Chris Braak's Blog, page 33

Your Favorite Character You Don't Like

A question for…I was about to write "superhero fans," but really I guess this applies to any protagonist that's had multiple interpretations over the years - You ever fall in love with a character, only to grow frustrated that nobody who's working on him or her seems to do anything to validate that opinion? I [...]

Brass Knuckle Books

Brass Knuckle Books The World Leader in Weaponized Reading Material Filed under: Braak

Pen Jillette and His Libertarian Legerdemain

I don't generally like to talk about politics here, since that's usually when assholes show up and threaten to disrupt my naturally cool demeanor.  But Penn Jillette wrote this piece for CNN, and I felt like I had to answer it.  I felt this way for two reasons:  the first is that I really like [...]

Pen Jillette and Libertarian Legerdemain

I don't generally like to talk about politics here, since that's usually when assholes show up and threaten to disrupt my naturally cool demeanor.  But Penn Jillette wrote this piece for CNN, and I felt like I had to answer it.  I felt this way for two reasons:  the first is that I really like [...]

Oh God, I'm About to Defend 'Batman and Robin'

This goes against every instinct I have. Every shred of my being for the last 14 years, every bit of movie and comic book based understanding that has told me that this movie was utterly terrible and directly contributed to the early demise of the superhero movie AND POSSIBLY SOCIETY. But having rewatched it for [...]

Understanding the Appeal of Julia Roberts

Last night, I wanted to watch The Running Man, but it is not available on Netflix instant.  And so, since I couldn't watch two US governors BATTLE TO THE DEATH, then I wanted to watch a movie with nice people for whom everything just works out.  Also, I really felt like watching a movie that [...]

Superman Fact 4: The supporting cast should be small(ish)

I've had this one in my back pocket for a while now, because I'm lazy and don't always feel like searching Google Image for pictures of Ron Troupe. But I wanted to toss this out now before the DC Reboot comes along and suddenly we get to see what George Perez considers essential components of [...]

Car Chase Scenes: Pointless?

Dear Hollywood, Hi! Long-time fan, and frequent critic of everything you do. Sorry, it's the internet. You know how that goes. Anyway, I just watched Unknown, that Liam Neeson movie where he thinks his identity's been stolen/erased, and I liked it for what it was. Sure, there were a couple of big-ass plot holes, but [...]

Why Wally West Should Be The Flash

I want to make this clear, I don't really read The Flash, so I don't have a vested interest in this, or anything.  This isn't me saying, "I grew up with Wally West, damn it, and I want everything to always be the same!'  Only jerks do that.  This is me, reading butt-tonnes of analysis [...]

Pop Culture in Urban Fantasy

So, some time ago, I reviewed Jim Butcher's Dresden Files novel Changes, and in it I suggested that, while pop culture references were nice, there's something a little weird about having all of the pop culture references in an Urban Fantasy novel be:  Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, or the Wizard of Oz.  In [...]