Media Magpies

This week, the Sound Board's subject is Adult DVD's self-titled LP. "The band’s relentless self-titled debut is a fit of synth-driven, snarky rebellion that strongly echoes Pretty Hate Machine, early Ministry and the harder edges of both New Order and Depeche Mode."

Gillian Nelson writes In Memoriam: People Cared About Chekov, Not Me: Walter Koenig, 1936-2026 #InMemoriam #WalterKoenig #obituary #StarTrek

Mass Effect OST: Great Music, Lousy Action Game Soundtrack What you might call "edgy ambient".

Gillian Nelson writes Celebrating the Living: Ellen Greene #CelebratingtheLiving #EllenGreene #Horrorween

Gillian Nelson writes Attention Must Be Paid: Anthony Perkins #AttentionMustBePaid #AnthonyPerkins #horrorween

Gillian Nelson writes Disney Byways: The Modern Lesson of the Twist Villain #DisneyByways #twistvillain

Hub homosociality and hungry horror in the best pop culture writing of the week.

Gillian Nelson writes In Memoriam: I Just Do Films That I Would Pay Five Bucks to See: Tom Skerritt, 1933-2026 #InMemoriam #TomSkerritt #obituary

The Twilight Zone, S1E25, “People Are Alike All Over” Astronaut survival rating: two out of five stars. You may survive, but you'll wish you hadn't.

Looking for some Halloween humor you haven't seen before? Maybe these underseen sitcom episodes will fit the bill.

Gillian Nelson writes Intrusive Thoughts: Oppenheimer or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Movies) #IntrusiveThoughts #bomb #atomicbomb #nuclearwar

The Leopard Man Here, kitty, kitty.

Gillian Nelson writes Camera Obscura: A/The Watcher in the Woods #CameraObscura #AWatcherintheWoods #TheWatcherintheWoods

This week, the Sounding Board's subject is the latest from Art d'Ecco. Ben Hohenstatt writes: "Scheele's Green" is a pissed-off art-punk freakout with jazz and prog rock shading.

Who Moved My Cheese? This is the angriest a book has made me since that fucking Ayn Rand book.

Gillian Nelson writes Celebrating the Living: Doug Jones #CelebratingtheLiving #DougJones #Horrorween

Gillian Nelson writes Attention Must Be Paid: Zelda Rubinstein #AttentionMustBePaid #ZeldaRubinstein #Horrorween

Gillian Nelson writes Disney Byways: 1998 Was a Lousy Year for Disney* #DisneyByways #YearoftheMonth #1998

The best pop culture writing is crammed full of scary stuff this week.

The Twilight Zone, S1E24, “Long Live Walter Jameson” This professor is history.

This Oscar Category Is Having Its Best Season in Years In a year of promising Oscar hopefuls, Best Documentary Feature Film is an unexpected highlight

Adding to the discourse around the unloved, unsparing, unsettling ecotastrophe film, Larry Fessenden's The Last Winter

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde An all-time banger.

“On the Other Side of No Tomorrow:” High Art and the Art of Seduction A searing depiction of how the art system works in the late 1990s

This week, the Sounding Board's subject is the debut album from Bending Backwards. Ben Hohenstatt writes: It combines garage rock simplicity with art-rock instrumentation and reverence for postmodern writers. It's an unlikely mix that can stir dull roots and suitably soundtrack October days.

“Everyone is raising the bar. Why not me?”: RJ Mitte, 1992–2006 An actor who put his fame to good use.

Black to Techno The soul of the machine is Black.

Gillian Nelson writes Celebrating the Living: Katharine Isabelle #CelebratingtheLiving #KatharineIsabelle #Horrorween

Gillian Nelson writes Attention Must Be Paid: Edward Woodward #AttentionMustBePaid #EdwardWoodward #Horrorween

Gillian Nelson writes Disney Byways: Mighty Joe Young #DisneyByways #MightyJoeYoung #YearoftheMonth #1998

Monsters, boosters, hucksters and more await in the Friday Article Roundup!

The Twilight Zone, S1E23, “A World of Difference” Opening: You're looking at a tableau of reality, things of substance, of physical material: a desk, a window, a light. These things exist and have dimension. Now this is Arthur Curtis, age thirty-six, who also is real. He has flesh and blood,…

Some critiques of the New York Times best TV list, and a few other items in this TV Thursday:

Gillian Nelson writes Intrusive Thoughts: We Can't All Afford Ray Harryhausen #IntrusiveThoughts #specialeffects #budget #RayHarryhausen

This week, the Sounding Board's subject is the latest from Wide Orbit. Ben Hohenstatt writes: The second album from Wide Orbit is no more or less than 40 minutes of warm, catchy, slightly ragged tunes that would sound right coming out of a tavern’s jukebox or any pre-2000 car’s speakers.

𝜋 Where's the pattern? Where is God in the numbers?

Gillian Nelson writes Celebrating the Living: Bruce Campbell #CelebratingtheLiving #BruceCampbell #Horrorween

Gillian Nelson writes Attention Must Be Paid: Patricia Hitchcock #AttentionMustBePaid #PatriciaHitchcock #Horrorween

Gillian Nelson writes Disney Byways: Movie Surfers #DisneyByways #MovieSurfers #YearoftheMonth #1998

Cam diverges from his usual topics and decides to lay it all out that we shouldn't let these two-faced grifters into the mainstream.

From celebrating the Harlem Renaissance to throwing a flag on Chuck Klosterman, it's all here at the Friday Article Roundup.

The Twilight Zone, S1E22, “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” Arguably one of the best Twilight Zone episodes, and definitely one of the most Twilight Zone episodes.

Gluttons, ghouls and screensavers: Gorge yourself on the true best TV of the 21st century.

Gillian Nelson writes Intrusive Thoughts: Stop Making Box Sets in the Shape of People's Heads #IntrusiveThoughts #DVDs #boxsets #storage

Pollyanna A pretty good kid.

Gillian Nelson writes In Memoriam: Go to Class, Learn Something: Dennis Haskins, 1950-2026 #DennisHaskins #InMemoriam #obituary

This week the Sound Board's subject is the latest from Balming Tiger. Ben Hohenstatt writes: Like a jigsaw puzzle depicting a totally alien landscape, Gongbu’s pieces follow an internal logic to fit together to create a bizarre, fascinating whole. It's a joy to hear Balming Tiger put it together.

Gillian Nelson writes The Rockford Files Files: Season Three Episode Eleven: "The Trouble With Warren" #TheRockfordFiles #TheRockfordFilesFiles

Taking Influence with Justified and Bob’s Burgers How do you build on the past?

Gillian Nelson writes Celebrating the Living: Megan Follows #CelebratingtheLiving #MeganFollows