“Colossal We Come These Renegades in the Ring”: On the Triumph of Male Fragility in The Greatest Showman and Eurovision Song Contest

We can all agree that the last few years in Donald Trump's America have felt like an eternity - filled with a dizzying array of national outrages and humiliations. But if there has been one theme that has consistently defined this period it is raw male fragility, particularly white male fragility. Being a part of…Read more “Colossal We Come These Renegades in the Ring”: On the Triumph of Male Fragility in The Greatest Showman and Eurovision Song Contest

Film Review: John Wick (2014)

As my good friend and fellow dweeb Nick Allen once pointed out: middle-aged killing machines have become the new normal in contemporary Hollywood actioners. Initiated by Liam Neeson's crusty John Mills in Taken, and expanded upon by Tom Cruise (Jack Reacher), Denzel Washington (The Equalizer), and Pierce Brosnan (The November Man), wizened bruisers have suddenly become as…Read more Film Review: John Wick (2014)

Film Review: Hercules (2014)

When one thinks of Brett Ratner - one of Hollywood's resident homophobes - great filmmaking doesn't exactly spring to mind. Over the past ten years this paunchy businessman killed a billion dollar franchise (X-Men), gradually made another irrelevant (Rush Hour), and even found time to desexualize Pierce Brosnan and Selma Hayek - an idea one would…Read more Film Review: Hercules (2014)