To enjoy the character of Deadpool, you have to be able to get into his very particular rhythm. If not? Well, I’ll explain with a (thankfully) brief anecdote. My wife is an introvert. Sure, she can smile, make small talk, and have a genuine and warm conversation. She excels in pretending she likes the majority of people. We get home, though? She double locks the door, barricades the windows, and gives thanks to Jesus, Buddha, and Amen Ra that she only has to deal with a handful of people who aren’t wildly annoying. As a result, she barely sees movies with me. It was no surprise that in 2016,... Read More

When it comes to cinema, we’re living in an age of marvels. Take the long view for a moment, and consider that with theatrical releases and streaming platforms, we have access to a wider and deeper selection of films than at any point in human history. You can immerse yourself in independent films, catch up on old classics, watch virtually whatever you want whenever you want. To say that there are no good movies anymore is wildly inaccurate, you just have to work a little to find them. That concept also means that, increasingly, the theatrical experience is reserved for blockbusters. You know... Read More

Can you imagine it? It’s you, 17 of your brothers, and your supervisor. You see the fire coming at you. The word inferno simply doesn’t do it justice, with 70-foot flames and temperatures about 2,000 degrees. The fire is big, hot, and moving right for you at unbelievable speed. So you do what you’ve been trained to do. You clear a space for your fire shelter, a large foil pouch lined with silica-thread cloth. You lay flat on your belly, pull the fire shelter over you. Maybe you pray. You hope it will do some good. The Yarnell Hill Fire started on June 28, 2013, near Yarnell,... Read More

For anybody who likes movies, especially those of us who are approaching or have already reached a certain age, there’s a temptation to drag out the hoary old chestnut of, “They don’t make ’em like they used to.” That statement is the rhetorical equivalent of Schrodinger’s Cat, where it is both true and false at the same time. Please allow me to explain. On the one hand, as long as there have been movies, the majority of them have been garbage. Jump onto your favorite search engine and plug in any year you care to name. You’ll see that no matter the... Read More