Blogcritics Author: Kati Irons

Movie Review: The Fall - Tarsem Singh Gifts Us A Masterpiece

Kati Irons — Tue, 1 Jul 2008 07:54:54 EDT

The Fall feels like a gift of a movie for which we should all send Tarsem Singh a thank you note.
When I was in graduate school I took a writing class in which we were assigned to read The English Patient by Micheal Ondaatje. The book is about many things, but the story is driven by morphine; those who are addicted to it and the nurse that dispenses it to them. The story spills out like an addict's fever dream complete with vivid memories...

It's Not Sexism, Stupid, or My Struggle With Hillary Clinton

Kati Irons — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:15:54 EDT

That anyone can look at Hillary Clinton and see a victim is the biggest mystery to me of all.
This February I attended my first ever Democratic primary caucus -- well, actually my first ever caucus of any kind. The caucus for my district was held in an elementary school cafeteria which smelled like decades of cooked onions and boiled green beans, and we were bursting out of the room. I was told by some long time caucusers that during the...

Agnes Shanklin Joins the Dreamers of the Day while Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day: A Review of Two Delightful Women Living History

Kati Irons — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:22:31 EDT

Few have ever looked back on life and said "I'm so glad I threw away love when I had it in my hands."
Mary Doria Russell is one of the rare writers who has actually earned a place in my permanent book collection. When you work in a library, you tend to experience the whole world as your personal library, so it usually takes something special to join those books that never need returning. Although I love Russell's writing, I tend to recommend...

ShoWest Diaries: Days 3 and 4 - Journey to the Center of the Earth, 21 Premier Party, and My Dinner With Christian Bale

Kati Irons — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:46:44 EDT

In which our exhausted reporter loses track of time and space but gets her very own Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D spelunking head lamp.
In which our exhausted reporter loses track of time and space but gets her very own Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D spelunking head lamp. The longer a person stays in Vegas, the more it starts to mess with your head. By the latter days of ShoWest 2008, as I walked the path to and fro my ultra-deluxe lodgings at the TravelLodge, conveniently...

ShoWest Diaries: Day Two - Hamlet 2, Kung Fu Panda, and Ang Lee

Kati Irons — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:25:26 EDT

Our intrepid reporter finally gets to Dine With the Stars and learns a hard lesson about mixing tequila and Red Bull.
In which our intrepid reporter finally gets to Dine With the Stars, sees three movies in one day, and learns a hard lesson about the difference between a Pepsi and a Red Bull. The first thing that happened after I arrived in Las Vegas on Saturday was daylight savings time, an hour of sleep wrested from me on top of the other hour I lost on the...

ShoWest Diaries: Day One

Kati Irons — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:50:47 EDT

I�m a huge Eddie Murphy fan and I don�t want to see a fourteen foot high picture of Eddie Murphy�s face.
In which our intrepid reporter spends all day with Talking Heads stuck in her head (“and you may ask yourself… how did I get here?”) and a hapless cinema employee must abandon his post protecting the loose candy bins from ravening Hollywood executives in order to chase our intrepid reporter away from the Icee machine. It is...

Christians Lose Their Compass: A Closer Look At Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy

Kati Irons — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 12:29:29 EST

Pullman raises issues which we should be embracing, such as the importance of free will and the danger of religious oligarchy.
Weeks before the film adaptation of the Philip Pullman book The Golden Compass was scheduled to open, Christian groups began plastering newspapers and in-boxes with dire warnings of a hidden anti-Christian agenda. Editorials began appearing in newspapers encouraging boycotts and FOX News picked up the drumbeat, dovetailing neatly as it did into...

Movie Review: Some Enchanted Hitman - A Completely Random Film Festival

Kati Irons — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:40:20 EST

I chose Enchanted and Hitman based on the promise they would nicely complement my feast of nachos, Slurpee, and Red Vines.
There are some fine, potentially Oscar-worthy films in the theaters right now. As a film connoisseur it's vital that I keep up with great films like the latest from the Coen Brothers or Sean Penn's ode to Mother Earth. That is why I spent this weekend at the theaters watching the movies Enchanted and Hitman. I chose these two due to...

Can't Two Men In Caftans Have A Wizard Duel Without It Being Gay?

Kati Irons — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 08:24:25 EDT

It's a world which, now given permission, will do it's damnedest to reduce the character of Dumbledore into a caricature in rainbow robes.
Sometimes my topics come to me very clearly, practically written in fact, but other times, they buzz around like irritating gnats, difficult to ignore but impossible to catch. I feel compelled to put something down, but the who what when where whys are all jumbled up. I can only start at the beginning and hope I end up somewhere worthwhile by the...

Television's Merciless Onslaught: The Season So Far - Damages, Torchwood, Journeyman, Big Bang Theory, and Bionic Woman

Kati Irons — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 13:16:38 EDT

The formula for Entertainment Value: EV= (Plot+Humor+Suspense)Enjoyment/Time+Emotional Investment.
Sometime in early September, as the networks ramped up their endless promotions of the new TV season, I found myself experiencing a new sensation regarding TV -- the feeling of dread. I wasn't dreading the new shows per se, and I looked forward to the return of old favorites, but when, oh God, when am I supposed to watch them all? Lately my...