By Ping, For Ping
“What’s the first album you bought with your own money?” I love asking people this question because it’s so diagnostic. For one, it gives you an indication of someone’s age without asking outright. But your answer also says a lot about your disposition toward culture. Were you initially drawn to the mainstream or an alternative […]
I am not a film critic. It’s fun to play one, and I probably had aspirations at one point. But this is a hobby. I have no obligation but to myself. Sometimes I need to remind myself of that. I always preface my list with a tongue-in-cheek apology for not seeing all the movies I […]
One of my biggest personal changes over 2025 has been rediscovering my love for video games. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve had a legitimate games of the year list the way I do for movies. I just don’t play enough new releases to make it meaningful. New games are too expensive and […]
2019 may have been a banner year for major film releases, but 2020’s slate was relatively scant. There was actually a reason for this: an outbreak of a novel coronavirus forced the closure of movie theaters, among other things, for almost the entire year. I had been opposed to the coronavirus as soon as I […]
Hey, was 2019 an incredible year for cinema? I mean look at this: This is…… a good list, if I may say so myself. Heck, this is a great list. Even accounting for my “not living in NY or LA” filmgoing handicap. This is a list of 10 excellent movies. With one unmissable quirk right […]
You get better at anything with practice. That goes for whatever creative endeavor you choose: making pottery, writing poetry, blowing glass, whatever. Less discussed, or notable, is the fact that applies to passive hobbies of consumption as well. The other day a coworker asked what I meant when I said Hamnet was well-directed. I explained […]
2017 was the year of MoviePass. It was also the year I lived within walking distance of two movie theaters. A dangerous combination. We all knew MoviePass wouldn’t last. Unlimited movies for $10 a month? Get in on that early before it inevitably goes bankrupt. The most surprising part of its 2019 shutdown was that […]
It’s odd to look back on now that growing up I didn’t particularly care for movies at all. I had nearly every Disney musical on VHS, as I’m sure much of my generation did, and as a teenager I’d go to the theater with my friends for the event releases, but it wasn’t a passion. […]
Hey, do you like Wrecking Crew? What’s your high score in Mach Rider? Which Atari 2600 game is better, Haunted House or Ice Hockey? As a Nintendo-obsessed child I felt a drive to know my history, which meant playing all the classics. When the Wii introduced the Virtual Console, you best believe I dropped $5 […]
I’m gonna be honest: I was hoping Giant Bomb would ride off into the sunset. A quick recap for anyone who doesn’t keep up with video game journalism: Industry staple Giant Bomb, founded in 2008 by ex-GameSpot writers as a sort of punk-rock alternative to the grind of reviewing everything a 7/10, received orders from […]
