reviews Tag

The following review is rated MS, for Mini Spoilers. Wonder Woman just dropped, and I have literally just come back from seeing it in theaters. I’m here to tell you my own personal review (slight spoilers) about the newest addition to the DC Extended Universe. Wonder Woman closely follows the ending of Batman v. Superman, with the premise opening with Bruce Wayne obtaining a photograph of Wonder Woman’s past, and she begins her recollection of the time of the photograph. It is her origin story, her Gotham, her Batman Begins,Read More

If you’re the type of person who is always damaging your carpet, electronics, and furniture with spills, the Mighty Mug just might be the most important invention since the light bulb. I recently had the chance to test out some of Mighty Mug’s long line of products, and I must say, I was pretty impressed. While at first glance, Mighty Mug might appear to be an infomercial-ready gimmick that isn’t quite as cool once you get it out of the box and into your home, I can attest to the factRead More

I’d never been to an all trap show before, so I was a bit apprehensive when I decided to attend the Denver leg of Brillz’s Twonkdination tour. I love trap, sure, but a whole night of it? I was worried I couldn’t handle hours of bass and whomp and rap. Still, I’d never seen Brillz live and had only caught a tiny bit of Party Favor at EDC last summer, so I decided to go to the show with an open mind. In the end, I was blown away. IRead More

Scottish rock instrumentalists Mogwai – a group that I reviewed a few months ago – are back with an EP to follow up their 2014 Rave Tapes album. The 6-track EP, titled Music Industry 3 Fitness Industry 1 features three new songs recorded during the Rave Tapes sessions, and three remixes of album tracks. The EP has spawned the single “Teenage Exorcists,” one of the bands most catchy and ambitious vocal tracks to date. Music Industry 3 Fitness Industry 1 is available on iTunes here, but first, take a listen to the single on SoundCloud,Read More

I used to go on Yelp to help me decide where to go to eat or get takeout. I don’t really do that anymore. Why? Because despite the assertion that Yelp exists ostensibly for this purpose, I’ve found that it skews largely negative, at least where I live. I suppose this makes sense in some way. People are more likely to be moved to write a review of a restaurant if they’ve had a bad experience there. (People fucking LOVE bitching about stuff.) Otherwise they’re too busy stuffing their facesRead More

Last weekend I attended the Mile High Horror Film Festival (MHHFF), Denver’s premier attraction for those looking to see the best and brightest in horror cinema. Luckily for me, this year boasted some significantly scary offerings. In its fifth year, Mile High Horror Film Festival has come into its own. Hosted by the Alamo Drafthouse, horror fans can have their fill of food and drinks while watching the screenings. There are also several opportunities to get done up in monster makeup, meet character actors—like this year’s Tony Todd of Candyman—andRead More

Joanna Rakoff’s “My Salinger Year” is a memoir that is particularly relevant to 20-something girls. It’s a story we’ve heard before, namely on the popular HBO show Girls, but that does not make this story any less engrossing. Sometimes truth must be told several times before it sets in. Rakoff’s memoir documents her year working for the literary agency which represented J.D. Salinger. The book is not so much about J.D. Salinger, or the fans that write to him whose letters are never delivered. It is more about Rakoff’s comingRead More

Rebecca Makkai’s The Hundred-Year House is a stunning achievement. The story is like an archaeological dig into the history of a house with many secrets. It leaves the reader plummeting through space and time, weaving a narrative with such depth and passion that it cannot be ignored. With nods to the gothic tradition, the story is not one of ghosts, but one of the inextricable link between past and present. It is a treasure hunt on the highest order and readers will find themselves engulfed and intrigued by the twists andRead More

At first glance, the cover of “Season to Taste,” by Natalie Young looks like another boring chick lit novel, clogging the shelves of bookstores. Upon closer inspection this notion is dispelled. “Season to Taste” is a cautionary tale about not getting stuck in a loveless marriage–duly noted. The story chronicles the actions of a sad woman who has just done the unthinkable. Lizzie Prain kills and eats her husband. But this is not the end of the story. Merely the beginning. The story is told in snippets which include flashbacksRead More

This past Wednesday marked a glorious occasion for fans of dance-along, paint-your-face indie pop.  Giddy, metro rock outfit Walk the Moon – still selling out shows on the back of their massively successful second album – released a taste of what’s next in the form of the whimsical dance floor track “Shut Up and Dance.” The Ohio foursome – comprised of members Nicholas Petricca, Kevin Ray, Sean Waugaman and Eli Maiman – have spent the summer supporting Panic! at the Disco on their Gospel Tour, but it appears that theyRead More

1. ‘Merica Every year, Bonnaroo tells the story of America in four days. People come to a 600-acre farm in Middle America hoping for the best but not knowing what to expect. Massive amounts of dollar bills are exchanged, people get drunk, friends are made, and on Monday you have the worst case of Mondays this side of Mike Judge’s imagination. Bonnaroo offers everything for everyone. You can watch the World Cup while eating a grass fed hamburger and drinking a microbrew. You can watch Skrillex, Damien Marley, Robbie Krieger,Read More

NOTE: This post was co-written by Writtalin contributors Cat Hausler and Sophie Tahran. The two are besties and life-long festival buddies. It’s been four weeks to the day since we started on our journey to Sasquatch. No, we’re not talking about going on a quest to find the giant, furry monster that supposedly haunts the Pacific Northwest, but the epic three-day music festival that stole our hearts. This year’s Sasquatch was our first, and after the amazing time we had, it most likely won’t be our last. Here’s a breakdownRead More

The scene around the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, OH is familiar. This place is as stereotypical as a concert venue gets; old-timey, even. There’s a marquee above the door, advertising that day’s show on one edge and the upcoming six on the other. The doors are closed, covered in graffiti unpainted and untouched in the two plus years I’d been coming to shows here, almost like a point of pride. The line stretches long but not as long as I’d expected. Usually it trails up the sidewalk at leastRead More

Oh god, I done did it again… One too many crantinis and this girl became an absolute trainwreck – complete with tear-smeared mascara and thirteen “prof pic!” updates in the space of 45 minutes, all iced with a nice Technicolor yawn and a porcelain pillow at the end of the night. What was I thinking??? I kid, I kid. So it wasn’t quite that kind of night, sorry to disappoint, but I did manage to find another perfectly neat, and much less “I’m-going-to-feel-like-a-complete-dumbass-in-the-morning-once-I-have-slept-off-this-jackhammer-being-taken-to-my-temple,” way to destroy myself on a SaturdayRead More

I truly believe that the hallmark of any great artist, of any great musical outfit, is the ability to evolve musically, to grow personally, and to have every new album serve as a showcase for that latest great step forward. There is little more impressive than progress. Against Me!‘s latest album, the deeply personal Transgender Dysphoria Blues, not only represents a bold new step for the band and frontwoman Laura Jane Grace – it represents a colossal step forward for the LGBT society, and hell, the American public at large. If TransgenderRead More