VANISHING ON 7th STREET does such a good job at creating a nightmare situation that I happily ignore the truly dumb plot element that could make you dismiss the whole movie. Though you have to get past a major flaw in its logic, its situation is genuinely nightmarish.

One night in Detroit, Paul, a projectionist in a movie theater, is reading about Roanoke and black matter. The lights go out — all of them. Paul’s wearing a battery-powered light so he can see empty clothes in the theater but no people. …

In the near-future, the world’s computers have been linked into a planet-wide uber-machine called Computer One, which controls pretty much everything, from energy production to machinery.  Humanity is free to live leisurely.

Professor Yakuda studies insect colonies. What Yakuda’s research tells him is that Computer One has reached the point where there is nothing to differentiate it from a living being, and it may very well consider the human race a threat, merely because it exists. 

As he discusses this with one of his friends, they notice the very red sunset, which could only be the result of a massive…

Fans of horror fiction who only read novels are missing out on the very best horror fiction ever written. The short story is the perfect length to deliver shocks and scares and get out before too many improbabilities. Any horror fan wishing to bone up on the marrow of the field needs to read the classic short stories. 

THE DARK DESCENT is a perfect place to begin an education in U.S. and U.K. contributions to the horror genre. …

Looking at Medium’s All Hate Trump selections on my Suggested For You list, I remember how this used to be a place that, like liberal Democrats of the past, genuinely seemed interested in diversity of thought.

But I also thought of something more personal. We’ve all had people we were very close to who we drifted away from. You remember the good stuff, and wonder why you stopped hanging out. (You forgot the bad stuff — we like to avoid pain and wallow in reruns of pleasant moments.)

You figure what the hell, and you reach out. The old connection is there, you’re talking the way you used to, avoiding Those Topics.

And at some point, after a few shaky moments, it hits you like a boulder: It’s not about having different ideas and views, you…

“There’s no ‘cancel culture, you conservative snowflakes!” the Democrats lied

For decades, the American Left in general and then, starting in the eighties, the Democrats in particular, told us one of the greatest sins in America’s history was…

You thought I was going to write, ‘slavery,’ didn’t you?

Nope. That didn’t get mentioned much. Too long ago, and Black Power was on the rise, and Democrats were thrilled with the Left’s wins for improving (not perfecting) the lot of black Americans. …

I’m gonna SPOIL everything, because I don’t want you to be miserable.

SPOILERS FROM THE NEXT SENTENCE, SO DON’T READ IF YOU WANT TO SEE THIS HORRIFYING MOVIE!

I like depressing movies. I like movies that are merely “downbeat.”

Tarkovsky, Ozu, Peckinpah, Fincher, Bergman.

Movies that get my Two Thumbs Up: REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, LEAVING LAS VEGAS, MILLION DOLLAR BABY, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, SYNECHDOCHE, NEW YORK…ALIEN 3 (much better than ALIENS)…

I like downbeat science fiction movies, too. INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (the one with Veronica Cartwright screaming at the end)…

But this one…

ANIARA is based…

A List Based on What’s On Medium and Whatever’s Playing in the Background While I Typed This

This subject is too important for a lengthy intro: Here’s the list.

black reaction gifs

Quentin Tarantino movies

white liberals

covid-19

not liking riots

pointing out that police kill more whites than blacks

2020

Watch the faces of those on TV complaining about our mask-free president.

I just read the opinion that Donald Trump is guilty of killing thousands because he won’t be seen wearing a mask.

He observes the most basic of the warnings we’ve been given since day one: Don’t get sneezed on by sick people.

“Wear a mask,” he said. Repeatedly. So did the doctors, Fauci and the other one, who everyone got mad about because Trump called her by her first name, because when he did that everyone forgot she was a doctor, forever.

(Why must they force us to…