http://www.theculturalgutter.com/ This site is updated Thursday at noon with a new article about an artistic pursuit generally considered to be beneath consideration. James Schellenberg probes science-fiction, Carol Borden draws out the best in comics, Chris Szego dallies with romance, and each month we feature a Guest Star writer on a gutter subject on their choosing. While the writers have considerable enthusiasm for their subjects, they don't let it numb their critical faculties. Tossing away the shield of journalistic objectivity and refusing the shovel of fannish boosterism, they write in the hopes of starting honest and intelligent discussions about these oft-enjoyed but rarely examined artforms. en-us 2008-05-11T22:20:29-05:00 http://www.theculturalgutter.com/screen/100_100_100_850.html When I first took the screen beat at The Cultural Gutter, I vowed never to do a list article. But promises, like Corningware, are made to be broken.... Screen Ian Driscoll 2008-05-11T22:20:29-05:00 http://www.theculturalgutter.com/notes/evil_but_so_soft.html Pet the horror at the Chenille Beasts Gallery. (Thanks, spookymonkey!) ... Notes Carol Borden 2008-05-09T14:30:06-05:00 http://www.theculturalgutter.com/notes/weapon_of_mass_defacement.html The Graffiti Research Lab reports on Dutch taggers and their RV-mounted tagging laser. And if you're interested, there's open source code. ... Notes Carol Borden 2008-05-06T13:49:41-05:00 http://www.theculturalgutter.com/notes/porns_reality_is_uncanny.html Behold, Susannah Breslin's The Unporny Valley! And Grand Theft Auto IV in "Return to the Unporny Valley." ... Notes Carol Borden 2008-05-05T18:41:43-05:00 http://www.theculturalgutter.com/notes/invisibility_flight_and_ira_glass.html Notes Carol Borden 2008-05-04T15:11:08-05:00 http://www.theculturalgutter.com/comics/black_cat_bone.html Around the 5th time I read my nephew The Cat in the Hat, I started thinking. Sure, I might have been overthinking my thinker and overpuzzling my puzzler reading the book 15 times in half an hour and cutting it... Comics Carol Borden 2008-04-30T21:59:57-05:00 http://www.theculturalgutter.com/notes/venture_bros_season_3.html Fresh and toasty from the New York Comic Con, it's the Venture Bros. season 3 promo with clips a-plenty! (thanks, tera!) ... Notes Carol Borden 2008-04-28T14:14:42-05:00 http://www.theculturalgutter.com/notes/guillermo_del_toro_to_make_hobbit_films_bleah.html Andrew O'Hehir is here to tell you that Guillermo del Toro making The Hobbit--and a sequel to The Hobbit--for Peter Jackson is not a good idea.... Notes Carol Borden 2008-04-28T12:36:31-05:00 http://www.theculturalgutter.com/notes/infocoms_lost_drive.html A blogger got ahold of a network drive from Infocom circa 1989, which has the behind-the-scenes story -- and a tiny playable demo -- of the failed sequel to the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Universe, reconstructed from emails and other... Notes Jim Munroe 2008-04-24T21:30:07-05:00 http://www.theculturalgutter.com/sciencefiction/a_books_natural_fate.html So you've written a book that fits the current vogue perfectly - let's say it's a grimy cyberpunk novel in the mid-1980s - does that mean you've guaranteed long-lasting fame for yourself? Probably not. But don't worry, a lot of... Science-Fiction James Schellenberg 2008-04-24T12:04:05-05:00 http://www.theculturalgutter.com/notes/interview_with_jackie_chan_and_jet_li.html Speaking of Forbidden Kingdom, Jackie Chan and Jet Li are interviewed together at wu-jing.org. ... Notes Carol Borden 2008-04-23T13:14:05-05:00 http://www.theculturalgutter.com/notes/revenge_of_the_lady_fighter.html With the ladies of Forbidden Kingdom looking a little... lackluster, here's some of the original white-haired bride, Brigitte Lin (Bride with White Hair and The East Is Red) and the original Golden Swallow, Cheng Pei-Pei (Come Drink With Me and... Notes Carol Borden 2008-04-21T12:00:50-05:00 http://www.theculturalgutter.com/notes/no_more_screaming.html Notes Carol Borden 2008-04-17T13:56:55-05:00 http://www.theculturalgutter.com/romance/the_ladys_got_class.html Romance Chris Szego 2008-04-17T12:00:00-05:00 http://www.theculturalgutter.com/notes/who_wouldnt_elope_with_chewbacca.html The first paragraph alone does it for me in Heather Havrilevsky's reviews of Friday Night Lights and the new reality-dance show, Step It Up and Dance: "When my sister and I were kids, we made our Star Wars action figures... Notes Carol Borden 2008-04-15T20:34:29-05:00