Warren Peace, aka Matthew Brady
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warrenpeace.bsky.social
Warren Peace, aka Matthew Brady
@warrenpeace.bsky.social
87 followers 180 following 360 posts
Comics aficionado, movie lover, bookworm, player of video games, occasional critic.

Check out my Substack at https://matthewbrady.substack.com/

He/him
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warrenpeace.bsky.social
I reviewed the movie Bugonia, which is part of an interesting trend in which movies are confronting the increasingly fraught times we’re living in.

Bugonia: Maybe the green planet isn't worth saving open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Bugonia: Maybe the green planet isn't worth saving
Yorgos Lanthimos delivers a misanthropic masterpiece and yet another movie that fits our current moment.
open.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:04 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I wrote about the video game Cocoon, which I found to be an engrossing example of nice puzzle design and a weird alien atmosphere.

Cocoon: It's a bug's life open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Cocoon: It's a bug's life
It's cool when a game makes you feel like a genius.
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:01 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
It's hard to beat Akira Kurosawa's Ran, which is one of his final samurai epics that featured some incredible large-scale battles and plenty of operatic acting. I wrote about it here:

matthewbrady.substack.com/p/akira-kuro...
November 9, 2025 at 8:49 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I’m continuing my coverage of The Lowdown, looking at an episode that featured one of the last roles for Graham Greene.

Gettin' My Eps In: The Lowdown S1E6 open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Gettin' My Eps In: The Lowdown S1E6
When bad people team up with worse people, nobody wins.
open.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:43 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
My Blaxploitation review for this week features a movie that’s fairly offensive, in more ways than one.

Blaxploitation Education: The Black Gestapo open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Blaxploitation Education: The Black Gestapo
To no one's surprise, a movie comparing Black revolutionaries to Nazis turns out to be pretty offensive.
open.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:24 AM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
Also, I wrote about the fifth episode of The Lowdown, which featured a great guest appearance from Peter Dinklage.

Gettin' My Eps In: The Lowdown S1E5 open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Gettin' My Eps In: The Lowdown S1E5
Peter Dinklage is a welcome presence whenever he wants to guest start in a show I'm watching.
open.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:57 AM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I wrote a review of R.F. Kuang’s new book Katabasis, which I found to be an excellent fantasy about a journey through the afterlife that provides many opportunities for complex character exploration and development.

Katabasis: Maybe hell isn't other people open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Katabasis: Maybe hell isn't other people
R.F. Kuang continues her streak of excellent books that use fantasy to delve into emotional conflicts.
open.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:54 AM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
My Blaxploitation review for this week covers Lord Shango, which is billed as a horror movie but is more of a drama with supernatural elements involving the religious practices of people with roots in Africa.

Blaxploitation Education: Lord Shango open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Blaxploitation Education: Lord Shango
A surprisingly nuanced take on the conflict between Western religious values and traditional African spirituality.
open.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 8:48 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I wrote about the fourth episode of The Lowdown, which featured some fascinating character interactions, as well as some shocking violence. I’m still loving this show.

Gettin' My Eps In: The Lowdown S1E4 open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Gettin' My Eps In: The Lowdown S1E4
Things can become complex when reporting the truth conflicts with personal relationships.
open.substack.com
October 26, 2025 at 7:14 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
My Blaxploitation review for this week covers Sheba, Baby, a Pam Grier vehicle that is an unfortunate decrease in quality from the highs of Coffy and Foxy Brown.

Blaxploitation Education: Sheba, Baby open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Blaxploitation Education: Sheba, Baby
A Pam Grier action movie has me missing the Jack Hill touch.
open.substack.com
October 23, 2025 at 10:12 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I wrote about the graphic novel Hello Sunshine by @keezyyoung.bsky.social, which I thought was a really good combination of a horror/mystery story with an examination of life with a mental illness.

Hello Sunshine: Rarely is mental illness in horror this literal open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Hello Sunshine: Rarely is mental illness in horror this literal
It's always exciting to experience young, talented artists telling vibrant, personal work.
open.substack.com
October 21, 2025 at 12:18 AM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I wrote about the third episode of The Lowdown and mused about the trope of the writer who is a total mess but is so brilliant that he wins people over anyway.

Gettin' My Eps In: The Lowdown S1E3 open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Gettin' My Eps In: The Lowdown S1E3
Lee Raybon manages to charm despite being a total fuckup.
open.substack.com
October 19, 2025 at 8:13 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
The latest thing I watched for my Blaxploitation series doesn’t really fit into the genre, but it’s an enjoyably dumb werewolf movie featuring Calvin Lockheart giving a hammy performance.

