BP2

The Politics—and Importance—of ‘Black Panther’

Marvel has always toyed with politics and social unrest, though its macro issues never superseded its movie stars. Take your pick of any white superhero, toss in a swoonworthy movie star guy and voila! Audiences will queue up to see punches thrown, buildings annihilated and nefarious schemes thwarted. Yes, Black Panther has these surface-level devices as…

bday

Celebrating 10 Years of The Littlest Winslow

It feels apropos to let Janelle Monáe lead my way in this celebration or admission, whatever the hell it may be. First, The Littlest Winslow reached a pretty big milestone last month – it’s 10th Birthday – which is pretty amazing. This project was started with a friend when I was barely out of college, couldn’t write for shit,…

Janelle Monae

Janelle Monáe Drops New Tracks Off Her Upcoming ‘Dirty Computer’

The maybe-cyborg, definite genius Janelle Monáe shared two new tracks off her upcoming Dirty Computer out April 27. “Make Me Feel” and “Django Jane” were both dropped this afternoon along with accompanying videos (or “emotion pictures,” as Monáe calls them), each giving a glimpse of what’s to come from the singer’s third LP. “Make Me Feel” is the standout…

3billboardsyo

Oscar Noms and Hot Takes

Gentle readers: Oscar nominations were announced today and if you’re anything like me, you are drowning in Oscar coverage. So here is some more coverage. (You’re welcome.) I’m adapting this blog from an email where I regaled my friends with my very unsolicited, very lengthy opinions about said nominations. And they were like, “OK.” I…

shape

REVIEW: Guillermo del Toro’s ‘The Shape of Water’

Guillermo del Toro is the king of oddities. Throughout his storied career, he’s taken on everything from comic book adaptations and horror films to giant alien robots, yet the writer-director never fails to impassion his dark fantasy tales with beauty, heart and magic—everything you’d ever want from a trip to the movies. His most recent, The…

Christmas Evil

‘Christmas Evil’ is the ‘Taxi Driver’ of Horror

When we think about maniacal Santa Clauses in horror, we often go straight to the axe-wielding Billy from Silent Night, Deadly Night, or the homicidal madman who stalked Joan Collins in the Tales From the Crypt movie segment “…And All Through the House” (or its TV episode remake from 1989). For what it’s worth, all these classics have been…

RTJ

The 17 Best Albums of 2017

Dear lovers – Even though this post has the headline of “17 Best Albums of 2017,” I certainly didn’t listen to every single record released. Oh, lists. They are fun and great and can offer superb recs, but they’re always subjective little buggers. Love ’em or leave ’em, I suppose. Without further ado and with…