Shamed Writer-Director James Gunn Is Back For ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ Are We Groot?
By Rhonda Robinson
Disney reinstating James Gunn as the writer-director of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 ignited a controversy reaching beyond the tarnishing of Disney’s brand. It sparks a question, to which the answer is a social-political barometer. Do we really want to trade redemption for social assassination?
New Humor Fiction: Hitch-Hike Baby
Part 4 In the Odyssey of Carlos Stranger…
By Carlos Stranger
I did a lot of hitch-hiking around Shreveport before I got my learner’s permit and was able to drive my parent’s 1962 Buick Invicta station wagon. As a consequence, I’m probably lucky to be alive. Based on my experience, I can’t recommend thumbing rides; doing so was an absolute never-ever for my own children. While hitchhiking was something we did back in the day, due to the inherent dangers it has fallen out of favor. Does anyone hitchhike anymore?
The Reitman Family’s Blissful Ignorance
Deconstructing Canadian Culture, Part 20: Space to Laugh an Easy Laugh
By Josh Lieblein
Meatballs. Space Jam. Kindergarten Cop. Animal House. And above all, Ghostbusters.
These are just a few of the easy, breezy, morally loose and lighthearted comedy classics either directed by or produced by Canadian film legend Ivan Reitman. I don’t have to introduce or analyze them, because you know them all. You can quote lines from them. These films were memeworthy before memes were a thing.
Everything about the guy just screams likeability. Reitman was happy to lend some of his middle-to-low-brow cred to more artistically-minded Canadians – he produced Atom Egoyan’s Chloe, and helped David Cronenberg with a couple of his early projects in the ’70s. Kids can – and probably should, these days – watch his films and delight in them. Actors like Bill Murray, Danny DeVito and Sigourney Weaver loved working with him, and years later he helped give birth to the “Frat Pack” comedy explosion with 2003’s Old School. Even SJWs have to build around or subvert the structures he creates rather than trying to tear them down – that’s how you got “Lady Ghostbusters.”
PreTeena: March 11 – March 17, 2019
Sunday Comics!
By Allison Barrows
You won’t want to miss these hilarious cartoons depicting the ups and downs of adolescence. Now each week’s strips will debut on Sundays as the lead strip of Liberty Island’s Sunday Comics feature. If you draw a comic and would like to have your work featured on Sundays, please contact us: [email protected]
Check out Allison Barrows’ new PreTeena blog here.
How to Succeed without Really Trying
By Robert Arrington
Recently, on YouTube, I watched a stage performance of the musical, “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying”. One of my favorite scenes in the play is the one in which Ponty the window-washer worms his way into the Executive Suite by convincing the company president he is a Groundhog, i.e., a graduate of “Old Ivy”. Together, they sing the fight song, which exhorts the football team to “rip, rip, rip the Chipmunk off the field.”
3 Sunset Shots from Sunday, March 10, 2019
By David M. Swindle
*Submit your photographs of nature and the outdoor life to [email protected] to participate in this weekly feature exploring the natural world.*
Calling Harvey Weinstein a Pig May Be an Insult to Swine Everywhere, But…
… When He Walks Into a Courtroom He is You and Me
By David Churchill Barrow
There is an ongoing controversy upon the campus of Harvard University an a protest against Law Professor Ronald S. Sullivan Jr., an African-American jurist of renown, and Dean of the Winthrop House. Spray-Painted upon that house were DOWN WITH SULLIVAN!, OUR RAGE IS SELF DEFENSE, WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON! and YOUR SILENCE IS VIOLENCE.
Over 300 people have signed an online petition calling for his resignation as dean, and members of the Association of Black Harvard Women have addressed a public letter to him stating “You have failed us.” His sin? Agreeing to be part of the legal defense team of Harvey Weinstein.
Ringworld the TV Show?
By Tamara Wilhite
“Ringworld” by Larry Niven is a classic science fiction novel, and it spawned an entire series. Amazon is apparently developing it into a TV show. Having watched their Philip K. Dick adaptations, I think there are several ways it could be presented and remain true to the novels.
Rough Edges Reviews The Odds Are Against Us
By Liberty Island Links & Excerpts
James Reasoner at Rough Edges: “I backed the Kickstarter for this anthology, and now that it’s been published and I’ve read it, I’m glad I did. It’s an excellent collection of military fiction, some with contemporary settings, some historical. I’ve always liked war stories, and these are very well done.” Read the rest.
Click here to purchase The Odds Are Against Us: An Anthology of Military Fiction
Paul Haggis’ Superficial Gloss
Deconstructing Canadian Culture, Part 19: Promising More Than He Delivers
By Josh Lieblein
The Oscars are long over, and not a few commentators were of the opinion that the latest Best Picture Winner, Green Book, was the worst film to claim the prize since Crash, way back in 2005. Not a great comparison to be sure, but think about it this way: In our outrage-driven culture, and against ever-more virtue-signaling efforts like The Shape of Water and Moonlight, Crash somehow managed to hold the title of Worst Best Picture Ever for 14 years.
