Brian Beise (Books Ningmaster)'s Page

Listen Jena (and unborn child), it’s October at last, the nights are cooling; it’s time for scary movies. I started with Son of Frankenstein because I wanted some Legosi and Karloff, and that’s the best movie starring both. It wasn’t until halfway through the film that I realized that I - an expectant, first-time father - was watching a movie in which a son tries to redeem his…

Listen Jena (and unborn child), in the wake of my blitz of Batman blogs several weeks back, I did not expect so many nice people to read. What I did expect, though, was that someone would eventually accuse me of giving Christopher Nolan too much credit. I think maybe I did, but that is the best way to enjoy a good story.

Many students struggle in English class with the question of the author’s intent. The teacher (or some…

Listen Jena, the awful killings in Aurora shocked and saddened us all, but in our grief, many of us have once again started pointing fingers of blame at violent movies and video games. It’s a rhetorical crutch we’ve leaned on too often in the face of national tragedy. We can’t blame television when the problem is older than electricity.

The Plan…

Listen Jena, I did my best to stay calm throughout The Dark Knight Rises. When Selina Kyle kicked Bruce’s cane out from under him, when I realized Bruce’s limp was from the fall at the end of The Dark Knight, when Alfred and Bruce discussed Rachel, and when Batman faced Bane in the sewer, I managed not to cry out or jump to my feet. But when Gordon quoted Dickens, when lines from A Tale of Two Cities were uttered in a Batman movie, I had to cover…