The practice of blessing mass entertainment with the bard’s prose confers a kind of loftiness upon it, or at least that must be the idea. A quick glance indicates that Shakespeare has provided titles for an alarming number of Star Trek episodes, just for starters. This week, lend your ears to Brett Harrison Davinger and me (Dan Fields) as we look at some of our favorite films to borrow a title from the works of Shakespeare.

This article is filed under Best Movies, Horror, Literary Themes, Movies, Mystery, Poetry, Satire, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Television, The Fourth Wall, Theatre, Thrillers, Writers.

For those who have not been scared off by now, I think we could all use a stiff drink before tuning in next summer for Season 5. Which I know I will. Season 4 had a few too many stops, starts, and jerky turns, but True Blood seized its bloodthirsty mojo back at the finish line.

This article is filed under Death, Horror, Mystery, Mythology, Phobias, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Television, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.

Forget good fences, and forget good neighbors. Characters in movies and television are far more compelling when not acting the least bit neighborly.

This article is filed under Best Movies, Horror, Movies, Mystery, Satire, Television, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.

My recent review awarded Final Destination a moderate “star” rating – for the benefit of the general public, who at the most basic level may have no interest in the concept – but hopefully the article (as well as this one) makes it clear how much fun I had watching it. As with books, food, and other pleasures, there is a big difference between movies that are no good for you, and ones that are simply no good. Fortunately, a lot of you out there will enjoy this as one of the former.

This article is filed under Horror, Movies, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.

This week, I join forces with Brett Davinger to chronicle some of the best heists, rip-offs, and holdups ever put on screen. So just sit quietly and keep your hands away from the phone, where we can see them. This won’t take long.

This article is filed under Best Movies, Crime Fiction, Humor, Movies, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.

An interior “desecrator” who despises the bored super-rich housewives who can afford her services, she lives amongst people for whom money has dissolved away the real world, and takes her revenge by smashing their heads in with the poker which she carries wrapped in a yoga mat.

This article is filed under Books, Crime Fiction, Fiction Reviews, Humor, Mystery, Satire, Thrillers.

We the critics of the Fourth Wall – Julia Rhodes, Brett Davinger, and myself – devote this week to the discussion of our favorite (and least favorite) films released in 2011 so far. After careful consideration, each of us has selected a “Top 3″ and “Bottom 3″ for the year’s first half. Read along and see how our love and hate stack up against your own.

This article is filed under Best Movies, Horror, Movies, Science Fiction and Fantasy, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.

Most movies like Black Death exploit the historical context to take shots at organized religion with impunity. A select few try to balance the mistakes of the early church with the importance of faith over dogma – an approach that Season Of The Witch admittedly tried, but got lost too far up its own butt to realize. Black Death tends toward the latter type of story, but pushes its acid satire into fairly new territory.

This article is filed under Historical Fiction, Horror, Movies, Mystery, Phobias, Politics, Religion, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.

The Resident is nicely paced, moodily presented, eerily scored and based upon a very creepy idea. As a rather by-the-book thriller, it satisfies on many levels. If the characters are nothing new, at least the structure has some less familiar kinks. By revealing Max’s true nature early on (to the audience, and not to Juliet), the movie switches abruptly from a creepy mystery to a dread-heavy thriller. Instead of discovering the danger along with Juliet, viewers are given a little head start, so that they are already yelling, “Get out of there!” just as Juliet is starting to feel at home.

This article is filed under Horror, Movies, Phobias, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.

After going to the trouble of naming the fourth installment of the series THE Final Destination, the good folks at New Line Cinema and Zide/Perry Productions have decided that they cannot part with their fatalistic techno-geist kill parade after all. Then again, if they can still quadruple a $40 million dollar budget at the box [...]

This article is filed under Horror, Movies, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.