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Monte WilliamsAbout Monte Williams Monte Williams has a Bachelors Degree in Communications. Would you like fries with that? Columns
The Ghostbusters Twinkie DefenseMore surprising than the still-impressive special effects and the jokes that hold up to modern scrutiny is the fact that there are moments throughout Ghostbusters that are legitimately scary. [2 November 2009] (more Lowbrow Literati) New Kids on the Block: Hangin’ Tough, Refusing to Let GoIn 1989, I loathed the New Kids on the Block with a passion and intensity that only junior high-aged children can bring to their study of popular culture, yet when Hangin’ Tough Live hit DVD, I had to see it. [8 October 2009] (more Lowbrow Literati) G.I. Joe’s Future Hangs on the UnbalancedThe fate of 'The Rise of Cobra' (both the toys and the movie) might depend on something completely out of Hasbro’s control: nostalgia. [26 August 2009] (more Lowbrow Literati) Let the Kayfabe be Unbroken: My Breakfast with BlassieThis movie provokes a guilty-pleasure curiosity, followed by a yearning to somehow feel above the ridiculous performance you’re witnessing. [16 July 2009] (more Lowbrow Literati) Truth Against Truth: The Work of Adrian TomineTomine has a gift for capturing body language and facial expressions -- his characters often say more in a silent panel than most say with an entire word balloon. [7 July 2009] (more Lowbrow Literati) Footnotes in the Great Book of GummiStill cute, funny and entertaining, Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears holds up remarkably well on every level. [7 June 2009] (more Lowbrow Literati) Metal Up Yours, Mine & Metallica’sMetallica’s got identity and projection issues -- James Hetfield repeatedly directs a string of insights or even accusations at some mysterious "you", only to concede by song's end that he is talking to himself. [6 May 2009] (more Lowbrow Literati) Looking Back at ‘Back to the Future’The most irreverent, knowing, daring and hippest time travel story of all time has, inevitably and fittingly, become a time capsule. [9 April 2009] (more Lowbrow Literati) Metabots and Deconstructicons: Transformers Goes PostmodernI am happy to report that after 25 years, the 'Transformers' franchise has finally gone postmodern… no thanks to 'Transformers Energon'. [29 January 2009] (more Lowbrow Literati) Bret Hart: A Real Life in a Cartoon WorldIn a surreal world dedicated to a uniquely haphazard and comically inept breed of pretense, Bret Hart’s appeal was simple: he made everything seem 'real'. [8 January 2009] (more Lowbrow Literati) There Was No Way to Tell This Man Was a MonsterScott Keith's Dungeon of Death is a confused, unfocused, meandering account of the most gruesome death yet in an industry known for killing off its performers at startlingly young ages. [1 December 2008] (more Lowbrow Literati) From a Fluid Culture to a Culture of Steam: Alan MooreFor all the self-serious Deep Thoughts and the sometimes unsettling material in DeZ Vylenz The Mindscape of Alan Moore, Moore can be a startlingly funny host. [21 November 2008] (more Lowbrow Literati) Galaxy Rangers: No Guts, No Glory, No ClueHaving missed out on the show in its '80s heyday, a hapless Monte Williams shares his thoughts during his baffled first look at The Galaxy Rangers. [3 September 2008] (more Lowbrow Literati) The Incredible Hulk: Madly in Anger with YouWith The Incredible Hulk ripping through movie screens in mind, Williams hunkers down on the couch with two silly, strangely stirring seasons of the TV show. [13 June 2008] (more Lowbrow Literati) We Dream We’re the People in SongsIs he strumming your face with his fingers? And singing your life with his words? [22 April 2008] (more Lowbrow Literati) WhitewashA small town white boy looks back at pop culture's impact on his concept of race while growing up, and how racism and homophobia are expressed and addressed in today's pop climate. [31 March 2008] (more Lowbrow Literati) Missing Places I’ve Never Been: A Love Letter to Alex RossThe appeal, the madness of Ross' painting is that it makes a scene involving a fight between spandex-clad do-gooders seem almost as important as Rockwell's depiction of the first step to end racial segregation. [25 February 2008] (more Lowbrow Literati) How Far Will A Man Go for G.I. Joe?Sigma 666: Wherein I offer my soul to Satan in exchange for G.I. Joe dolls. [18 December 2007] (more Lowbrow Literati) GodlessI'm not here to mock God and his fanatical fan club, I'll sit back and let much more clever men and women mock them for me. [7 November 2007] (more Lowbrow Literati) Autobiographigure: The Courageous Quest for a Toy in One’s Own ImageThe shelves of our great nation's toy retailers are seldom stocked with action figures of flabby, furry, graying columnists, but that could change . . . [10 October 2007] (more Lowbrow Literati) Where Gods and Monsters Watch Over MeMy DVDs and books and toys are so seductive, and the outside world so unappealing, that it's sometimes all I can do to force myself to walk out