Elsewhere Review: Jen Agg, “I Hear She’s A Real Bitch”

Posted on March 15, 2019 by Denise

Originally published at The Green Man Review!

A look behind the kitchen door, into the world of restaurants, chefs and what it takes to thrive in this business, Agg’s unflinching look at her life feels like a master class in the art of running a restaurant, but I’m sure it’s just a tip of the iceberg. NOTHING is off the table, from her life as a suburban teen (complete with exploratory vibrator sessions) and falling in love to running her award-winning restaurants and her love of food. Agg has a charming prose style, one that feels as if you’re sitting right next to her at a bar, sharing some charcuterie. And it’s just as delicious.

While she calls herself a “bad feminist”, the book is ripe with bits on how women are treated in the world, shining the light on what she’s done in her own life that fed the patriarchal beast. In fact, by leaving no stone unturned in this memoir, Agg shows feminism in its warts-and-all splendor. Throw in pictures from an illustration of a charcuterie board to Bogie and Bacall, and you’ve got one delicious book you may just devour in one sitting.

(Penguin, 2017)

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Baltimore Screening Pass-palooza: “The Best of Enemies”!

Posted on March 13, 2019 by Denise

The trailer for this one caught my eye awhile back, so I’m happy to say I’ve now got passes for the B’more screening!  Synopsis!

THE BEST OF ENEMIES is a timely, inspiring drama starring Academy Award® nominee Taraji P. Henson (Hidden Figures) and Academy Award® winner Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri). Based on a true story, THE BEST OF ENEMIES centers on the extraordinary relationship between Ann Atwater (Henson), a fearless and outspoken civil rights activist who faced off against C.P. Ellis (Rockwell), a local Ku Klux Klan leader, to blaze the way for school desegregation in Durham, North Carolina, in 1971.

Henson! Rockwell! Let’s go!

Continue reading →

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Baltimore Screening Pass-palooza: “Us”!

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Denise

It’s time to take a peek at what Jordan Peele has in store for us with Us!  I’ve got passes for the B’more screening, and if you want in? Well, read on…but first? Synopsis!

Set in present day along the iconic Northern California coastline, Us, from Monkeypaw Productions, stars Oscar® winner Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide Wilson, a woman returning to her beachside childhood home with her husband, Gabe (Black Panther’s Winston Duke), and their two children (Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex) for an idyllic summer getaway. Haunted by an unexplainable and unresolved trauma from her past and compounded by a string of eerie coincidences, Adelaide feels her paranoia elevate to high-alert as she grows increasingly certain that something bad is going to befall her family. After spending a tense beach day with their friends, the Tylers (Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Cali Sheldon, Noelle Sheldon), Adelaide and her family return to their vacation home. When darkness falls, the Wilsons discover the silhouette of four figures holding hands as they stand in the driveway. Us pits an endearing American family against a terrifying and uncanny opponent: doppelgängers of themselves.

Ready? Let’s go! Continue reading →

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Con News: Time to submit for Ignatz Awards consideration!

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Denise

Got an independent, small press comic you’d like to submit for consideration for Small Press Expo’s Ignatz Awards? Well then, hop to it – it’s time to submit y’all!

Read on for all the 411 from the Ignatz committee!

Continue reading →

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TrailerWatch: “Booksmart” Red Band trailer

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Denise

How can you ignore a film with the tag line “Getting Straight A’s – Giving Zero F’s”? That’s right, you can’t. Synopsis!

Told from a wildly original, fresh and modern perspective, Booksmart is an unfiltered comedy about high school best friends and the bonds we create that last a lifetime. Capturing the spirit of our times, the film is a coming of age story for a new generation.

And did I mention it’s Olivia Wilde’s first directorial joint? Booksmart just hit SXSW, and hopefully will be in theaters soon!

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New “Tolkien” trailer delves into his mythmaking

Posted on March 6, 2019 by Denise

More Tolkien! While the first trailer hinted at J.R.R. Tolkien’s stories and how they tied into his personal experiences, this trailer shows Tolkien (Nicholas Hoult) talking with BFF/future wife Edith Bratt (Lily Collins) about linguistics and language-building. It also shows more of Tolkien’s WWI experiences, and hints at love, loss and conflict.

Tolkien hits theaters May 10th, 2019. I for one am looking forward to it.

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“Captain Marvel” aims high, and succeeds

Posted on March 6, 2019 by Denise

“Good kitty.”

Story: Girls just wanna have fun y’all. And what’s fun for Kree warrior Vers is to finally get the chance to prove herself on a mission. But things start to unravel as Vers finds herself having images of a different life. Are they memories, or fantasies? Only one way to find out…

Genre I’d put it in: Kickass Superhero Movies

Remake, Sequel, Based-On, or Original: Based on the Marvel comics of the same name. Part of the MCU/Marvel Cinematic Universe. Continue reading →

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TrailerWatch: IT’S HERE! The “Game of Thrones” Season 8 trailer is here!

Posted on March 5, 2019 by Denise

OMGOMGOMG!  #CleganeBowl? Dragons vs. an Ice Dragon? BRIENNE AND TORMUND SHENANIGANS?  Please please please let it all be so!  Meanwhile, HBO is keeping their cards very close to their chest, while giving rabid fans (like me) a little aperitif to whet our appetite. IS IT APRIL YET????

The final season of Game of Thrones hits April 14th. And while there’s supposed to be a whole lotta death (sobs while thanking Emergency Awesome for the 411 from the showrunners), I cannot wait.

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TrailerWatch: “Shazam!” shows off more power, and Eminem!

Posted on March 4, 2019 by Denise

Okay, so this trailer is a mashup that’ll have your head spinning, but it’s damn effective at getting you the details on Billy and his alter-ego, Shazam. DC seems to want us all to know that this ain’t the old-school Snyder joint, and I’m all for it. In fact, with this trailer and the teaser for Birds of Prey this could be a complete break from the DCEU altogether. I ain’t mad.

Okay, I’m not gonna spoil the fun for you – Shazam hits theaters (probably quite literally, considering what goes on in this trailer) April 5th, 2019.

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Elsewhere Review: Brian James Freeman (ed.), Reading Stephen King

Posted on February 27, 2019 by Denise
Herewith, a mini-review originally published at The Green Man Review!

I remember being eleven years old, clutching a shiny new paperback copy of The Shining. (Yes, my parents bought it for me. They were cool with me reading anything, as long as I was reading.) These essays may be preaching to the choir, but that’s alright. I’m digging the sermon. This collection has the vibe of King’s Danse Macabre – a feeling that you’re not really reading, you’re having a mind conversation.

Stewart O’Nan’s opening salvo, “Sometimes You Go Back”, encapsulates everything I love about “Early King”. (It’s no secret that The Stand is my all time favorite book.) O’Nan gives words to the feeling I feel whenever I reread King, or revisit *any* favorite haunt of mine. The comfort of coming home. The house on the hill may be creepy and the sewers are definitely not safe, but it’s home.  

The essays here include Richard Chizmar on the truth of King’s stories, Stephen Spignesi deconstructing King’s ability to draw us into his works and what it means to write, and Tony Magistrale on King being “subpar” – HAH! – in most literary and academic groups. But there’s more; Frank Darabont, Clive Barker, Mick Garris and so many more pay tribute to the King. My only complaint? I wish there was a brief sentence or two intro at the start of each essay. Just so I can know the essayist a bit. Because I’m lazy and hate to Google when I read something I’m sucked into. 

I have to admit I took this book everywhere. The gym, restaurants, my bathroom… And I ain’t ashamed. Much like King’s work, I was hooked.

(Cemetery Dance, 2017)

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