On previous episodes we have discussed the ages of comic book superheroes and the ages of Disney movies, but recently we started questioning if perhaps movie superheroes followed different structures than comic book superheroes… even if that’s where they are adapted from. This seemed like the kind of thing that we might want to discuss…
Category: Literature
e266. Everybody’s A.I. Critic?
A couple weeks ago, our friends over at Wisecrack made a video about “the purpose of snobbery” which was a catchy title and all, but really the point they were making was more about why criticism continues to exist and what it’s purpose is. However, what really got Mav was a point they made towards…
Call For Comments: Can AI be a movie critic?
From Mav: There’s been a lot of talk in the press and academia and just general chatter online about AI. Is it theft? Is it plagiarism? Is it ethical? Is it creative? Is it copyrightable? Is it the latest greatest thing that will change the world? Will it bring about the downfall of civilization? Is…
e264. Do You Remember Nostalgia? Do You Want To?
We’ve talked about nostalgia on the show before. In fact, we did it all the way back on our second ever episode. Remember that? The thing is, when we usually talk about nostalgia, we’re usually talking about media that is aimed at tickling our appreciation for the familiar and giving us more of something we’ve…
e261. PCA2023 After Dark!
After two years being held virtually, and a cancelled conference in 2020, the Popular Culture Association returned to in person conferences for PCA2023. There were some good notes (Mav won a major award for his doctoral dissertation) and some bad notes (Mav ended up catching COVID during the trip) but along the way there was…
e258. A Primer on the Ages of Disney
A few weeks ago we did a show all about the “Ages of Comics” and why comics scholars and fans broke things down the way they do. It was a lot of fun and it got us and got us thinking about how it isn’t quite as intuitive or even universally nailed down as people…
Call For Comments: The Ages of Disney
From Mav: A few weeks ago we did a whole show about he ages of superheroes and why that was different than the ages of comics. It was a show requested by friend of the show John Darowski because he suspected that, as much as comics scholars and fans use those terms, they’re not really…
e255. The Mystery of the Disappearing Media!
If you’re the kind of person that listens to our show, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard about the whole fiasco where Warner Brothers-Discovery cancelled and vaulted an essentially completed Batgirl movie so that it would never see the light of day. You’re probably also aware that in their cost-cutting measures they’ve yanked a…
e254. A Primer On the Ages of Comics
If you’re a long time comic book fan, you’ve probably used the terms “Golden Age”, “Silver Age”, “Bronze Age” and “Modern Age” to talk about different periods in comic publishing history. You probably don’t really think about what they mean most of the time, but you do have a vague distinction in your mind. For…
e253. So… Is Princess Diaries 2 a Bad Movie?
In 2001, Disney released the film adaptation of the YA novel The Princess Diaries, starring Ann Hathaway and launching her career on a trajectory that would eventually earn her an Oscar. However, before she got there, she’d make a sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, a film with… somewhat less acclaim. However, the second…