In Defense of Bad Special Effects

From Babylon 5 to rubber kaiju suits to the Scorpion King, some sci-fi and fantasy media has such cheap-looking special effects work that it kind of ruins your immersion…but what if (hear me out) bad effects can actually be good?

Traveller: The Art of Ralph Niese

The late German illustrator left behind a wealth of wild, colorful, and just plain cool art that was as personal as it was over-the-top; let’s learn more about the work of a unique talent who turned his childhood obsessions into a day-glo statement about history, adult life, and the value of nostalgia.

Why Watchmen Can’t Be Adapted

And other musings on adaptation in the wake of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune and the recently announced film versions of L’Incal and Hyperion.

Three Decades of Undercinema

This is a spotlight on “undercinema” from the 1970s to the 1990s: these are great, wild, unusual, surprising films that have fallen through the cracks and that deserve a new life in contemporary film culture.

Visual Style and Aesthetic Trends in MOBA Games

MOBA video games are extremely popular, and much has already been said about the ways that entries like Dota 2 and League of Legends are mechanically different from each other – so let’s take a look at this genre from a new angle, investigating the stylistic interests and artistic influences behind these games.

New Arts of Armageddon: Visual Philosophies of ’90s Arcade Flyers

Arcade flyers from the 1990s are an overlooked treasury of style and design, and they preserve the hyper-cool aesthetic vision of the decade’s arcade masterpieces.