June continues the trend of adding great crime and mystery fiction, giving us a variety of classic movies, Netflix Originals, and current television shows. After a partnership with the CW, Netflix is offering early release seasons of Arrow and The 100 to go with the much anticipated fifth season of Orange Is the New Black.…
Creating an unlikeable but compelling character is perhaps one of the most difficult components of crafting fiction. How do you hit that sweet spot of unlikability without turning the audience off them? Read an excerpt from Marianne Delacourt's Too Sharp! As with any well-developed character, revealing their motivation is usually the key. We all know…
Certain shows’ protagonists are not always the most honest, upstanding “heroes” that the good-guy-always-wins Hollywood has trained us to expect them to be. Some shows feature down right criminals and monsters and somehow build a story around them that causes the viewer to sympathize with, and even root for, the antihero. Not all of these…
Scandal, Shonda Rhimes' hit political thriller, is terrific trash. I don’t say that as a backhanded compliment, either. I have every reason to believe that it’s designed to be instantly disposable. Amped up and flashy to the point of garishness, it’s an expertly made show that cannot withstand a single moment of serious consideration. I…
Historians love to assemble rankings of America’s best and worst presidents. It’s the history nerd equivalent of trying to come up with the best NBA player or the greatest superhero. Of course, you have the perennial favorites at the top (Abe Lincoln is to the American presidency what Michael Jordan is to hoops or Batman…
