Our great literary lights are very often, shall we say, “lacking in superfluous vigor”? So many have been indoorsy, reclusive navel-gazers, with biceps as thin as their pencils and a severe tendency to dwell in their fevered imaginations. Nobody would mistake Charles Dickens for an outdoorsman or Herman Melville for a great party guest. Stephen King doesn’t prompt ideation about feats of strength.  Of course, until I have written, published, and achieved universal renown as the author of the Great American Novel, I really can’t throw many stones at any other writer.  But I do hold... Read More

I confess that I do not care for computer-generated special effects.  Sure, they’re spectacular to look at (see: ninety percent of the last Star Wars). The tremendous skill required and technical execution are impressive.  They’re so good that you couldn’t even tell that they were there if it weren’t for the implausibility of the final result (see: Angelina Jolie’s cheekbones in Maleficent.) They’re like GMO’s: ubiquitous and almost impossible to entirely avoid. I don’t dislike them because they’re bad, per se. I dislike them for the squishy reason that they’re almost always…... Read More