I’ll admit that when I first heard that Boom! Studios was doing a reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel comics, I was a little bit skeptical. As a Xennial/”Elder Millennial” born in the early 1980s, I felt that the Buffyverse really spoke to my generation, from the representation of female characters as strong and empowered to the late 90s music to the love of musical numbers, as “Once More with Feeling” is one of my favorite go to panels at DragonCon the years they feature it. I was very worried that the narrative of my 90s teen and college years would be tainted. So far, though, I have been pleasantly surprised. These comics do a wonderful job with representation, as more characters

In recent years, “ass-kicking” women have been getting their due on the big screen. Growing up when I did meant I was privy to the exploits of Pam Grier via the Blaxplotation era and Sigourney Weaver in the Alien franchise, but they seemed to be few and far in between. But nowadays there seems to be a welcome explosion of women who can handle their own and then some in a traditionally male-dominated cinematic arena. From Scarlett Johansson in the Avengers series to Emily Blunt in Edge of Tomorrow to Rebecca Ferguson in the Mission: Impossible series to Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road and Atomic Blonde to Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman to Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, film lovers like me ha

When it comes to recognizable horror movie mantras “Don’t go into the woods” ranks pretty high on the list of deterrents. Yet the 2013 French thriller Stranger By the Lake (L'Inconnu du lac) notably frames ‘the woods’ as a site of both physical danger and erotic desire. In the film, directed by Alain Guiraudie, Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) passes his summer days at a gay cruising beach, dividing his attention between Henri (Patrick D’Assumçao), a kindly older man with whom he shares daily conversation, and Michel (Christophe Paou), a dangerous stranger who piques Franck’s sexual curiosity. Stranger By the Lake premiered at the Cannes Film Festival where it won both the Best Director prize a

One of my favorite films over the past fifteen years is American Gangster. The film is far from perfect but Ridley Scott’s sweeping saga detailing the rise and fall of drug kingpin Frank Lucas is endlessly watchable, due in no small part to the performances of Denzel Washington as the previously mentioned criminal and Russel Crowe as the cop who takes him down. It’s basically two films in one as we move back and forth between Denzel’s Frank Lucas amassing his empire along with a growing number of enemies and Russell’s Richie Roberts slowly learning of his counterpart’s intricate dealings and methodically building a case. Sadly, these two screen icons only meet in the film’s final scenes, but

All but one of these films are by no means the best. You will not catch me defending them as such or running around town touting their cinematic value. They are simply the films that caught me by surprise and made me love them completely at first watch. And as a result, over the last ten years, I have found myself watching them over and over again. So, here’s my list of not the best films, but the films I enjoyed and watched the most. And their drink pairings. Cheers! 2010: The Perfect Host This thrilling and gag-filled film serves up Niles from Frasier as a deranged dinner host with particular tastes as he saves (and holds captive) a man on the lam. I laughed, I cringed, and I watched it ag

This was an odd year for me, as certain films that I would have expected to love, I didn't, and some films that I had little-to-no expectations for swept in and made my favorites list. There were also a decent number of movies that I wanted to see, but still haven't had a chance to. After my Top 10 list, I'll include the full list of 2019 films I saw so that I can be appropriately chastised for my glaring omissions. 1) The Last Black Man in San Francisco When I saw this film at Cinema Detroit over the summer, I had zero expectations. Honestly, I didn't know anything about it other than the title. I was immediately drawn in by the believably unconventional characters - particularly Jimmie (Ji

It’s been another year of medium to low expectations with regards to film, so it was easy to not be disappointed. On the other hand, there were plenty of surprises and as long as cinemas are open, I will find an excuse to continue to visit at least once a month. Here’s the best of what I saw in 2019: 1) Booksmart – Think Superbad, but with female leads…….and LBGTQ friendly…….and people of color…..and more poignant…..and funnier……on second thought…… Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut is an absolute gem about a pair of overachievers (Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever in star-making performances) looking for one last hurrah the night before graduation. I will not spoil any further surprises. See