View Post
Warning: Spoilers for the film and its ending therein.
* * *
Killers of the Flower Moon feels like a last gasp for a certain kind of movie.
For one, it comes from a lauded member of a past generation of filmmakers who, in no uncertain terms, truly gives a shit. I realize that could sound dismissive of the many cinematic wonders that come from our modern artists, who very much keep “giving a shit” a shit quite alive. But without painting a nostalgic shin...
2023-10-24 20:37:58 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hey all!
Sorry I'm notifying mid-week when normally I like to do Monday, but schedule's been nuts and was hard to figure out the day I could pull this off! But it's absolutely time for the HALLOWEEN HORROR MOVIE TWITCH MARATHON!!! YAY!!!!!
The marathon will start this Friday 10/20 at 1050am pacific time and as always will be at https://www.twitch.tv/filmcrithulk
Onto the lineup!!!
HALLOWEEN HORR...
2023-10-18 19:27:59 +0000 UTC
View Post
And just like that, we enter the Moffat Era.
As with any grand sea change, it’s one of the most argued about aspects within the entire fandom. They’re always asking which showrunner do you like better? Which doctor? Which companion? Etc. Etc. And as much argumentation as there has been around these subjects, there’s been a quasi-consensus in conventional wisdom that has crept up that “Moffat is undeniably good at singular episodes, but Davies was better at season arcs.” And ov...
2023-10-16 19:42:30 +0000 UTC
View Post
Note: this is a three part column. The first two parts are a general topic essay on the function of TV and its history. Then the final third becomes a mini “ani-me” column for my initial impression of a few shows including Revolutionary Girl: Utena and ONE PIECE (both anime and live action). If you’re not into anime, you can stop right before that part and then skip to the “last looks” epilogue. And if you are just here just on...
2023-10-12 21:43:13 +0000 UTC
View Post
I forgot to post and it's starting :)
https://www.twitch.tv/filmcrithulk
<3HULK
2023-10-06 23:02:40 +0000 UTC
View Post
I forgot how much spikier his hair was this season???
Anyway! It seems season four is the general response for best Tennant season (and I already made my case for the consistency of season three), but I get it! There are just certain emotional highs you get in this one, especially by the time you get to the finales and goodbyes. It also seems to be the most gif-able as society still uses like fifteen of them in regular use. Anyway, I’ll talk about all the big points at the end. To sta...
2023-10-06 01:07:46 +0000 UTC
View Post
Sometimes you make a dumb ironic joke and it suddenly it spirals into this idea you can't get out of your head and thus, you need to actualize it into existence.
The following is happening purely because Landon and I were joking and I randomly used the unfortunate phrase "CUCKTOBERFEST" (which is just a funny portmanteau that I hope doesn't belie my true venomous feelings about the alt right leanings that popularized it), but suddenly I was thinking about all the truly great movies that...
2023-10-03 21:57:53 +0000 UTC
View Post
Note: don’t worry, it’s not all gonna be Doctor Who these next weeks - I’ve got a lot of other big essays and some October Horror stuff coming :)
* *
Ahhhh, my favorite Davies season.
I’m not sure why that’s so controversial? It feels like it shakes off a lot of the nostalgia instincts of the two prior seasons in a push to innovate. And it certainly has a few of the best episodes the show has ever done. But for me, the key is that there isn’t a truly wea...
2023-09-30 20:05:54 +0000 UTC
View Post
The WGA is over and SAG-AFTRA strikes seems to be ending.
And as I run around like a chicken with my head cut off right now, i just wanted to say a super huge thank you. I remember the strike out here last time and the wonky public sentiment that went along with it - but the support from people this time was incredible. Maybe it's the way consumers have had it too. Maybe it's the advent of social media, maybe it's the way America is shifting back to Union thinking. Maybe who knows...
2023-09-28 19:29:18 +0000 UTC
View Post
It's September Singalong time! That's right! It's musicals and music-themed movies that are coming right for ya. Which is great because I *LOVE* the following movies.
And because of the aforementioned schedules, this time we're doing a relaxing, cozy SUNDAY stream, TODAY! Sunday 9/24 starting at 1020am pacific time!
As always, it will be on https://www.twitch.tv/filmcrithulk
TO THE LINEUP!
2023-09-24 16:53:22 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hot take alert: I think this is the “worst” of the Davies seasons.
And it’s still pretty good! Especially with its powerful, well-earned ending (I mean wow wow wow). But it just hits some rocky spots along the way. But we’ll get into all that granular stuff in the episodic section (especially because there’s CERTAINLY the standout). But at its core, this season does a really great job with its central mission, which is introducing us to a brand new Doctor! With that let’s ge...
2023-09-23 22:10:44 +0000 UTC
View Post
Our relationship to art changes over the course of our lives.
This is inevitable. We grow. We change. Our interests shift. We gain more understanding of both the world around us and ourselves. And since movies reflect ideas and feelings, we of course gravitate to the art that reflects what we’re feeling at the time. But all of that can shift radically with new experiences. Whether it’s a sad break up, becoming a parent, or experiencing horrible grief and loss. All of these things cr...
2023-09-22 17:08:27 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hey all, sorry for the later twitch stream than planned this month, it's just been a devil of a time getting schedules lined up this streamable day. But it's September again, so you know what that means!!!!!
It's September Singalong time! That's right! It's musicals and music-themed movies that are coming right for ya. Which is great because I *LOVE* the following movies.
And because of the aforementioned schedules, this time we're doing a relaxing, cozy SUNDAY stream, th...
