John Semley's posts

In reality we may want a president that keeps their cool and shows grace under pressure. But in pop culture we want…

What song do you want played at your funeral?

“Never say never again” is a mantra by which Hollywood lives—and it’s the guiding principle behind most sequels.…

1. GOB Bluth, Arrested Development (2003)
Over the course of three—soon to be four—seasons, Arrested Development has…

1. Twinkies, Zombieland (2009)
Apocalypse movies are often dark fantasies about limitless freedom and escape from the…

1. The Ford Pinto, Cujo (1983) and Top Secret! (1984) 
The Ford Pinto, the subcompact economy car and running…

1. Louie’s wasted afternoon: Louie, “Dogpound” (2010)
It isn’t easy to visually replicate the singular, internal…

1-3. British parliament, The Thick Of It (2005-2012)
British parliament and U.S. State Department, In The Loop (2009)
S…

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a…

A lot of the value of culture comes from the way a story or song can show us a new perspective, and let us know what…

1. A friend with a hunting knife performs a C-section on The Walking Dead (2012)
When there’s no doctor around, a…

1. Enlightened, “Lonely Ghosts” (2011)
It’s rare to come across a TV dream sequence that seems legitimately…

English drummer Clive Burr—best known as a member of hard rock group Samson, and then as a member of Iron Maiden…

The AVC audience tends to be about examining pop culture closely and intimately, and picking it apart to analyze its…

Metal, hardcore, punk, noise: Music shouldn’t always be easy on the ears. Each month, Loud unearths some of the…

If you could try any fictional food or drink, what do you think you’d go for? Personally, I’ve always wanted to…

1. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, “We’ve Got Tonight” (1978)
Considering Bob Seger grew up near Detroit and…

Scott Tobias asks: In a classic Scharpling & Wurster bit called “Kid eBay,” the last track on their album Hippie…

Metal, hardcore, punk, noise: Music shouldn’t always be easy on the ears. Each month, Loud unearths some of the…

1. Tremors (1990)
Over the past few decades, the American movie schedule has calcified to the point where movies are…