Old: The movie that explains itself at length (but you still don’t get it).

So much overripe cinematic cheese.

Dial “P” for Pérez.

I’d been reading comics earlier, but before I picked up issue #23 of The New Teen Titans at a comic store in Balitmore, Maryland, I’d never paid attention to who wrote and drew them. The cover in the display pic is issue #485 of Adventure Comics. At the time, it was where you could find […]

Punch’d.

Violence is never the answer. But still, violence happens each and every day, for a number of reasons. I’ve never been one to advocate violence and will usually turn the other cheek, mostly because I float like a bee and sting like a butterfly, but that’s besides the point. Chris Rock (ironically enough) said in […]

Coming 2 America: “Sequel to an old movie nobody asked for.”

That tagline is not mine; it’s a line uttered by one of the characters in the movie, during one of its many moments of self-awareness. Coming 2 America isn’t so much a sequel, or a movie, for that matter, as it is a showcase for black talent, both old and new, and an embarrassingly high […]

My Bandcamp release: Free download.

The Wordsmith is also a Soundsmith. I’ve been a fanatic of the good folks behind Mystery Science Theater 3000, Rifftrax, Cinematic Titanic, and many of the offshoot projects of Joel Hodgson, Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, et. al. So, I figured what better way to pay homage than by taking some of the songs from […]

Disney/PIXAR’s Soul: I know you got it.

Family films don’t come any cuter than this. Soul is a very strong contender for my most favorite of the Disney/PIXAR films, threatening to knock Finding Nemo from its top spot. Probably after I’ve watched it as many times as I’ve watched Finding Nemo, it’ll be my #1. Stories about what happens to your soul […]

Spenser Confidential: He gets beat up a LOT.

Has Mark(y) Mark Wahlberg successfully completed the transistion from 90s white-hop douche to accomplished leading man? Probably. I dunno. He hasn’t put out any cringeworthy quasi-rap albums lately, but has acted in lots of films. Some good ones (The Departed, Three Kings), and some turkeys (The Happening), so people must like seeing him in stuff. […]

Disney’s Stargirl: One word.

I started reading comic books in earnest around 1981 or so. Soon after, I felt like creating my own superheroes and made up my own characters. One of the characters I “invented” was a girl who could channel solar energy, whom I named Star Girl. Two words. Not very original but hey, I was 12. […]

A Fall From Grace: ………um………….

There’s been some hubbub about the fact that media mogul Tyler Perry has his own production studio but is yet to hire any black writers. Well, I know a pretty decent black writer; I shave him every morning. But if Tyler Perry came to me and said he wanted to make one of my books […]

6 Underground:A film with guts. And brains. Literally.

I’m a red-blooded American male. So, yeah, I like me a good action flick. Even bad action flicks can be an amusing waste of time. And sometimes, movies are just… there. Netflix’s latest blockbuster-wannabe outing, 6 Underground, is probably the loudest, most profane two hours of nothing I’ve ever had to sit through. By the […]