For some odd reason, I had a memory of the early 1990s TV show "Cop Rock." So I punched it into Google. That brought me to a website called That Guy with the Glasses (which I was already familiar with because of "The Amazing Atheist/Distressed Watcher) and a reviewer who goes by the name Obscurus Lupa.
A week after that, I was reading a diary on The Daily Kos about the awful film version of Atlas Shrugged. Films called "Birdemic" and "The Room" were suggested as even more hilariously bad (and entertaining). I Googled them and that, in turn, brought me back to That Guy with the Glasses and Obscurus Lupa.
Obscurus Lupa turned out to be a pretty young redhead with a witty, and very polished (considering her age) style, and I quickly became addicted to her reviews of bad martial arts and horror films. I grew up watching bad martial arts films on Saturday afternoon network TV, and greatly enjoyed seeing someone who seemed both smarter than I am and also seemed to genuinely enjoy the movies I had taught myself to look down on.
I realized why. Bad films leave their narrative strategies hanging out in the open. They can teach you as much about narrative and film making as good films. But it takes a good eye to put together a review that throws them into relief.
Obscurus Lupa has that good eye.
She approaches movies without the heavy handed moralism of some mainstream film critics. She has a cool, detached, almost deadpan style. She's so good at keeping a straight face in the face of the ridiculous that some of her jokes only hit you hours later.
All in all, Obscurus Lupa is a skillful critic and a talented comic actress. Highly recommended.