the front door every morning. [6 September 2007] (more Lowbrow Literati) By the Power of SoftcoreOne Man's Daring Look Back at He-Man and the Masters of the Universe… and Porky's [6 August 2007] (more Lowbrow Literati) Transformers: Autobotic AsphyxiationAutobotic Asphyxiation occurs when someone crosses that thin, tremulous line separating a passionate hobby from an unhealthy obsession. Watch for these symptoms . . . [3 July 2007] (more Lowbrow Literati) Who Will Watch the Watchmen?To reduce Watchmen to just another superhero movie is to miss the point entirely, and one can't help but anticipate that the result will have all the cultural relevance of a supermarket paperback novelization of Citizen Kane. [6 June 2007] (more Lowbrow Literati) Lose Your Delusion: An Open Letter to William ‘Axl’ Rose of Guns N’ RosesA disillusioned fan calls for the resurrection of Guns N' Roses, already. Please. Now would be good. [7 May 2007] (more Lowbrow Literati) A Miscarriage of Justice: The WWE and Political CampaigningThe time has come to admit to ourselves that young America's polite indifference towards partisan politics and the wrestling industry stems from the uncomfortable but increasingly undeniable fact that the two have grown indistinguishable from one another. [29 March 2007] (more Lowbrow Literati) Toys ‘n the AddictAs wild-eyed Rob (John Cusack), in High Fidelity, explains that his chaotic collection of LPs is not organized alphabetically, nor chronologically, but autobiographically, so, too, many toy collectors amass and display their plastic trinkets in an effort to compile something of a three-dimensional, pop cultural autobiography. [12 March 2007] (more Lowbrow Literati) The Red Envelope Held Sway Over AllPractically everyone in Boonville loathes Wal-Mart and Home Depot, and yet despite its role in the loss of two local independent businesses, Netflix has been granted a rare and elusive "Get Out of Our Smug Disapproval Free" card. [15 February 2007] (more Lowbrow Literati) Wish or Wishout YouMove over, MySpace, Amazon.com's 'who you are is what you buy' Wish List is the new hip virtual community. [22 January 2007] (more Lowbrow Literati) Reviews
Illustrated Collector’s Guide to Alice Cooper by Dale ShermanNeither the book’s essential ugliness nor its sloppy text slowed me down; Pearson’s knowledge of Alice Cooper’s career is encyclopedic, the revelations and anecdotes compelling. [27 May 2009] 
Wolverine and the X-Men: Heroes Return TrilogyThis is not (quite) your typically loud, stupid Saturday morning cartoon, and in fact it seems to steadily improve as it goes along. [26 May 2009] 
DORK #11Dork #11 offers such an exhaustive assortment of alternately inspired and absurd jokes that it's tempting to simply list the best hundred or so in order to persuade you to buy it for yourself. [3 January 2008] 
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 #1-4Buffy The Vampire Slayer hasn't felt this confident, charismatic or hungry, indeed this essential, in many years. [27 June 2007] 
Famous Fighters #1Famous Fighters is a wickedly absurd and delightfully entertaining romp which more than proved worthy of my initial affection. But, I have no idea why Smith and Pappalardo bothered to print it. [5 June 2007] 
Roadkill ZooThere are certain expectations a reader brings to a comic book with a title like Roadkill Zoo. [24 April 2007] 
Myriad #1-4Here are stories concerning gritty urban superheroes, sci-fi elves and the superheroic militant warriors in homoerotic bodysuits with whom they do effeminate battle, and, yes, pirates. [4 April 2007] 
Mouse Guard #1-6Happily for more sophisticated readers, much can be read into the political turmoil these characters are forced to navigate, but on the other hand none of the sociopolitical commentary is so heavy-handed as to diminish Mouse Guard's pleasures as a rousing action-adventure. [16 February 2007] 
The Dreamland ChroniclesReading The Dreamland Chronicles is like watching someone else play a video game, and its cliffhanger ending is about as satisfying as, "Thank you, Mario, but our princess is in another castle." [14 February 2007] 
Ouija Interview #1-4The gimmicky premise, the humble packaging, the minimalist illustrations and the overall cuteness serve to let the reader's defenses down so that its moments of power are all the more surprising and upsetting. [10 January 2007] 
Ruffians #1-4Ruffians is the kind of book that has the potential to appeal to everyone from superhero-obsessed fanfolk to jaded indie fans, from "cute critter" enthusiasts to teenagers who shop at Hot Topic. [15 December 2006] 
New Avengers/X-Men: Time TroubleEven at their best, superteam books have a hilarious tendency to expose every stumbling, stupid absurdity inherent to the superhero genre. [6 December 2006] 
Shuteye #1-2It is rare that someone can tell a story that truly creates in the reader a need to keep thinking once the story has ended. [19 October 2006] BlogsChannel Surfing: Narrative Integrity and Brock Samson [20 May 2009] |
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