Author Archive: Eric San Juan

Why did Boardwalk Empire lose me?

December 29, 2015 0 Comments

Boardwalk Empire. Oh man, everything about it was right up my alley. It was a well-polished period piece with smart writing, great actors, the involvement of Martin Scorsese, gangsters, and it was set here in my home state of New Jersey. Plus, I’ve said before that HBO does awesome television. So why the hell didn’t it click with me? And I mean, it TOTALLY didn’t click with me. I only made it halfway through the first season. Like anyone with as lick of sense, I loved the setting. Great production values, great cast, great premise, and the pilot episode was pure Scorsese, which is to say it was frickin’ AWESOME. Yet for some reason the series just failed to hold my attention. Can’t place my finger on why, either….
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Television

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These are the 5 Best Christmas Songs. Deal with it

December 24, 2015 3 Comments

Look, if we’re honest with ourselves, Christmas songs kind of suck. “White Christmas” is an exception because it has one of the greatest melodies ever written — that’s an objective FACT — but otherwise? Christmas music is awful, awful, awful. There are exceptions, though, and I’ve identified the five best, because I am awesome. Not as awesome as these Christmas songs, but it’s pretty damn close. 6) U2 – Christmas, (Baby Please Come Home) You thought this list was going to be “edgy,” right? (Get it?) This one throws that assumption right out the window (though admittedly, it’s a red herring). Sure, it’s the most traditional one here, originally done by the amazing Darlene Love, but whatevs, yo! Bono’s grating earnestness is PERFECT here. Their…
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Music, Videos

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I’ve got to get the hell off Facebook

December 23, 2015 2 Comments

More and more these days, I’m finding myself reconsidering my relationship with Facebook. It has nothing to do with privacy issues (though they are quite real), Facebook’s sketchy business practices (ditto), or a desire to have a smaller Internet footprint (as an author, I actually need a larger Internet footprint). It’s not even because I do social media marketing on a freelance basis, and hence burn myself out on surfing Facebook (I do it under a different account than my personal account, anyway). It’s because the atmosphere is turning me into the kind of negative, cynical, angry person I long ago left behind. I’ve been down that road. I have no intention of revisiting it. It’s not who I want to be. Perhaps it’s the…
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Rants, Uncategorized

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REVIEW: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

December 18, 2015 1 Comment

Technically, I wrote this review 10 years ago for a site called DVDinmyPants.com. That site is long gone, though (you can only find it on the Wayback Machine), and since this is the greatest review in the history of film reviews (and also because of Star Wars mania right now), I’m reposting it here. It’s purposely over the top, but also completely  sincere: The Empire Strikes Back Let’s cut right to the chase: I fall into the camp that declares The Empire Strikes Back the best of the Star Wars films. Which means I also fall into the camp of people who actually have an opinion regarding what the best Star Wars film is. Which means some of you are probably surfing off to another page…
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Films

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George Lucas is the Internet’s most undeserving punching bag

December 17, 2015 3 Comments

A movie comes out today, a small little thing that may have slipped past your notice. A few people might go and see it. The release of the first new Star Wars movie in many years makes today something of a geek holiday, but amid all the glee and celebrating the movie is going to be something else. Something far less positive: incessant bitching about what an awful person George Lucas is. Because on the Internet, no mention of Star Wars is complete without also mentioning how George Lucas, the man who created Star Wars, ruined everything you hold dear by being the worst person in the world. I’d say that has gotten old, but it got old years ago. Instead, I’ll say that it’s…
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Films, Rants, Uncategorized

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