Damion Damaske

June 8, 2012

Dan Harmon Fired

By Damion Damaske

“Community” is one of the best shows on television right now. There has never really been a show like it, before or since. And that unique voice is the product of the cleverly demented mind of its creator, Dan Harmon...

June 8, 2012

Raised By Pop Culture: Shows to Remember

By Damion Damaske

Television has been around for over 70 years now. This means there have been a lot of shows in that period, with most of them becoming forgotten in time. There are a few shows in particular that need to be remembered and...

May 31, 2012

‘Workaholics’ Star To Perform for I.V. Charity

By Damion Damaske

Do you enjoy laughing? Of course you do. Unless you’re a robot. And even a robot will be able to enjoy the great weekly event Laughology. Laughology, which has been around for several years now, takes place every Satur...

May 31, 2012

A Serious Guide to Enjoying Things Ironically

By Damion Damaske

When you hear somebody telling you they only enjoyed something “ironically,” it’s only human nature to ask them what the fuck they are talking about. Can you enjoy something ironically — whether it’s a movie, a...

May 24, 2012

Raised by Pop Culture: What’s Under the Covers?

By Damion Damaske

Why is it that whenever you’re at a concert of a band you’ve never heard of, the loudest you cheer is when they do a cover? It doesn’t even have to be a song you like, or even a particularly good cover: You cheer n...

May 17, 2012

Is Film Better Than Digital or Just Nostalgic?

By Damion Damaske

Christopher Nolan, director of the new successful string of Batman films, has recently gone on record in a Directors Guild of America interview defending film while denouncing digital moviemaking. Nolan isn’t the only ...

May 17, 2012

Reel Loud Films Recall Silent Era

By Damion Damaske

Digital movie-making is changing the landscape of the film industry. It’s at a point now where it seems that filmmakers using film cameras, film stock and editing film splicers to produce movies are a thing of the past...

May 3, 2012

American Reunion Strikes a Chord With Fans

By Damion Damaske

It’s hard for me to think of the ’90s as something to be nostalgic about. I mean, wasn’t the ’90s just a few years ago? Seriously, it’s only been, like … Holy shit: 13 years! I have nieces and nephews that ar...

April 26, 2012

Pollock to Host Sitcom Conference

By Damion Damaske

Scripted comedies have been a staple of television from the very beginning. With great, classic TV shows such as “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” “The Honeymooners” and “I Love Lucy,” there was no short...

April 19, 2012

New Documentary Explores Radio Activist’s Tragic Death

By Damion Damaske

“Radio Bandido” is a recent documentary directed by Pepe Urquijo about the mysterious death of his friend Oscar Gomez in 1994. Gomez was a DJ at the UC Davis college radio station who came to visit UCSB. He was later...

April 6, 2012

“Secretary”

By Damion Damaske

I still don’t know how I feel about “Secretary.” I can’t call it a bad film, because it wasn’t. I can’t say it wasn’t well acted, because it was. I can’t say it was badly written. I can’t really say any...

April 5, 2012

NBC’s ‘Community’: Worth Joining

By Damion Damaske

If you haven’t seen “Community” yet, stop what you’re doing and go watch it. NOW. I don’t care if you have to pay for Hulu+, that Netflix isn’t streaming it or that it’s getting harder to torrent by the day...

March 1, 2012

‘Bunraku’ Proves Puppets Aren’t Just for Little Kids

By Damion Damaske

“Bunraku” is my favorite avant-garde, post-apocalyptic, kung fu, Western, noir, Socialist propaganda film I have ever seen. To put it in a word: awesome. Now, I don’t know if I’d necessarily call it good, but it ...

February 23, 2012

Artsweek Finds Light “In Darkness”

By Damion Damaske

I’ve never been inside a sewer. I’ve never been trapped in complete blackness for over a year. I’ve never had to fear for my life every second. But after seeing “In Darkness,” I feel like I have. This is a brut...

February 23, 2012

Raised by Popular Culture: “For Your Consideration”

By Damion Damaske

Wow, that was a fun and/or sobering week. I’m still deciding which. You see, from Tuesday, Feb. 14 to Saturday Feb. 18, the Pollock Theater at UCSB screened five of the Oscar-nominated foreign films for 2011. I was luc...

February 16, 2012

Pollock Theater Screens Canadian Film ‘Monsieur Lazhar’

By Damion Damaske

Grief, depression and dealing with death are never easy things to come to terms with, especially when you’re young. What makes the film “Monsieur Lazhar” — one of Canada’s contenders for Best Foreign Language O...