Why the Fire won't be caught any time soon

I first posted this some time ago on my Patreon page. I've had a revamp of the Patreon recently; it's where all my writing is posted, although occasionally I'll put something here eventually. It's one American dollar for pretty much the full archive; there's options of higher tiers, including one that'll allow you to commission work from me. 

But for now, this is me in full polemic. 

Hell is the Absence of Other People

Batman Returns (1992)

Superhero movies are Not My Thing. And it is probably fair to say that the superhero I have the least patience with is Batman. Nor am I a particular fan of the work of Tim Burton. Why is it, then, that not only can I say I have a favourite superhero movie, but that it’s the second Tim Burton Bat-Feature, Batman Returns (1992)? That? The one that is so very Tim Burton, and a Superhero Christmas Movie to boot?

You’ve gone wrong around the eyes like one of those crabs at the dump

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Y'know, I guess one person can't make a difference

So this year I wound up seeing Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2022) twice in the cinema, without needing to pay. I don’t go out of my way to see Marvel movies, but I was curious about this one, because I wanted to see what a veteran director of genre movies with a distinctive visual sensibility would do with the most policed and marketed cinematic property of our generation. The second time, I was interested to see if I was wrong.

It made me sad. And even sadder the second time. 

The Question in Bodies #49: When the Aliens Won

I guess recent news in the UK reminded me of this.

In John Christopher’s Tripods trilogy, beginning in 1967 with The White Mountains and serialised incompletely by the BBC in 1984 and 1985, the earth has been enslaved by an alien race who pilot three-legged war machines; it’s similar if not exactly the same as “what if War of the Worlds, only the Martians won?”

The Question in Bodies Podcast, Episode 9: Health and Horror, Dignity and Disgust, with Dr. Catherine Belling

It's always somehow nastier when the gore isn't red.

Bioethicist, expert in medical humanities, horror fan and Jeopardy runner-up Dr. Catherine Belling joins me in this week's episode to talk about why horror and health are inextricably linked. Starting with the throughline between Dr. Pimple Popper and the early work of Ridley Scott, we examine a whole casebook of media – including hereditary possessions, anti-Hippocratic oaths, verminous transformations and infested Mayan ruins – and touch on dissection, infestation, plastination, cancerification and death. 

There's some pretty grim stuff mentioned in this one, so content warnings for discussion of suicide, eugenics, ablism, and that white goopy stuff that comes out of pimples and cysts. 

By the way, the anthropological text neither of us could think of the name of was Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger.

You can hear me interrogate The Question in Bodies on the fancy widget below, subscribe via your favourite podcast outlet (like Apple, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, Google Podcasts and others) or find the archive at The Question in Bodies Podbean site. 

Want to hear episodes early? Back my Patreon. It's just one of those American dollars a month for all the stuff.

The Question in Bodies Podcast, Episode 8: The Death of the Mid-Budget Movie, with Raquel S. Benedict

The exception that proves the rule: John Wick

In episode 8, Raquel S. Benedict, most dangerous woman in speculative fiction, joins me to talk about what a mid-budget movie is, what's great about them and why they're an endangered species. Expect a discussion of the magic of The First Wive's Club, the deadly influence of the Thinkpiece-Industrial Complex, and how James Gunn became a victim of his own blob. 

Go check out Raquel's own podcast, Rite Gud (Patreon here) and here's Raquel's most recent contribution to BloodKnife.

You can hear me interrogate The Question in Bodies on the fancy widget below, subscribe via your favourite podcast outlet (like Apple, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, Google Podcasts and others) or find the archive at The Question in Bodies Podbean site. 

Want to hear episodes early? Back my Patreon. It's just one of those American dollars a month for all the stuff.