3 Movies to Watch When You're Done with Black Mirror's Bandersnatch.

So. Bandsersnatch. Here are two weird things that immediately preceded our viewing:

1. In an attempt to reach sixty blogs for 2018, I combed through old, unfinished drafts. One was about fan theories, specifically, about LOST being a psychological experiment.

2. My sister showed my best friend her favorite episode of Black Mirror titled Play Test. Which is thematically relevant, to say the least. I also talked to them about how true to the simulations industry and scenario design the episode really is. If I were insane, this would be a bad time to be...well...insane.

Luckily, I'm not. First, I'll share my favorite ending. Then, I'll give you three movies to cleanse your palate of the Black Mirrory-ness of it all.

We enjoyed several endings, none of which I will ruin for you here. After trying several variations of choices, I chose to end my experience with the "Do you want more action?" ending. Not only is it true to the era of the story, but it's also funny and self-aware. Two of my very most favorite things, especially when they're thrown together. If you need a palate-cleanser...

Here are 3 Movies to Watch When You're Done with Black Mirror's Bandersnatch

They'll take you back to the real 80's and put you in a great mood.

1. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

2. Atari: Game Over

3. Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made

Remember when the world was simple? When the Thompson Twins were new? When Indiana Jones was young? When you could go to Jennifer and Kimberly's house and play Donkey Kong and Pong? When you were connected to the world around you and the summer smell of freshly mowed lawns left you to adventure in your imaginations instead of the internet on a tiny box phone? 

Okay, Audrey. Oddly specific. I guess Bandersnatch messed with my head, shifted me firmly into Nostalgia mode. Anyway. Music played an integral part in Bandersnatch, yes? Here's another movie moment for you that made excellent use of an 80's song. 

Where's your head after Bandersnatch? Are you feeling any better yet? 

P.S. Happy New Year!

3 Things I Still Love: Fan Theories

1. Toby is the Scranton Strangler

Related: Michael Scott is the all-time greatest.

2. The Whedon-verse is all connected

Related: There was almost an animated Buffy series this famous fan opening by the talented Stephen Byrne gave us a taste. And there's a unified Pixar theory too.


3. LOST was a psychological experiment. A simulation designed to see how humans would perform and behave outside of their normal environments. How susceptible would they be to the power of suggestion? And so on and so forth.

Of course, the video explaining the theory is gone. So I'll explain. Briefly. This excellent theory claimed origination from cast and crew who worked on season one. No proof was offered. But all the dots connected story-wise. That is, until the series was so successful, it needed to be extended and milked for all it was worth. Along with J.J. Abrams famous "mystery box" philosophy at the heart of the series.

3 of the Best Film Analysts on YouTube

1. Lindsay Ellis

2. Rob Ager at Collative Learning

3. Be Kind Rewind

Eartha Kitt's Vocal Performance for Yzma

You never know how long these banned videos will last on YouTube. Enjoy this 2002 "making of" (directed by Trudie Styler) for The Emperor's New Groove while you can. It's titled The Sweatbox and the whole doc is pretty great.

You can also skip ahead to 10:38, 23:10, 51:32, and 1:09:56 to see Eartha Kitt working her absolute magic in the studio and in her real life.

You Must Whip It

Gerald Carale, the founding member of DEVO, wrote an in-depth treatise about capitalism. Again. BoingBoing.net posted this last week and it's worth a read.

I've been doing a deep dive into the sites I first loved when I started Born for Geekdom a DECADE ago. A decade, you guys. Ten years. Ten yeeeeeeaaaaaarrs.

*Please feel free to read the rest of this post in the voice of Minnie Driver from Grosse Pointe Blank*

It was pretty much BoingBoing.net,  WilWheaton.net, and Doombuggies.com for me back then. And that was plenty. That and my Indiana Jones-themed Myspace page.

I used to visit this spot with DEVO's handprints in San Francisco. It was a happy place. Still is. I dream of a day when Mark Mothersbaugh scores one of my projects. As far as dreams go, that's pretty pipe-shaped, I realize. But you never know.

Mark Mothersbaugh has since become a hero of mine. He's a master of tone and one of many from the pop pantheon who have gone on to the wonderful world of film score. (hullo, Danny Elfman of Oingo Boingo)

What were you perusing on the internet ten years ago? Who is your favorite 80's musician/film score genius/capitalist essayist? Do you even want to think back that far or should we give the past the slip?

(I'm sorry. I had to.)

Speaking of the Tower of Terror...let's muse

I've been thinking a lot about The Twilight Zone since my post the other day. You know what makes me happiest about The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror? The mystery.

I feel the same about The Haunted Mansion. It's the mystery in between the spots of well-defined narrative. It's the objects in the library that don't have a story. The tiny bits of detail in the Boiler Room that remind me of walking through the bowels of The Queen Mary.

It's all that wonderful possibility. Let's think about it while we look at some pics I took the last time I was there...

It's December

You know what that means.

It's time for this:




And this:



Shut up, Wesley.

What's on your annual holiday geek watchlist?

Three Places to Get Your Twilight Zone Fix While You Wait for the New Show

Twilight Zone mini-golf

I recently discovered a Twilight Zone-themed golf course in Las Vegas. I was so overjoyed, I thought I'd make a list of a few more places fans can get a fix while we wait for Jordan Peele's (sure-to-be-brilliant) new iteration.

1. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida. I particularly enjoy the glee-like fear everyone experiences at the end of the ride as they notice the ventriloquist dummy from the aptly-named episode The Dummy. It's situated uncomfortably close to the ride vehicle.

(Eagle-eyed fans will also notice a lot more props in the ride and the exit through the gift shop.)

2. There was also a very nineties made-for-tv movie based on the ride, which is itself, based on the show. It's creepy turtles all the way down. By the way, I love the movie and I'm not sorry. It was the dry run for the theatrical Pirates of the Caribbean movies. So we owe it a lot.

Fun bonus fact: Melora Hardin who played Jan on The Office plays an old-timey nightclub singer in the movie. She was also a singer in The Rocketeer.

3. Last but certainly not least, I've been bingeing a lot of Blank on Blank lately. Rod Serling's episode is nothing short of spectacular. Enjoy.

More Spaceship Librarian Is Coming

I shared an update on Instagram the other day. I'm ridiculously excited, even though my progress on this project has been glacial. But hey, slow and steady is much better than not happening at all, right?

View this post on Instagram

The brilliant Jen Hersey sent me this in June, along with more new pages for my comic Spaceship Librarian. I’ve just been too busy to push it through. But Justin Birch has it now for lettering. Woo! #onward #indiecomics #independentcomics Learn more at SpaceshipLibrarian.com 🚀📚 “In space, noone can hear you read.” #writersofinstagram #comicwriter #space #scifi #sciencefiction It’s a little bit about the loneliness of being a nerd. #spaceshiplibrarian

A post shared by Audrey Brown-Williams (@audreyscleverusername) on Dec 1, 2018 at 8:50am PST