After the credits roll

       I grew up watching The Grinch, the 1966 version, every December while making nifty handcrafted gifts for aunts and uncles.  The movie was only a scant twenty-six minutes but it didn’t need to be unnecessarily long since it was based off a children’s picture book that’s sixty-nine pages long depicting a grumpy green creature annoyed by the noise caused by festivities in Whoville so, he aspires to steal what he perceives to be the reason for the season, only to find that they are just as annoying without the trinkets so, he has a change of plans (heart) and joins them instead.  A touching story how singing can cause a heart to grow and a Grinch to stop being a total buzz kill.  Being such a fan of the original I was skeptical about the first remake but it had Jim Carrey as the Grinch so, it could be pretty good. How wrong I was.                 After being so disappoi...

Grandparents, aunts and uncles, parents, lend me your ears.  Video games are not all created equal, little ones need entertaining games to play too and, I am not just speaking about Fortnite .  Do you have a young niece or nephew that isn’t yet ready for big league games or an avid gamer who likes the classics that you have yet to buy a gift for?  I have got a great suggestion for you!  Mid last year, Activision released a remastered version of the Crash Bandicoot series as a collection.  The collection was a surprise hit, inspiring them to start to remaster another beloved series, Spyro the Dragon , released last month to rave reviews.  These two series have been fused into one piece of nostalgic glory that is the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon bundle , six games for the price of one!                 Many of the holiday releases are just not suitable for younger audienc...

If you have never seen the movie Shaun of the Dead , I implore you to reconsider.  “A romantic comedy with zombies” was the tagline emblazoned on the poster that hung during its limited theatrical release back in the year 2004, one that is the most accurate to the story of the movie.  You may have been one of the many missed out on this gory masterpiece that, I shall be taking a more in-depth look at for my first ever deep dive into the structure of script writing.  I will draw out the elements, using tools learned over scholarly endeavors, which make this film one of my favorites to watch on any occasion. Also, spoilers ahead. Duh. The most important element at the beginning of any story is to familiarize yourself with the characters and the setting of the film, something that is usually accomplished exposition.  In a movie, it is imperative to establish this within the first ten minutes, or so, of the film since time is limited. This constraint forces scripts t...