Month: January 2015

Dave Eggers’s Latest Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is Not Quite That

Leave a Comment

Image of Dave EggersNote: I originally had a 1200+ word review of this book written and all set to go…and then it was deleted by WordPress without so much as an auto-save-you-very much. After much pulling of hair and yelling of threats in a neighborhood Starbucks, I attempted a rewrite. This is the aforementioned <shorter> re-write, which hopefully contains 1/100th of the brilliance that the first post had. (I humble myself, sometimes, you must understand…)

[Read more…]

J&STAC: #1 Issues of the Deep Winter

Leave a Comment

-J. Michael Bestul is a writer for the Addison Recorder. Stephanie Ruehl is an artist who works in a comic book shop. They’re married and have a lot of discussions about comic books and graphic novels. Combine all that into a biweekly feature and you get “J. & Steph Talk About Comics.”

It’s been a while since we’ve done a recap of recent #1 issues, so we thought it high time to check out what’s come out over the holidays and into the new year. We noticed a recurring theme among recent new books…

-J.: Spoiler alert — I have an antipathy towards prequels. It’s not that I hate them, necessarily, but I expect to disappointed by them. Few ever exceed that expectation. Let’s see if some recent series debuts can do so.

[Read more…]

Games on Addison: Eyes of the Stone Thief

1 Comment

In the beginning, there were dungeons, and there were dragons. And it was good.

I’m oversimplifying it, but the old formula is still fun in modern d20-style fantasy role-playing games. There’s a reason the grand-daddy of RPGs invokes them in the name of its game.

13a_stcover_oct2_v2Dungeons & Dragons is playing to the “dragons” half of the equation with its ongoing “Tyranny of Dragons” campaign. But if you’re looking for a compelling version of the “dungeon” half of the formula, the 13th Age system is releasing a new campaign book in February, Eyes of the Stone Thief. (A PDF copy of the book is available if you pre-order it, which is what I’m using to plumb its depths.)

Courtesy of Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan and Pelgrane Press, this book takes the idea of the dungeon-based campaign and gives it a Yakov Smirnoff reversal. In most campaigns, players will hunt for dungeons; in Eyes of the Stone Thief, dungeon hunts you! [Read more…]

Broad City is Back and Every Young Woman Should Watch

1 Comment

broad-city-pilot-drinking

Broad City is the best feminist show on television.  That’s a big statement, but I’ll stand by it.

This 30-minute Comedy Central show tells simple stories about Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) and Ilana (Ilana Glazer), two women in their early twenties who are best friends living in New York City, with crazy roommates, dead end jobs, and no money. It doesn’t try to be anything more than this, and by not making huge statements it hits on something very special. [Read more…]

Oceanic Tales: “The Luminaries” and “The Narrow Road to the Deep North”

Leave a Comment

rsz_10313686785_5b38a7b760_b

The Man Booker Prize, awarded each year to the best English-language novel published by a company based in the United Kingdom, has now achieved a level of prestige comparable to the Pulitzer. By the terms described above, one might expect that most Booker winners would be as thoroughly British as a gaggle of Wodehousian aristocrats sitting down to roast, pudding, and port.

In reality, the Prize has been awarded to writers from around the world since its 1969 inception, and most recently, the last two prizes went to historical novels written by authors from Oceania: The Luminaries, by 28 year-old New Zealander Eleanor Catton (the youngest person to ever win), and The Narrow Road to the Deep North by 53 year-old Australian Richard Flanagan. The combination of a shared setting and two very different perspectives inspired me to pick up both works.

[Read more…]

Foxcatcher is a Good Movie that Lacks Spark

Leave a Comment

Steve Carrell FoxcatcherFoxcatcher is a good movie. It is well-mounted, with impeccable cinematography and production design. The acting is superb and is headlined by one of those showy disappearing-act performances that should gobble up attention and awards. The story handles some weighty themes with a deft and incisive touch. But you’re probably not going to see it, and that’s fine. It’s just one of those movies that’s good, but fails to gain any traction outside of cinephile circles.

The foundation of the film certainly sounds like something that could be a minor hit. An awards-baity teaming of Bennett Miller, who was Oscar-nominated for directing Capote, Megan Ellison, the Silicon Valley scion who has become Hollywood’s most consistent auteur-enabler over the past few years, and three actors–Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, and Mark Ruffalo–going serious after becoming A-listers with lighter fare. The story concerns the unhealthy relationships between John Eleuthère du Pont (Carrell), a socially maladjusted chemical fortune heir, and the pair of wrestling star brothers, Dave and Mark Schultz (Ruffalo and Tatum), who become drawn into his world. The film seems split into two halves, exploring how Mark grapples with his feelings of insufficiency and anger first against the aloof splendor of du Pont and then with the disappointing familiarity of Dave. [Read more…]

the Fifth Line: The New Joys of 2015

2 Comments

I think it’s fair to say that, so far, this year sucks.

Even before the awful news of recent days, 2015 was already feeling like more of the same 2014-ness, but re-warmed in a microwave with a broken ‘defrost’ function. On top of that, after making a few too many mumps jokes at the NHL’s expense, I started the year by catching a nasty winter virus.

While in the throes of this seasonal plague, I awoke one morning to my phone making noise. I thought it was the alarm I’d set. Instead, it was a notification from the NHL app that Randy Carlyle had been fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs. I assumed this was merely a fever dream, laughing until I was wracked by a spasm of coughing.

dynamic_resize

Wait a minute… this is no dream.

In pain, I realized it was all real, and I cough-laughed some more. And then I got some water. [Read more…]

NCAA Hoops: Non-con Recon

4 Comments

The New Year brings with it a bevy of resolutions, crippling cold, I guess, and most importantly, to your resident college basketball guru, the advent of conference play. Most major and mid-major conferences play only intra-league games from now until March. Plenty of time still exists for teams to play themselves into or out of the tournament, but at this milestone, let us break down the biggest winners and losers of the non-conference season.

[Read more…]

The JV Club: Not-Too-Girlish Glee

1 Comment
Image of The JV Club

Courtesy: Nerdist Industries

I listen to an absurd number of podcasts. I love everything from highly polished scientific and political shows, all the way down to the over-caffeinated ramblings of comedy dudes furiously scrambling to out-riff each other. Many of my favorite podcasts have made me laugh so hard that strangers on the train have switched seats to avoid me. Others have left me so engrossed in the subject matter that I’ve actually walked past my own apartment building.

But there’s only one that caused me, on a gorgeous summer day, to stop dead in the middle of a crowded sidewalk and burst into tears.

[Read more…]