Every day, professional cultural commentary seems closer and closer to marketing copy, as we slouch deeper and deeper into an era defined by our collective decision that life is too hard and we all should just slip into a warm bath of low standards and perpetual excuses. So often, criticism of any art or media is treated as an assault on the people... See more

Consider film and television, an easy target for cultural pessimists, and for good reason. The signs of decay are hard to ignore. If it’s not the slurry of superhero blockbusters, remakes and reboots, then it’s the straight-to-streaming slop. The familiar three-act structure, that is the craft of screenwriting, seems mysteriously missing from even... See more

Hey, did you see that Robin said “Great Scott!”??? Remember how Doc Brown used to say “Great Scott!” in Back to the Future??? ‘memba? Why is this meaningful? How does this reference connect the themes and artistry of Stranger Things to those of Back to the Future? Well, it doesn’t, in common with both this show and all of the reference art that has... See more