The Incredibles 2: How To Waste A Good Premise
The Importance of Theme Revealed by Comparing the Original to the New Sequel…
By Oren Litwin
I recently saw The Incredibles and The Incredibles 2 back to back. The Incredibles is a brilliant film: a master-class in storytelling and a lot of fun. The Incredibles 2 is a good film: enjoyable with exciting action sequences and several hilarious bits about parenting. However, in my judgment it does not approach the brilliance of its predecessor. And a big part of the difference, I think, is in the two films’ treatment of theme. [Spoilers ahead!]
The Growing Hidden Market for Information Appliances
By Tamara Wilhite
Bringing in information appliances like Alexa and Siri costs you your privacy. They’ll monitor and record everything you say, parsing it for key terms to be used in advertising. However, I can’t say they aren’t for everyone. I’m going to ignore those who want to live in a networked home because it feels like the future has arrived and focus on those that are the best (or worst) case scenario.
VIDEO: Mike Baron Talks About His New Novel ‘Sons of Bitches’!
The prolific writer’s fourth Josh Pratt Book is Too Hot for Facebook
By Mike Baron
See the ad for the fourth book in the Bad Road Rising series that Facebook won’t show!
Robespierre’s Radical Liberalism: Reflections on Ruth Scurr’s Fatal Purity
Were Robespierre and the Jacobins Proto-Socialists?
By Shant Eghian
Having recently finished Ruth Scurr’s biography on Robespierre, Fatal Purity, I have had my world turned upside down on the actions of Robespierre and the course of the French Revolution. Don’t get me wrong, I still think the French Revolution was a disaster, a massively overblown response to legitimate grievances against the ancien regime. But Scurr’s biography blew apart many preconceptions that I had about what the French Revolutionaries really wanted, the differences between the various revolutionary factions, and the conditions that lead to the infamous Committee of Public Safety that summarily executed thousands of innocent French citizens.
Like any biography, particularly one about a controversial figure such as Robespierre, Scurr’s biography is subject to different criticisms. She seems to me to try to be objective as possible, but of course, no history is perfect, and is always subject to different interpretations. This being said, the book seems to be generally favorably reviewed, and I am no expert on the French Revolution, so I am not going to review the book. Instead, I am just going to make some general observations about things I learned and what some valuable lessons from Robespierre’s life and role in the French Revolution could be.
I think the most important myth that Scurr’s book shatters is that Robespierre and the Jacobins were some kind of Proto-Socialists. This is a view held by both Robespierre’s admirers and detractors.
The Greatest Conservative Films: Captain America: Civil War (2016)
By Eric M. Blake
Editor’s Note: In April of 2017 writer Eric M. Blake began a series at Western Free Press naming the “Greatest Conservative Films.” The introduction explaining the rules and indexing all films included in the series can be found here. Liberty Island will feature cross-posts of select essays from the series with the aim of encouraging discussion at this cross-roads of cinematic art with political ideology. (Click here to see the original essay. Click here to see the previously cross-posted entries on Jackie Brown, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.) If you would like join this dialogue please contact us at submissions [@] libertyislandmag.com.
The Peasants Aren’t Just Revolting, They’re Getting Uppity, Too
I wish you’d stop being so good to me, boss
By Roy Griffis
The King was playing cards one day when he heard a very loud commotion outside. He sent a noble to see what the problem was. The noble races back, “Sire, it’s terrible! The peasants are revolting.”
“Nonsense,” the King said, continuing to play cards. “The peasants have always been revolting. You mean they’re rebelling.”
America’s peasants are rebelling, and the nobility is not happy about it.
Growing Up In An Instant
By David Churchill Barrow
Check out this excerpt from Silver & Lead: A Novella of the West by David Churchill Barrow and MaryLu Barrow.
Check Out This In-Depth Interview With Roy “Griff” Griffis, Author of LI’s Lonesome George Series
This hour-long discussion digs deep
By Liberty Island Staff
One of Liberty Island’s founding authors reveals the story behind the story in a discussion with podcaster Frank Garner.
New Fiction: Imperfect by Design
By Tamara Wilhite
The investigator sat supernaturally still, and it wasn’t just because of the high resolution scanners tied to the high security video conferencing system. The five senior administrators in the call were older, and they were barely able to be composed if they cared to be at all.
“Tell me, again, what they died of,” the one with the strongest medical background stated.
The investigator repeated the bacteria’s full scientific name.
“Was the determination that it is genetically engineered?” the former doctor asked.
“Yes and no.”
“That is a yes or no question.”
“The ancient strain would cause illness in the average population but have a low mortality rate. The pathogen appears to be that ancient strain tweaked to use the same vector the modern version of the bacteria exploits, though the modern strain is an inconvenience for most people.”
Political Writing 101: Creating Compelling Epic Heroes
Part 4 In a New Weekly Column With Advice for Conservative Creative Writers
By Jamie K. Wilson
Welcome to this series on how to write fiction from a conservative point of view. These posts can simply be read, or you are invited to join a guided writer’s workshop to practice and critique with other writers. To join the workshop, please email me, Jamie, at kywrite at gmail.com and request an invitation.
