Manic Expression

A mother comes to her daughter one fine Sunday morning and says, “Sweetie, you aren’t ready for church. We’re going to be late.”

The daughter, terrified, says, “Mom, I need to tell you something. I’m not going to church today. I’m sorry to tell you this but I don’t believe in God.”

The mother looks at her quizzically and says, “Well neither ...

JDW: Hey everybody, welcome back to Stop the Hate. I have a guest today that you all know and love - Moviefan12. 

Now Moviefan, you brought a pretty serious topic to my attention recently and asked if I wanted to collaborate on this blog with you. Why don't you tell our fellow Expressionists what happened.

Moviefan12: Thanks, James.  

Recently, I was listening to the podcast,...

Hey everybody, good news! The Republicans and the Democrats have found common ground! Isn’t that amazing? They agree on something! Oh happy day, perhaps our democracy shall endure after all.

So lets hear it, what’s got blue and red making such a lovely shade of purple these days?

Well, Rand Paul is a nutjob and the President should have the right to use a drone to kill anyone, at any...

Seems like every year I see fewer and fewer movies in the theater. As home viewing technology improves, it takes a lot to get me to plunk down my money at the box office. Two of my favorite movies of 2012 were Argo and Looper, neither of which I saw in the theater. Do I regret not paying to see them? ...No. I enjoyed them just as much in the comfort of my nerd den as I would have at the local AMC, maybe more so.

That’s not to ...

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We nerds aren’t shy about talking about anything, be it Kirk vs. Picard debates, why The Phantom Menace ruined our lives, or why Devo is the greatest band to ever rock a funny hat. There is one thing we don’t like to talk about though - sex. Coitus. The beast with two backs. We just can’t seem to...

A great movie franchise is a terrible thing to waste. Some times they’re beaten into the ground by greedy producers, and what was once great about the original concept is lost. That’s when a good sequel, one with aspirations of being the final installment, that brings things full circle, is needed to redeem a franchises good name.

Most people get down on sequels, but I love them. They’re rarely as good as the original, but every...

Neil Heslin is the father of 6-year-old Jesse, one of the children killed in the Sandy Hook massacre. Recently he spoke at a hearing before the Gun Violence Prevention Working Group at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, Connecticut. He clutched a large photo of himself and his son and proceeded to struggle through telling everyone there and everyone watching at home about Jesse. He told us about how Jesse wanted to be a little cowboy, about how he was a bright and wonderful child, a...

Arnold Schwarzenegger is back in The Last Stand...and no one gives a shit.

Released in January, the month where movies go to die, The Last Stand tanked at the box office. The movie opened at #10 and dropped to #16 by week two. That’s right, Schwarzenegger’s comeback film died a terrible death. Some might be w...

This Thursday night, NBC will air the final episode of 30 Rock. Now I know what your thinking: Who the hell watches 30 Rock!? ...Well I do.

In the countdown of my top 10 favorite television shows of all time, 30 Rock ranked number 2, bested only by The Twilight Zone. The Tina Fey scripted sitcom bested such classics as Seinfeld and The Simpson’s to rank as my most beloved television comedy of all tim...

You know what Minnesotans hate even more than anyone who challenges their precious Vikings? ...Snow. Minnesotans hate snow.

I’m not from around these parts originally. I’m a Southern California boy. When the locals here heard that they all had the same response: “How could you move away from paradise? Sand, surf, sunshine every day! Are you mad?” They forgot about smog, wild fires, and enough UV rays to melt y...

I'm going to make this brief.  In the beginning, this was going to be a long, drawn-out shpeal with swooping prose and unnecessary chatter.  Though there's nothing wrong with that, it feels inappropriate somehow.

Therefore, I will say my peace and be done with it.



Today, Wednesday, January 9th, is James Daniel Walsh's birthday.  For those of you that don't know, James is the author of the Manic Expression anthology, the founder of this site, the scri...

2012 was a strange year for movies. While a few genuine classics emerged, most movies were forgettable or downright crap. This year I saw a record few number of movies in the theater (9) and even skipped most films when they were released on DVD. There just wasn’t much that caught my attention this year.

Before I move on with the list of what I did see and what I did like, let me just say that there are a number of movies I did...

I was recently listening to a compilation album of forgotten 90s hits, enjoying music by Soul Asylum and Weezer that you just don’t hear anymore, when a long forgotten song popped up. Unwilling to get up from my desk chair, walk over to my iPod, and press skip, I sat there and listened to this song, which I hated at the time of it’s release, from start to finish. By the time it was over, a realization came over me: Maybe I was a little too hard on Hanson.

Consistency is an admirable quality in a blogger...lord knows I don’t have it! It takes discipline to pick a topic and write about it day after day, always looking for fresh material to entertain your audience with. Whether it’s a “cast” talking comics, a “corner” for cartoons, or a discussion of Westerns by someone with a big black hat, Manic Expression has some fine, very specific bloggers and video producers.

part 1: http://manicexpression.webs.com/apps/blog/show/19977559-stop-the-hate-206-top-20-influences-of-my-life-part-1-

part 2: http://manicexpression.webs.com/apps/blog/show/20173115-stop-the-hate-206-to...

part one: http://manicexpression.webs.com/apps/blog/show/19977559-stop-the-hate-206-top-20-influences-of-my-life-part-1-

part two: http://manicexpression.webs.com/apps/blog/show/20173115-stop-the-hate-20...

part 1: http://manicexpression.webs.com/apps/blog/show/19977559-stop-the-hate-206-top-20-influences-of-my-life-part-1-

6. Stanley Kubrick

When I was in high school, I was desperately strugglin...

What makes up the fiber of our being? What are the building blocks of our souls? Of course there’s the people in our lives: Parents, lovers, friends, children. But what about culture? What about everything, from Mozart to Megadeath, that influences us in our lives?

I’m a skeptic when it comes to the idea of Heaven, but I will say this: If Heaven is simply an intangible place, where we exist in bliss without the burden of earthly posses...

JDW: This passed summer, a madman opened fire on a theater full of movie patrons. For this tragedy, the world rightfully stopped. We mourned. Everything else seemed so petty. For instance, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattison.

As you all may remember, I had a...shall we say, extreme reaction to a video posted by a Twihard who h...

William Shakespeare was a genius, one of our great writers. He was also a filthy, bigoted anti-semite.

Or at least that’s how I read Merchant of Venice, one of the most hateful pieces of trash ever shat out onto paper. The play has, in the decades since World War II, been interpreted as a plea for tolerance. I’m here to tell you why this is nothing but contemporary minds trying to rationalize how such prejudice could spring fro...