I started writing these Top 5 lists for horror films ten years ago, mostly because I was sick and tired of how so-called “experts” and “critics” were… Read more “Finn’s Top 5 Horror Movie Lists: Introduction”
Tools of the Trade, now in book form!
Hmm? What’s that? Oh, nothing, just this new tabletop role-playing game supplement I wrote. It’s now available in book form. You can grab yourself a copy of… Read more “Tools of the Trade, now in book form!”
Nerd Alert! A New RPG Book for Fantasy Heists!
Sound the whoop whoop! There’s a new book on the horizon! It’s called Tools of the Trade: A GM’s Guide to Creating and Running Fantasy Heists, and… Read more “Nerd Alert! A New RPG Book for Fantasy Heists!”
Field Report: Cross Plains, Texas, June 10-12
Robert E. Howard Days is an annual event that takes place just as the heat trends to nigh-unbearable in Texas. It’s also in a part of Texas… Read more “Field Report: Cross Plains, Texas, June 10-12”
From the Vault: In Defense of Bad Movies, Part 2 – FLAAAASSSHH!
In Part 1 of In Defense of Bad Movies, I outlined the disconnect between film critics and the general public. If you want to read it, you… Read more “From the Vault: In Defense of Bad Movies, Part 2 – FLAAAASSSHH!”
From the Vault: In Defense of Bad Movies, Part 1 – Somewhere Between High Art and Cult Classic
I write a lot about old movies. I like writing about film; I have been a professional reviewer and critic for many years now, and I’ve been… Read more “From the Vault: In Defense of Bad Movies, Part 1 – Somewhere Between High Art and Cult Classic”
From the Vault: The Movies of Dungeons & Dragons, Part 5 – the End of an Era
Sword and Sorcery became an exploitation genre, rife with quickie production schedules, recycled sets, props and costumes, and written-on-the-fly scripts that checked boxes for mandatory story elements.… Read more “From the Vault: The Movies of Dungeons & Dragons, Part 5 – the End of an Era”
From the Vault: The Movies of Dungeons & Dragons, Part 4 – The Best of the Rest
Fourth in a 5 part series about the sword and sorcery movies of the 1980s as they related to our Dungeons & Dragons games.
From the Vault: The Movies of Dungeons & Dragons, Part 3 – Secondary Sources
As the 1980s trundled on, fueled by Miami Vice, swatches, and Duran Duran videos, the fantasy films should have gotten better, but they didn’t. After such a promising start, the rush to make more of the same spawned a host of shittier and shitter sword and sorcery movies, each one worse that the last. The genre had split into two tracks: cheap-o boob-grab exploitation nonsense, or big budget ham-fisted embarrassments, and both of these new movie styles served to give Sword and Sorcery a bad name.
From the Vault: The Movies of Dungeons & Dragons, Part 2 – the Harryhausen Playbook
Second in a 5 part series about the sword and sorcery movies of the 1980s as they related to our Dungeons & Dragons games.