When a film series fills a studio’s coffers and wins approval from critics and fans, its producers are often protective, making sure nothing will upset their lucrative franchise’s profitability. However, despite such safeguards, it’s almost […]
Author: Jay Alary
Jay lives in downtown Calgary, Alberta with his beloved partner, two cats, and far too many books and movies.
A TRILOGY ABOUT THE BLADE TRILOGY, PT. 2
Last time, I wrote about my introduction to Blade and how it helped me overcome my film snobbery and made me a better human being. I’m still a snob, but one with fewer self-imposed restrictions […]
A TRILOGY ABOUT THE BLADE TRILOGY, PT. 1
In the year 2000, I remember an imposing man, with questionable sanity, forcing me to watch a snowy, pirated copy of Blade. My friend Natalie and I were visiting her sister up the highway in […]
MIXTAPE: OUR RESIDENT CANADIAN RECOMMENDS NYC PUNK
Punk rock means a lot of different things to different people and that’s okay (unless you’re the likely-now-dead guy who wrote that infamous episode of Quincy M.E., decrying the “dangers” of punk). Punk is diverse, […]
STUCK IN THE ’90S: UNSUNG FILM HERO HAL HARTLEY AND THE DIY APPEAL OF AMATEUR
There’s much to love from the the 1990s, pop culture wise (I could write a Masters thesis on the brilliance of low-fi indie rock, like a sad Pavement fan who still wakes up each day […]
BAVA IN SPACE: PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES REMAINS A COLORFUL EXPLORATION
Blending science fiction and horror together on film often creates both excitement and dread among cinephiles. There is a feeling of excitement because of a universe of possibilities for clever filmmakers to create cosmic calamities […]
ROBOCOP 2: ODE TO THE SATIRIC, BOMBASTIC SEQUEL
Film sequels exist primarily to make money. As much as cinephiles worship The Godfather Part II, it wasn’t a logical progression Francis Ford Coppola envisioned after filming wrapped on The Godfather; it was Paramount, the […]
DEAD MAN: JIM JARMUSCH’S TRANSGRESSIVE WESTERN TONE POEM
There is something romantic about a film genre set in unexplored territory in a bygone period, places untouched by Western civilization, where right and wrong are settled by the spin of a gun barrel, a […]
AMO KAJ ALIAJ DEMONOJ: THE CURSE OF ‘INCUBUS’ (1966)
Many English-speaking cinephiles will watch films from all over the world; only the most ethnocentric cinephile will sneer at foreign-language films, ignoring richly-told stories from around the world (subtitles are not your enemy!). But what […]
HUMBUG: LOVE ACTUALLY? ACTUALLY…NAH
I don’t like Christmas. Don’t call me Scrooge or a Grinch — I’m not advocating spoiling people’s holiday cheer. Maybe it’s Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), courtesy of shortened winter days, the proliferation of red and […]
ROBERT WISE’S STAR TREK TREATMENT DESERVES MORE CREDIT THAN FANS GIVE IT
IN DEFENSE OF: STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE Fandom is a perplexing, frequently frustrating entity: it can be a supportive, passionate group of like-minded individuals who enjoy fictional characters on the page or on the […]
A COLD LOOK AT CANADIAN HORROR IN BRANDON CRONENBERG’S ANTIVIRAL
When Americans think of Canada, they usually think of preternaturally-polite hosers sitting in igloos, drinking Molson or Labatt beer, watching hockey on the CBC as they dunk their Tim Hortons doughnuts in maple syrup, all the while […]
1977’S SLAP SHOT IS STILL A ROUGH & TUMBLE TALE OF “OLD TIME HOCKEY” & THE WORKING MAN’S STRUGGLE
October is the first full month of autumn, a time for stylish jackets and sweaters as the air crisps and cools, a celebration of all things Halloween, but it’s also the start of a perennial […]
BLUE VELVET, and how david lynch made me a pervert
WEIRD BONERS IS DEDICATED TO ALL THE WEIRD WAYS FILMS AFFECT US SPIRITUALLY, INTELLECTUALLY, AND OF COURSE, PSYCHO-SEXUALLY Don’t blame me, blame David Lynch. In the late 1980s, my family and I lived in St. […]