Damion Damaske

February 2, 2012

Artsweek Wants You … to Watch Foreign Films

By Damion Damaske

When people think about foreign films, there seems to be a lot of derision towards them: “I don’t like subtitles,” “Dubbing sounds weird,” “Only pretentious hipsters would watch them,” etc. While there is s...

February 2, 2012

Take a Course in Laughology

By Damion Damaske

Stand-up comedy is not easy. It’s one of those art forms which seems readily accessible to anyone not already embedded in that world. “I can just go up on stage and say stuff? What’s so hard about that?” However,...

January 19, 2012

Raised by Pop-Culture: Why Remakes are Good

By Damion Damaske

January 12, 2012

Raised by Popular Culture: The Worst Movie of 2011

By Damion Damaske

Confession time: I don’t see a lot of movies out in theaters. Tickets are expensive, I am poor and I’m also terrible at torrenting, so I am selective about what movies I see on the big screen. What I am trying to say...

November 17, 2011

‘Raised by Popular Culture’: The Three Worst Christmas Films to Ruin Your Holiday Spirits

By Damion Damaske

Well, the holidays are just around the corner, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not looking forward to this season. When I think of Christmas, I think of family — and by that I mean drinking, bickering, fighting...

November 10, 2011

Heroes: The Good, the Bad and the B-List

By Damion Damaske

I’ve always felt that when you watch a movie, read a book or listen to music, you are always moved on an almost unconscious level. I don’t mean movies or songs that you remember or that changed your life and worldvie...

November 10, 2011

‘Cinematic Titanic’ Brings MST3K’s Wit to Different Arena

By Damion Damaske

There are certain things that just don’t work on the stage, (like “Spider Man” or Dane Cook). So I was feeling a bit of trepidation as I sat in Campbell Hall, waiting for my heroes of “Mystery Science Theater 300...

November 3, 2011

Cult Sci-Fi Leader Joel Hodgson to Take Masterpieces from Screen to Stage at UCSB

By Damion Damaske

The cult sci-fi show “Mystery Science Theater 3000” is about a man named Joel Robinson (played by series creator Joel Hodgson) and his two robot friends (Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo) who are all stuck in space and ar...

October 27, 2011

“Raised by Pop Culture”: The Worst Horror Films

By Damion Damaske

Horror movies suck. Not to say there haven’t been good horror films over the years — “The Exorcist,” “Poltergeist” and “Alien” come to mind — but, by and large, the vast majority of horror films are sla...

October 20, 2011

Why Popular Culture is Actually… Cultured

By Damion Damaske

The term “pop-culture” seems to have a lot of negative connotations associated with it. Many think that “Jersey Shore,” Justin Bieber and the “Transformers” films are emblematic of pop-culture. Some think pop...

October 13, 2011

Raised by Pop Culture: Why Everyone Should Know About ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’

By Damion Damaske

Ever watch a terrible movie with friends? Isn’t that experience sometimes better than watching a good film with them — everyone just sitting around, lobbing jokes at the shoddy production values, terrible acting and ...

October 13, 2011

Clooney and Gosling Bring ‘Ides’ to Big Screen

By Damion Damaske

George Clooney is a white Obama. That’s essentially the plot of “Ides of March,” the new film adapted from Beau Willimon’s play Farragut North. While the stage play, written in 2008, was loosely based on Howard D...

October 6, 2011

Why Music Fans are Inherently Terrible

By Damion Damaske

When you’re talking to someone about what kind of music you like, it can be as treacherous as bringing up politics or religion. Most people hold the music they enjoy as sacred, and many do so to the point of fanaticism...

October 6, 2011

Students Interview Comedy Central Cast

By Damion Damaske

If you haven’t heard of “Workaholics,” the work-place comedy from Comedy Central that’s now entering its second season, you’re missing out. The comedy, from creators and stars Adam DeVine, Blake Anderson and An...

September 29, 2011

Superheroes: More Than Just the Spandex

By Damion Damaske

For those of you like me (i.e. without lives), you know DC comics created a vast, universe-spanning reboot for 52 titles that are now arbitrarily labeled with #1 issues across the board. This is the biggest reboot for DC...