Monthly Archive:: November 2017
Nov 14 2017
“Ha-Ha, I Made You Say Cock!” and Other Things That Try to Be Funny in Allen, Son of Hellcock
In an interview with CBR.com, writer Gabe Kopolwitz said that he drew a lot of inspiration for Allen, Son of Hellcock from years of reading “a lot of old Heavy Metal.”
Yeeahhh. That’s possibly one of the reasons this comic book utterly fails the Bechdel Test . . . among other things.…
Nov 14 2017
Artemis Is Lighthearted Sci-Fi Entertainment from the Author of The Martian
In 2014, Andy Weir’s self-published book The Martian was picked up by a major publisher. Just a year and a half later, it was a major motion picture starring Matt Damon that went on to gross over $630 million. Given that history, it’s not too surprising that Fox bought the film rights to Weir’s newest book,…
Nov 13 2017
Permanent Is Too Much Like a Bad Hair Day
One of the 120 films at the Twin Cities Film Festival this past month, Permanent seemed to be a small, quirky coming of age story. I was skeptical about it initially—I couldn’t find anything about it on social media or much of an Internet presence at all. The film is set in 1983 in a small town in Virginia.…
Nov 12 2017
The Importance of Empathy in the Geek Community
If you’ve been following my writing on this site lately, you’ll have read about how I’ve turned some of the negativity I’ve faced for being a geek to my advantage—last time, I talked about the silver linings of spending a lot of time by myself. But as cool as all that may be, probably…
Nov 12 2017
This Week in Geek (11/13/17–11/19/17)
Welcome to This Week in Geek, your guide to events of interest to the Minnesota geek community for the week of Monday, November 13th through Sunday, November 19th.
Board Game Night at Tamarack Tap Room
What: Gaming
When: Monday, November 13th at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Tamarack Tap Room
The Tamarack Tap Room,…
Nov 11 2017
The Marriage of Figaro Is a Modern Story of Class Struggle, Dressed in Wigs
Overdressing, cross-dressing, undressing, and a healthy dose of social critique are just a few of the delights offered by the Minnesota Opera’s production of classic opera The Marriage of Figaro.
Figaro, our charismatic hero and the personal valet to Count Almaviva, just wants his wedding…
Nov 11 2017
BPM Looks Back on the AIDS Protests of the 1990s
BPM takes place in the 1990s with a real issue of the era but feels strangely relevant today. The French film—which is showing at Minneapolis’s St. Anthony Main Theatre through November 16, 2017—concerns the Paris-based chapter of the AIDS activist group ACT UP and their fight for a level of awareness…
Nov 10 2017
I Choose You! Perfectly Celebrates Pokémon’s 20th Anniversary
In 1997, the Pokémon anime series began to air on Japanese television and soon after took the world by storm. The iconic first episode starts by recreating the bootup sequence for the Gameboy, even down to the sound effects—the viewer sees nothing but a small, white rectangular box with Gengar and Nidorino…
Nov 10 2017
An Amazing Community of Refugee Geekery Lives in Minnesota
As you can imagine, Minnesota is about as far removed from life in tropical nations as you get—virtually an alien landscape. You try explaining ice fishing and lutefisk to people living along the Mekong. “What are grape nuts?” “Tell me about these foods-on-a-stick at the fair. Are they like chicken…
Nov 10 2017
Murder Most Mundane with Murder on the Orient Express
How can a film with a derailed train, an avalanche, a mysterious murder, a stellar cast of characters, and a quirky detective be so dull? While Kenneth Branagh has taken the revered Agatha Christie novel and given it a beautiful theatrical glaze, Murder on the Orient Express misses the mark greatly.…