Not surprisingly (if you know me well at all) the three movies in this month’s film review have something to do with fantastic costumes. Granted, one’s an animated fairy tale, one’s a action-packed detective story, and one’s a romantic drama, but it’s the costumes that are important, right? Right?
Yet I hate the term “costume drama.” It’s almost like people forget that every film requires costumes. Everything is chosen for a reason, if the director is smart, that is. So I appreciate it when designers take the time to really be …

Imagine, if you will, a successful, polished, well-loved female athlete. She’s at the top of her game, and rightly so, for a lifetime of hard work and discipline has garnered her major endorsements and a solid career in her sport. She’s married, with two beautiful kids, and has the life most people dream of having.
So when the story breaks that her husband discovered proof of a affair, chased her out of the house, beat in her windows and took a few swings at her face, how do we choose to …

The fire in the hearth was barely a smoldering pile of embers, but Rosalyn was sweating under her bedclothes, desperately wishing for air and water.
She pushed back the heavy velvet hangings, conscious of the chilly air in her room and reaching in the darkness to find the pitcher and goblet that she always kept by her bedside. She filled it, drank it down, then filled it again, taking a sip and feeling her heart racing. With the bed hangings closed on one side still, she couldn’t see whether the …

“Hmm,” said Rosalyn, examining the dog with a slightly wary eye. “Mr - John, I don’t believe his leg is hurting him anymore. He’s not favoring it at all, now that he’s inside.”
“Inside and warm and looking to get fed, you mean?” John emerged from the kitchen holding a dark green ceramic bowl filled with some of the cold stew. Walking over to the dog, he set the bowl down in front of him, and the animal responded by jumping up eagerly and eating with great enthusiasm.
“His leg’s well enough,” …

Ok, fine. I’m doing it. Yeesh.
Enjoy, you lot.
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The tea shop on 46 Baxter Avenue was much like any other shop along that narrow, cobblestone lane. Its door was curved at the top, like an upside-down smile, and it was painted a fresh sort of spring green, with the shutters painted to match. It was a green that looked like the first shoots of spring, and when you looked at it, was like the taste of mint in your mouth. There were flower boxes in the front windows, two lamps on …

Lol.
But seriously. What is it with vampires? I get the whole sex-and-death thing, really, I do. I guess my question really is why do people still come back to vampire myths, reinventing them, reimagining them, until they are so far removed from the source myths that they are barely recognizable? It’s no harm in playing around in another mythology’s sandbox, so to speak, but it’s hard to do well. This month’s (because, hey, it’s still August, right?) feature is on those beloved bloodsucking fiends we all know and hate. Or …