I take criticism seriously. By listening to people, especially when they have something to say that feels painful at first, I find many opportunities to grow and be better. I recently received some feedback to an article I wrote that gave me just such an opportunity, and because of it I am going to change the way I interpret movies in the future. Continue reading
With all that’s going on in the world, I feel the need to take a detour from my usual topics and discuss something of supreme importance. As a simple man who doesn’t go with the flow and instead pushes against the cultural current of loosening moral standards, lazy work ethics, and celebrations of degeneracy, I wonder when my number will be up. I wonder when the people in power above me will get around to silencing and destroying me. Not that I think I’m dangerous or even important enough to warrant such attention. And that’s the point. Continue reading
Last week I published an article showing that Alien and Alien3 mirror each other quite well. For the sake of completeness, I now present the chiasmus of the entire Alien Trilogy, including Aliens in the middle. I had previously published my Aliens chiasmus several years ago, but Max Collins found that the first and third films in the series bookend that film’s symmetry. So I have simply put my work and Max’s together to create the following beautiful story structure. Enjoy! Continue reading
I didn’t come up with this Cinematic Chiasmus. It is the brainchild of Max Collins, who emailed me about it back in October 2020. He said he was inspired by my Aliens Cinematic Chiasmus article to see for himself whether or not its predecessor and follow-up fall into that category as well. And they certainly do.
It took me a while to finally turn this into an article with his permission, so I’m grateful for his patience. The amazing thing about this isn’t just that a fan came up with this breakdown of these two films, but that they turn the first three Alien films into one big chiasmus! Alien, Aliens, and Alien3 join the ranks of the Back to the Future Trilogy, the Dark Knight Trilogy, and the Sam Raimi Spider-Man Trilogy as being three films that create beautiful symmetry.
Aliens was one of the first films I discovered to be a chiasmus, and back then I wasn’t bold enough to think in terms of trilogies. It’s gratifying to learn that, even though I was too timid to connect the dots of the films surrounding it, someone else picked up where I left off and completed the task I didn’t even know could be done. Continue reading
Remember when social distancing was the stuff of comedy, not intended to be real-life drama? Just take this scene near the start of 1974’s Young Frankenstein. In it, Dr. Frankenstein is bidding a tender farewell to his love, but she keeps making excuses for him not to touch any part of her body. As a result, he can’t hold her in any meaningful way. It gets to the point of absurdity when he is finally forced to simply rub elbows with her before departing. He can’t even throw her a kiss without her jumping out of its way. Oh no, not the dreaded thrown kiss! Continue reading
Have you ever seen a lie so big and audacious that is repeated so many times, you actually started to believe it? It seems impossible that anyone would be so brazen as to lie to your face to get you and everyone else to doubt what you can clearly see with your own eyes. But there it is. You know (or at least strongly believe) that something is wrong, but you can’t prove it and you can’t escape the pull of public pressure. To illustrate what I’m talking about, I’ll draw a comparison to a pivotal scene in the 1983 film WarGames. Continue reading
Just a quick Christmas message. I was thinking recently about how the best and worst times in life are often inseparably intertwined. We are in the midst of a yearlong lockdown, which has led to a lot of suffering that will likely get worse. But despite this, I’ve been able to see many miracles and blessings through these challenges. Continue reading
I realized immediately after writing last week’s article about great movie standoffs that I had missed three of the very best ones. And they come from three of the best action movies ever made: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The best part? Each one has a different solution to the same stalemate that makes perfect sense and leads to a lot of crazy results.
That’s a big part of Indiana Jones’ charm. He’s unpredictable. You never know if he’s going to pull out his gun to shoot an imposing swordsman or jump out of an airplane on an inflatable raft because there are no parachutes. He has survived countless attempts on his life. Let’s enjoy watching how he gets out of these impossible situations. Continue reading
Standoffs are great because they create instant drama and force characters to reveal important parts of their personalities by how they react. When two or more characters face a situation in which they can’t win by taking direct action, they have to get creative and go to extremes. Sometimes they have time to prepare, but other times they are caught off guard and have to improvise a solution. Whatever the case may be, it often leads to exciting results. Here are 10 of my favorite standoffs in movies, along with how they are resolved. Continue reading
I know Thanksgiving was last week, but I feel the need to take a moment to express gratitude for something most precious to me. The Monday before Thanksgiving, my wife collapsed in a puddle of her own blood in our house. Thankfully, I was at home working, so I was able to run to her, call 911, and go with her to the hospital where she received prompt treatment. A doctor performed surgery on her to stop the bleeding, and she was sent home that same day. In the days after, she has been tired and had a headache, but she’s definitely on the mend.
I’m grateful for many things as a result of this situation: Continue reading
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