cruelty

Film-maker Jeanie Finlay paints a warm and generous portrait of a sympathetic subject: the American fat activist, podcaster and bestselling author Aubrey Gordon who became a viral sensation for her blog Your Fat Friend, in which she railed against the cruelty – sometimes unintentional and sometimes not – of people who can’t help deriding people like her. Her sprightly, witty, unrepentant arias of complaint earned her a fanbase that included Roxane Gay, James Corden and Adele. But it also got her trolling and vicious…

In case you’re not feeling adequately rewarded while playing 2021’s existentially devastating FPS Cruelty Squad, achievements have been added to Steam that will tell you what a good job you’re doing. If you’re unfamiliar, Cruelty Squad is jank pop royalty. It’s a grotesque and offensive-looking game where you play as a corporate mercenary carrying out assassinations in a world ruled by sinfully immoral rich people. What makes this different from real life, however, is that it’s maybe the future, and you can wear meat…

A Different Man, a New York-set fable-cum-psycho-thriller from writer-director Aaron Schimberg, is the type of relentlessly bleak movie that conflates suffering with depth. Almost all of that suffering is borne by Edward (Sebastian Stan), a loner in a damp New York apartment building isolated by a genetic physical disfigurement (Stan wears prosthetics) who wants to be an actor. Life is a parade of indignities for Edward: people either stare too long or avert their eyes from his face. His ceiling leaks. The only acting gig…

They say of Donald Trump, “The cruelty is the point.”  For Ron DeSantis, we might amend that to say, “The cruelty was pointless.” Rarely in American politics has a civic leader, a governor no less, used his official power to marginalize, demean, and endanger so many — in the naked service of career advancement — only to fall so spectacularly flat.  In the case of DeSantis, the Florida governor got trounced by Trump in the Iowa Republican caucuses. And despite his “Never Back Down” branding, DeSantis…

Consumer Softproducts’ follow-up to 2021’s shared fever dream, Cruelty Squad, is now listed on Steam. Psycho Patrol R is now available for wishlisting, though there is no announced release window. I had noticed Consumer Softproducts tinkering around with a mech game since the release of Cruelty Squad, but with such things, sometimes an end result is never seen. However, it’s looking more likely with the official name and fancy store page. Psycho Patrol R has you play as a federal police officer of the eponymous…

The unhappy union between the composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky (Odin Biron) and his wife, Antonina Miliukova (Alyona Mikhailova), is the jumping-off point for the latest film from the Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov (Petrov’s Flu). But like Ken Russell’s The Music Lovers, which explored the same story back in 1971, this film has only a passing acquaintance with the historical facts of Tchaikovsky’s turbulent life. While Russell’s film took the (admittedly entertaining) route of vulgar excess, Serebrennikov’s exploration…

As the Christmas-loving masses gear up for the long-awaited arrival of Santa Claus, passionate moviegoers are engaging in a jam-packed marathon of joyous movies, and Home Alone is undoubtedly at the top of everybody’s list — for the simple fact that folks want to indulge in its outrageous booby traps. Let’s not kid ourselves here, we’ve all had a moment of pause during a Home Alone rewatch and thought: “Wow, is Kevin actually trying to murder Harry and Marv?” I mean, I get it, they broke into his home, so he’s simply…

Get your wallets ready for Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #340, where missing book reports are more exciting than the Riverdale dating scene.Published Tue, 16 May 2023 20:27:10 -0500 by Jude Terror | Well folks, here we are again. Another week, another new release that we absolutely *must* talk about. This time, it's Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #340, hitting comic book stores this fine Wednesday, May 17th. Brace yourselves for some truly groundbreaking action: Archie losing a book report. Because in Riverdale, even the most…

Images via Marvel Studios As it is impossible to answer this question without going into detail, this article does contain mild spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Additionally, there are direct references to animal cruelty that may disturb some. Please read with care. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 may be a Marvel movie (and by extension a Disney movie) but it is anything but your family-friendly MCU romp. And it isn’t for the faint of heart.  This time around, the stakes are higher. Vol. 3 is the…

Comics that support social causes are one of my favorite things. Combine comics for a cause with Animal Cruelty Prevention Month, which takes place each April, and you have publishers raising funds to support U.S. animal rescue organizations and awareness about the plight of abused and neglected animals. As an animal lover, I believe raising awareness this April about how comic book fans can use the medium to save fur babies’ lives is important. “Our (mostly) silent global roommates add vibrance, variety, and wonder to…