Author Archives: kunzelman

Two Recent Publications Of Mine About Games

I have two newish academic publications that you might want to check out if you’re the kind of person who enjoys academic publications. The first is a piece about speculation and video game play that is published in Science Fiction Film … Continue reading

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On At The Existentialist Café

I. I’ve been reading At The Existentialist Café a chapter at a time for a couple months now. It’s a weird way to read a book but, you know, things get in the way when you’re writing a dissertation. I barreled through … Continue reading

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Francis Bacon’s Gambling

“He adored both cards and roulette, often playing at several table simultaneously, displaying the committed masochism of Dostoevsky, who claimed that the real thrill of involvement only began when he had pawned his wife’s jewels and was staking the proceeds. … Continue reading

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Carolyn Petit on Blade Runner 2049

Hard to excerpt without spoilers, but Carolyn Petit wrote a piece about Blade Runner 2049 and her own experiences that’s worth reading. I always enjoy a piece of writing that takes the wax and wane of media and life seriously, and Petit … Continue reading

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Alfred Bester on What a Science Fiction Author Does

The mature science fiction author doesn’t merely tell a story about Brick Malloy vs The Giant Yeastmen from Gethsemane. He makes a statement through a story. What is the statement? Himself, his own dimension and depth. His statement is seeing … Continue reading

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A Bibliographic Resource for Lars von Trier’s Melancholia (2011)

I’m planning on writing about Melancholia in the near future, and a short fact-finding mission to get a lay of the land of the scholarship on the film turned into something quite different (and much larger) than I imagined. What … Continue reading

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On The Yawning Portal at Paste

Tales from the Yawning Portal rides the line between nostalgia and ease of access for new players. I can imagine sitting down with Danni, my Mages & Murderdads cohost, and replaying “The Sunless Citadel” and having as good of a … Continue reading

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On Free Fire

I’ve just finished watching Free Fire, the newest film from director Ben Wheatley (and Amy Jump who he cowrote and coedited it with), and while it’s very late I have some thoughts I want to get down about the film. 1. … Continue reading

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“The horror of life itself”: Wes Craven on his films

Christopher Sharrett – “‘Fairy Tales for the Apocalypse’: Wes Craven on the Horror of Film,” 1985.

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Weedopia and Everything

Just wanted to crosspost two pieces I wrote that were published today: I wrote a short essay on the game Everything and what I think it does as a game (and how it is in conversation with the creator’s previous … Continue reading

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