It’s ever been the assumption that those who write, direct, and act in Science Fiction films are slumming it — that Serious People don’t do SF, and SF is not for Serious People. Daniel Kimmel’s Jar Jar Binks Must Die is a collection of his film reviews that show the reader what happens when you…
Tag: modes of storytelling
Review: Born to Kvetch
No culture has mastered the fine art of complaining better than the Jews. Separate from Hebrew, Yiddish is a complex, nuanced language not for the faint of heart. Meant to lament bad luck while chasing it away at the same time, Yiddish tells the story of a culture all its own. There are phrases for…
Review: My Planet
My obsession with Mary Roach is well documented, so I was surprised to learn that she once wrote articles for Reader’s Digest. Fortunately the editors of this classic American magazine are geniuses, and recently published all of Roach’s columns in My Planet: Finding Humor in the Oddest Places. Not only are the essays further evidence…
Review: Dear Mr. Knightley
Throughout her years in the foster care system, Samantha’s only friends have been the characters in her favorite books: Lizzy, Jane, Emma, Fanny, Anne. She borrows their tendencies, characteristics, and their words, fashioning for herself a series of masks through which she hopes no one sees. After college and a failed attempt at adulthood, Samantha…
Review: Leaving Mundania
Live action role-playing, or LARP, is defined as “a type of role-playing game in which each participant assumes a particular character and acts out various scenarios at events which last for a predetermined time.” Although most people associate LARP with a bunch of people dressed as elves beating each other with foam swords, the tradition…