Retrospective: The Fellowship of the Ring 20th Anniversary — In Their Own League

By Joan Amenn “A wizard is never late… nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.” -Gandalf the Grey The twentieth anniversary of “The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001) arrives this weekend, precisely on time for its fans to start their annual viewing marathon of the trilogy as a whole. Evaluated on […]

Beer Review: Hardywood’s Bourbon Barrel GBS (Gingerbread Stout) — The Tap Takeover

Name: Bourbon Barrel GBS Brewing Company: Hardywood Park Craft Brewery Location: Richmond, VA Style: Stout – Imperial / Double Milk ABV: 11.5% An outstanding Stout that practically sings Christmas songs when you drink it. From the Hardywood Park Craft Brewery’s landing page for the beer: Hardywood Gingerbread Stout, described by BeerAdvocate as “freagin’ Christmas in […]

Beer Review: Tart & Thankful – A Collaboration between Highrail Brewing & NJ Craft Beer — The Tap Takeover

Name: Tart & Thankful Brewing Company: Highrail Brewing in collaboration with New Jersey Craft Beer Location: High Bridge, NJ Style: Fruit Beer | Fruited Sour ABV: 4.9% A delicious, balanced fruited sour perfect for the autumn/winter seasonal holidays. From the Facebook post announcing the beer: Tart & Thankful (4.9%), a bright and cheerful seasonal sour […]

Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth — The Solo Meeple

Bilbo advanced, keeping to the undergrowth and taking slow, measured steps. He’d strayed far from the others, but that didn’t worry him, he was good at remaining hidden. His biggest worry, though, was the time it was taking. He knew people were depending upon them but finding the Orc’s hideout was proving more difficult than […]

[Review] Tales From The Perilous Realm by J. R. R. Tolkien, illustrated by Alan Lee — Impressions In Ink

Publisher and Publication Date: Mariner, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2021. Genre: Fantasy fiction. Poetry. Middle-earth. Pages: 432. Format: Paperback. Source: Self-purchase. Audience: Tolkien and Middle-earth readers. Rating: Excellent. Link @ Amazon For further reading:Tolkien Estate Tolkien’s legendarium-Wikipedia The book is organized in this order:Introduction by Tom Shippey. Roverandom was first published in 1998. Farmer Giles of […]

The 80’s Horror Film That Ushered in the 90’s

It was in the spring of 1991 that I first watched the theatrical release of what I would many years later come to consider one of the most underrated horror films of all time: Warlock. Technically an 80’s film, at the time it seemed to be ushering in a brand new decade of horror; one

“Joy Beyond the Walls of the World, Poignant as Grief,” with J.R.R. Tolkien and Frederick Buechner — A Pilgrim in Narnia

This week, I have decided to share my thoughts about Frederick Buechner‘s recent book, The Remarkable Ordinary: How to Stop, Look, and Listen to Life (2017), and to share some highlights from the text. Drawing materials from his memoirs in a storied approach to his life, Buechner wants to draw out how the transformational moments are […]

Retro Review: ‘They Live’ — Funk’s House of Geekery

Director: John Carpenter Cast: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster Plot: A drifter arrives in LA and falls in with the homeless community, where he becomes aware of a sinister conspiracy controlling the masses. Review: This might come as a surprise to anyone who knows me, but I hadn’t seen They Live until today. I […]