In 1984, Margaret Atwood penned one of the greatest dystopian novels of all time. The Handmaid’s Tale is a terrifying look at a patriarchal society run amok. It tackles a range of important topics, including women’s rights, gender roles, religion, and tyranny. These issues are even more present in our day and age; they are unlikely to ever be solved as no real solution likely exists. But that’s how the…
I ended up watching Ghost in the Shell over the weekend. So why not write a Ghost in the Shell movie review? I guess if I had a TL:DR it would go something like this: I thought it was a good movie overall, despite critical pummeling and box office disappointment (as well as lingering controversy). Visually, it looks amazing. I was in awe how much detail went in getting the look…
“I have a cunning plan!” The sixth Transmetropolitan collection, like the previous volume, is a mixed bag. The main story, “Gouge Away,” is a strong investigative reporting tale and nicely ties together the Transmetropolitan, Vol. 5: Lonely City and Transmetropolitan, Vol. 4: The New Scum stories. Spider Jerusalem’s talents really get to shine and his articles make a huge impact after the media’s attempt to defang him with popularity. The…
The Super Bowl is an annual spectacle of brute force, finesse, strategy and, of course, marketing. For many Americans, the actual game of gridiron is second fiddle to the extravaganzas at the periphery. Since at least 2004, when we had the infamous “wardrobe malfunction,” the Super Bowl halftime show has been as big a deal as the game itself. For even longer, the Super Bowl has been precious advertising time….
Consider this: Tom Brady isn’t a great quarterback. That’s a bold statement, isn’t it? How can anybody possibly believe that Tom Brady could possibly be anything less than one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time? He’s been to the Pro Bowl 12 times, been a Super Bowl MVP four times and played in a record seven Super Bowls. Oh, and he just won his record 5th Super Bowl ring while throwing…
I generally don’t consider myself a fan of the DC Universe at large. That changed a bit when the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us was released in 2013. While it is on the surface playing on the overused trope of “yet another alternate reality story” it does center on a rather interesting premise: what if Superman just totally lost his shit and decided to take over the world? It’s quite…
“Life sucks, then you die.” The fifth Transmetropolitan collection is a bit of a hodgepodge. This volume certainly is not as strong as the first first four volumes (see my previous reviews for Lust for Life, Year of the Bastard, The New Scum). Without the presidential election the series loses a bit of steam. But digging into these six issues reveals some truly startling insights of the role journalism plays in our…
I’ve been hearing rumblings of a Ghost in the Shell live action movie for what seems like years. And all of a sudden a very short teaser emerges, followed by an official Ghost in the Shell movie trailer last week. Ghost in the Shell has long been one of my favorite anime series. Though I wasn’t that big a fan of the original movie, the Stand Alone Complex (SAC) adaptation remains…
With the conclusion of the 2016-2017 college football season after an amazing BCS National Championship Game (congratulations to the Clemson Tigers), I thought it would be a good time to collect my thoughts on Justin Fuente’s first season as head coach of the Virginia Tech Hokies. When I heard that Frank Beamer was retiring a little over a year ago, I definitely had conflicting emotions. As a member of Virginia…
Welcome to my recap of my 2016 Goodreads reading challenge. In case you couldn’t tell from my book reviews here on Rampant Discourse, I love books of all stripes. I spend an inordinate amount of my free time reading, especially for an engineer (my day job). So let’s get to it! I joined Goodreads in 2012 to track my reading and hopefully interact with other bibliophiles. While the interaction has…