Mission Statement: Here There Be Ranting

It's hard to pinpoint where all of this started, but I'm pretty sure that it started with the first JJ Abrams Star Trek.  To say that I didn't care for that movie would be an understatement on par with calling the Grand Canyon "kind of big."  I despise that movie, and I let all my friends know how I felt.  A lot.  Probably more than was socially acceptable, and maybe even more than the film deserved.  But whenever I brought up how much I hated Star Trek, my friends would always respond the same way:

"Matt, you hate everything," they'd chuckle.



Well, allow me to set the record straight--I don't actually hate everything.  I hate lots of things, sure, but I also love lots of things too.  I love plenty of books, movies, comics, games and stage plays.  I love good ones, bad ones and some frankly embarrassing ones.  In fact, my tastes are so eclectic and spread over so many different media that it took me a while to finally realized what I really loved.

I love stories.

I love to be taken away; to follow characters along their journeys and see how they end.  I love to be moved by their triumphs and crushed by their defeats.  Even a bad story can grab my attention as long as the telling is good (or So Bad It's Good).

What I can't stand is waste.  Whether it be wasted effort, time or especially potential, I hate it when stories are wasteful.  It's not a matter of things being bad, per se.  There are plenty of things I think are bad that I never get worked up over.  No, I get worked up over stories that have something brilliant (or at the least entertaining) and waste it.

I don't get worked up because they're bad; I get worked up because I know they could be better!

This blog is going to be a conduit for me to rant and gush about the things I hate and the things I love.  I'll be covering many different topics and many different media, with an emphasis on film, animation, books and comics.  As time goes on I may add new features and topics, but here's a sampling of the types of columns you'll find on this blog:

Ten Things

In this column, I will prove that I can find ten things I liked about movies I hated--and that I can find ten things I hated about movies I liked.

I Love It, But It Sucks

Here I'll talk about something that I enjoy that in no way deserves my positive feelings, and why I love it even though it sucks.

Such Heroic Nonsense

Wherein I talk comics and superheroes and why they're among my favorite kinds of stories.

Blood, Sweat and Chairshots

Professional wrestling is one of the most bizarre forms of storytelling, but I also find it to be one of the most fascinating.  Whether it be Pay-Per-View reviews, angle retrospectives, or just analyzing a single match, I hope to show you why I love a pretend sport.


Again, more columns will follow, so please stay tuned!