Blaxploitation(?) Education: The Beast Must Die open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Blaxploitation(?) Education: The Beast Must Die
It's definitely a stretch to call a werewolf movie set in the English countryside Blaxploitation...
open.substack.com
October 16, 2025 at 10:16 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I wrote a review of the first volume of the comics series Assorted Crisis events, which I found to be an enthralling and occasionally moving look at how the end of the world can serve as a metaphor for all manner of personal crises.

open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Assorted Crisis Events: The end of the world as we know it, and I don't feel fine
A comic that delves into the personal impact of a cosmic apocalypse.
open.substack.com
October 13, 2025 at 4:36 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I looked at the second episode of The Lowdown, which continues to be an enjoyable noir featuring a somewhat idiotic protagonist.

Gettin' My Eps In: The Lowdown S1E2 open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Gettin' My Eps In: The Lowdown S1E2
Sometimes, noir protagonists can drive you crazy with their obnoxiousness and stupidity.
open.substack.com
October 12, 2025 at 8:01 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I found a new show to cover in weekly episodic reviews, and it’s a good one. Here’s my look at the pilot episode of The Lowdown:

Gettin' My Eps In: The Lowdown S1E1 open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Gettin' My Eps In: The Lowdown S1E1
I think I've found my new favorite TV show.
open.substack.com
October 5, 2025 at 7:51 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I wrote about One Battle After Another. I was only barely able to discuss most of what it was doing, I thought it had a fascinating take on the conflict between idealism and responsibility.

One Battle After Another: That's modern life for you open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
One Battle After Another: That's modern life for you
PTA provides a thrill ride and a half, along with some chances to muse on idealism and parenthood.
open.substack.com
October 3, 2025 at 4:22 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
My publishing schedule has been messed up lately, but I was able to do a new Blaxploitation review, covering the enjoyably cheesy, low-budget martial arts movie TNT Jackson.

Blaxploitation Education: TNT Jackson open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Blaxploitation Education: TNT Jackson
Perhaps the closest Blaxploitation has gotten to a traditional martial arts movie yet, even if the version we got is edited to the point of near-incomprehensibility.
open.substack.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:04 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I didn’t get a chance to share this yesterday, but I wrote about a short story collection by Debbie Urbanski that was pretty interesting, if kind of exhausting.

Portalmania: The impulse to get away from this world is understandable open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Portalmania: The impulse to get away from this world is understandable
A short story collection by Debbie Urbanski that may have been too personal for me to really connect with.
open.substack.com
October 1, 2025 at 1:40 AM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I wrote a review of Dungeon Crawler Carl, the most popular example of the burgeoning LitRPG genre. I found it to be enjoyable, even if there’s not a lot of substance to it.

Dungeon Crawler Carl: For those who prefer to read RPGs instead of playing them open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Dungeon Crawler Carl: For those who prefer to read RPGs instead of playing them
While I'm not fully sold on the LitRPG genre, it's good to see that it can be fun.
open.substack.com
September 20, 2025 at 3:28 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I’m late sharing my Blaxploitation review for this week, but it was a good one, looking at Sweet Jesus, Preacherman:

Blaxploitation Education: Sweet Jesus, Preacherman open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Blaxploitation Education: Sweet Jesus, Preacherman
An inner city church actually does seem like it would be a good cover for a criminal enterprise.
open.substack.com
September 19, 2025 at 12:51 AM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I didn’t share this yesterday, but I published a review of the hilarious and thought-provoking Tim Robinson/Paul Rudd comedy Friendship. I liked it a lot.

Friendship: Masculinity in crisis can still be funny open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Friendship: Masculinity in crisis can still be funny
As weird as Tim Robinson is, he gets at the truth behind what makes men fall apart.
open.substack.com
September 13, 2025 at 5:19 PM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I’m doing a bad job of promoting the stuff I write lately. Here’s my latest Blaxploitation review, covering a low-budget knockoff of The Exorcist.

Blaxploitation Education: Abby open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
Blaxploitation Education: Abby
I'm surprised they didn't call this one The Blaxorcist.
open.substack.com
September 12, 2025 at 12:42 AM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I reviewed the novel The Third Rule of Time Travel, which I found to be a disappointing failure to do the things I like in time travel stories.

The Third Rule of Time Travel: Yes, it's the obvious one open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
The Third Rule of Time Travel: Yes, it's the obvious one
I love time travel stories, but apparently not all of them.
open.substack.com
September 9, 2025 at 12:42 AM
warrenpeace.bsky.social
I reviewed the novel The Compound, which involves a surreal reality TV show that serves as a symbol for everything that’s wrong with modern society.

The Compound: Reality TV will destroy us all open.substack.com/pub/matthewb...
The Compound: Reality TV will destroy us all
It doesn't take too much tweaking to make reality shows a metaphor for the emptiness of modern life.
open.substack.com
September 1, 2025 at 9:28 PM