// Category Archive for: Over the Gadfly’s Nest

The Decline of Disney

By Maureen

They don’t make ’em like they used to: the nature of Walt Disney productions has changed. In the mid-1990s, the success of Toy Story brought the new (and previously untapped) market of computer animation into the picture. Disney’s computer-animated films have become very popular, and there are some quality movies affiliated with Disney. Recently, both WALL-E and Up have received critical and financial success. As Disney has begun to adapt their technology and marketing to the computer age, the overall tenor of their animated films has monopolized the genre.
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Top Things I Hate, That Everyone Else Seems To Like!

By Ann Clarke

Sure, I got this idea from all of the redundant questionnaires on Facebook that I fill out, but it got me thinking. . . there are a lot of bad ideas out there that are overrated and stupid, but large masses of people seem to think they are so great. What are they seeing or hearing that I’m not? Most of the time I am in disbelief as to how people can enjoy certain things, but it really is one of those “to each their own” ideologies! With that said, I’ve compiled a big list of what I think is SHIT, and I don’t mean “The Shit”. . . just SHIT! Some of the items are similar in theory, so I will have to merge some into subcategories.
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In Defense Of Harvey Dent

By Lisa Anderson

Okay—it’s all over, including the shouting. The late Heath Ledger won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor of 2008, after winning numerous other awards in the same category. I was rooting for someone else for Oscar, but I don’t begrudge Heath his award. That said, I don’t think that Heath made The Dark Knight what it was by himself.
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Dark City Is Overrated

By Chelsea Spear

In 1998, Alex Proyas’s Dark City saw a quiet theatrical release, and an even quieter end to its engagement. In the years since it was dismissed and disinterred to home video, filmmaker Joss Whedon and Roger Ebert, dean of American film critics, have found inspiration in the expressionistic, dystopian feature. Andy Herod of acclaimed indie band The Comas cited the film as “the only movie that makes sense or matters.” It has become a fetish object for slavering fanboys and Ebert acolytes. A decade later, it has all but been inducted into the neo-noir cannon. Ebert has recorded a commentary track for the deluxe edition DVD. Fans discuss the news of a sequel in hushed, reverent tones.

It is quite possibly the most overrated film of the 1990s.
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Origin of Similarity: Why Muse Is Not Radiohead

By Christian Lipski

Son House’s style was ripped off by Robert Johnson.

Pearl Jam is a cheap copy of Stone Temple Pilots.

Can you claim that two contemporary artists with similar influences and styles could not possibly have developed these techniques separately? You can if you’re a music writer:
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A “Very” Exclusive interview with Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

By Danny R. Phillips

Authors’ Note: This piece of fiction is based on a dream I had and is a product of my twisted imagination. Feel free to email me with thoughts relating to this or any of my other work but please, do not state the obvious. I know Hunter Thompson is dead and therefore he is extremely difficult to reach for comment.

On February 20, 2005 the great Doctor of Gonzo journalism, Hunter Stockton Thompson spent the day with his son Juan and his grandson Willie, and after giving Juan some cherished family heirlooms, Hunter put a .44 Magnum to his 67 year-old-head and well, let’s say “checked out of the hotel.”
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10,000 Maniacs, Blind Man’s Zoo

By Chelsea Spear

You are twelve years old. In your pocket you have some jangly change and a wilted sawbuck, heavy with sweat from your clammy hands—money you earned from babysitting your snot-nosed brother while your mom went out on another pointless date. You enter the Tape World at the mall—a store smaller than your bedroom at home—with the intent to buy the first album you’ll purchase with your own money.
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Nonconsensual Fandom

By Jessica Melusine

Even in this age where the geeks seem to rule the earth, where pop culture analysis has jumped out of its academic setting to blogs and Wikipedia, where suddenly everyone now gets a red shirt joke, there are taste police. Even in a culture that is supposed to be tolerant there are issues about how one is supposed to watch, consume, or behave in fan culture.

I call this trend Nonconsensual Fandom.
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You’re So Good To Me: Why “Hot” May Be The Perfect Pop Song

By Christian Lipski

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I do not like Avril Lavigne’s corporate persona. It may have had a grain of truth to it six years ago when she released her first CD at the age of 17, but it’s gotten increasingly hollow as she has grown up. For fans of the Venture Bros., she’s the Master Billy Quizboy of the music world. For the rest of you, she’s the mom who insists on wearing belly shirts and toe rings even though she’s 50. The discrepancy between her character and her actual age is growing with every passing day, but as long as it attracts buyers, the label will still insist on it. And as long as the label has a contract, Avril’s gonna do it.
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Dear Fall Out Boy

By Nicole V.

Sometimes it’s hard to explain to people why you love a silly band that you technically should hate. Maybe it’s easier to tell the band.
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