Recent Essays

  • Twelve Gifts of Christmas Viewing

    By Brant Short and Spencer Short “Christmas represents a little stutter in the march of days, a hush in which we have a chance to assess and retrospect our lives…” Shane Black Christmas offers film and television creators a rich source of ideas. Every year, several new Christmas films are released, many television shows present Read more

  • The Holdovers (2023): A Christmas Parable

    Readers Note: This essay contains plot details. By Brant Short and Spencer Short In many ways The Holdovers is the ideal Christmas film because it does not try to be a Christmas film. The holiday is not the film’s anchor. Instead, the Christmas season functions as a cultural landscape that provides an important backdrop for Read more

  • Ghost Stories (2017) Film Analysis: Human Hauntings

    By Spencer Short Written and directed by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, based on their stage play Readers Note: This essay contains plot details Ghost Stories is a rich, layered character study and ethical examination of professor and professional paranormal debunker Philip Goodman. In the film, he examines three impossible-to-explain supernatural case studies, three “ghost Read more

  • On Planning: Tremors (1990)

    Reader’s Note: This essay contains plot details. Keene Short The tiny town of Perfection, Nevada, is populated by schemers, preppers, and dreamers. There’s not much happening, and not much to plan for. While some residents set their sights on Bixby, others burrow into the landscape, anticipating a long stay. The unexplained appearance of gigantic sandworms Read more

  • A Santa Sampler: The Twilight Zone (1960); Fred Claus (2007)

    Readers Note: This essay contains plot details Brant Short Santa Claus may be the most recognized image of the Christmas holiday, even more well-known than images surrounding the birth of Christ. Celebrating Christmas has become a cultural event, with Santa becoming one of its iconic symbols. Christmas has become a “season” that begins in October Read more

  • East of the Mountains (2021)

    This essay contains plot details. by Brant Short East of the Mountains explores the end-of-life decisions that most of us will confront, regardless of whatever demographic group defines us. These decisions are not only difficult to contemplate, but even more difficult to discuss with others. Do we have any responsibility to loved ones when our Read more