2023-09-19 20:21:38 +0000 UTC
View Post
I haven’t written about it much, but I’d say Doctor Who is…
Probably one of my favorite things of the new millennium? I mean, it’s certainly my favorite thing from what you could call popular “I.P” But unlike a lot of the nerdy things I grew up with, this one wasn’t even something inherited from youth. Heck, the only time I really absorbed anything from Doctor Who was either in Simpsons references or the fact it was a random obsession from my old...
2023-09-19 14:48:55 +0000 UTC
View Post
No matter how much we may discuss the finer details of comedy, we all know there’s only one real metric involved…
Did you laugh or not?
As a consumer or critic, it’s important to recognize that it really is that simple. You watch comedy primarily to laugh, which is a weird thing if you think about the biology of it. Because it’s when you make your body do this involuntary thing where your diaphragm spasms out of control because… you’re delighted? Which in turn...
2023-09-15 22:02:32 +0000 UTC
View Post
The following essay may seem like it’s about many things, from current trends, to 90s programming, to the 2000’s box office swells, and the modern streaming age, but really, it’s about how it all comes together in the same harmful, cyclical dynamic.
1. TIMING, ANIME, AND EMERGENCE
There’s this great story that Seth Meyers told after Norm MacDonald’s passing. He recalled a time where Norm was a guest on the show, specifically a moment where Norm and his s...
2023-09-06 21:36:57 +0000 UTC
View Post
Quick updates!
1. Got a fun essay I'm almost done with on Film History coming up.
2. I love that after all that annoying as hell work I did making the archive patreon JUST NOW comes up with a "collections" system that will be so much more helpful in organizing hahahaha. Anyway I'll get that up and running soon too (I just put the anime series and will have more). But speaking of which...
So one of the things people keep asking me is to watch ONE PIECE and I cannot explain th...
2023-09-01 01:19:35 +0000 UTC
View Post
So I’m completely indebted to this amazing service, but the one thing that is hardest for you when navigating Patreon is managing the UI / search functions on this site (plus, they show up in google results really weird). So I thought it was high-time to re-do a whole big organized archive for easy searching! I also realized how much dang stuff I’ve written / forgot I wrote. This was also the most annoying process in the world.
I organized these by essay type, but instead of putting...
2023-08-25 21:26:20 +0000 UTC
View Post
One of the big lessons of criticism is that you can’t plan anything.
I thought I had learned this pretty well by now. There have been so many times where I went to see a film or an event and assumed that I would have something to talk about. Then you get in there and it’s like “… huh.” Meanwhile, there’s been loads of times that I’ll catch something innocuous that I wasn’t planning on writing about and it of course turns into a 10 part essay. But even having learned this...
2023-08-23 23:20:21 +0000 UTC
View Post
I know everyone is bouncing around the new options like it's the wild west so I've kind of just been biding my time, but since Silicon Valley is determined to keep building harassment machines, I finally made the move over to Blu Sky and I'm right here: https://bsky.app/profile/filmcrithulk.bsky.social
Also I've found I kinda like letterboxd:
2023-08-18 23:29:43 +0000 UTC
View Post
I cannot get over how much I love this show.
But it’s one of those things that happens sometimes with a beloved property that has been around for years. Heck, I first heard about the shows back in the mid 90s when a girl in my biology class was talking about how it's her favorite thing ever (and I was unfortunately right at the perfect Dumb Boy High School age to not pay the recommendation much mind). Then over time, you keep hearing that something is great. That it’s seminal,...
2023-08-17 21:34:54 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hey all,
So sorry about last week (CRJ was awesome btw), but we've rescheduled the stream for THIS Saturday Aug 19th starting at 11am Pacific time! Also thank you for noticing that I had the wrong timings last week, the new schedule is corrected!
Again, this is one of those streams where I desperately wanted to show ONE movie (that would be Peyton Reed's BRING IT ON) and the entire theme sort of built out from there. So without further ado I present to you "SUPPORT THE GI...
2023-08-16 22:52:14 +0000 UTC
View Post
I see a lot of movies I don’t end up writing about.
It’s mostly just a natural result of how I go about writing. Because I don’t do normal reviews. Nor do I like getting into adjective-heavy prose where I describe a film’s qualities. Instead, I like latching onto something that feels like a big meal and I can start digging into the functionality or the deeper themes behind it. But often it’s a really time consuming approach that doesn’t leave room for a lot of little stuff. ...
2023-08-11 12:31:19 +0000 UTC
View Post
I apologize for switch, but I had a family emergency (in that I suddenly got a free ticket to see my glorious pop mother Carly Rae Jepsen in concert tomorrow... I'm actually older than her but such things are trivial)
2023-08-11 01:44:26 +0000 UTC
View Post
Hey all,
Time to keep the twitch stream rolling with our August entry! This is one of those streams where I desperately wanted to show ONE movie (that would be Peyton Reed's BRING IT ON) and the entire theme sort of built out from there. So without further ado I present to you "SUPPORT THE GIRLS" a marathon of movies I adore, featuring mostly female casts getting up to all sorts of hijinks (and which somehow doesn't include Support The Girls, a movie I still need to se...
2023-08-07 21:11:27 +0000 UTC
View Post
I was on the walking corpse of a website that is Twitt- I mean “X” and I happened to mention how much I just adored the new film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. And wouldn’t you know it, but I got a mean response from some random person! GASP!!!! I kid of course, but what was so fun about this person’s comment is that it actually touched on EXACTLY what makes this film so damn special…
“I didn’t know you were a child.”
I laughed at this, of co...
2023-08-07 11:16:34 +0000 UTC
View Post
